How to Get to Beaver Creek, Colorado

Getting to Beaver Creek, Colorado is easier than you might think. Eagle County Regional Airport sits about half an hour down the valley, with seasonal direct flights from major hubs. Denver International is the bigger gateway, and the drive west on I-70 runs about two hours or more as it climbs over mountain passes and through tunnels. Once you arrive, the village is designed so you can put the keys away for the week. Your main decisions come down to picking the right route for your group and budget, and planning for what winter does to the drive.

This guide covers:

• The two airports you can fly into for your trip to Beaver Creek, Colorado
• The routes you can take
• The shuttles into Beaver Creek
• How to move around in Beaver Creek once you arrive

Beaver Creek is in Eagle County, Colorado, in the Vail Valley, just south of the town of Avon and about ten miles west of Vail along Interstate 70. It's an unincorporated resort community rather than a town, which is why you'll see Avon addresses used for it. The base village sits at 8,100 feet, and the Beaver Creek ski mountain rises to 11,440 feet behind it. From Denver, it's a straight westward drive of roughly two hours in good conditions.

Most visitors fly into one of two airports. The one you choose comes down to two factors: convenience and cost.

Eagle County Regional Airport, known by its code EGE, is the local option, about a 30-minute drive from Beaver Creek. In winter, it runs nonstop flights from more than a dozen cities, including year-round service from Denver and seasonal nonstops from hubs across the country.

Flying into EGE turns a long transfer into a short one, and for a family arriving with ski gear and young children, driving half an hour instead of two is often worth the higher airfare. Since many flights are seasonal, and can change from one year to the next, check the latest schedules to find the best flights.

Denver International Airport, or DEN, is the larger, cheaper, better-connected gateway, roughly 120 miles and a drive of about two hours and fifteen minutes east to Beaver Creek. You'll almost always find more flights and lower fares into Denver, at the cost of that longer drive. If you plan to rent a vehicle anyway, or you don't mind the transfer, Denver is often a better value, especially in summer, when EGE's flight options thin out.

The drive from Denver is simple in principle: Interstate 70 west, all the way, to Exit 167 for Avon and Beaver Creek, then a short run on Highway 6 to the resort entrance. In clear conditions, it's a pleasant two hours with impressive mountain views.

Winter is the variable. The stretch that matters is Vail Pass, the high crossing of I-70 between Copper Mountain and Vail, which rises above 10,600 feet and slows in heavy weather. Colorado enforces a traction law on this part of the interstate through the snow season, meaning your vehicle needs snow tires, all-wheel or four-wheel drive, or chains.

If you're driving yourself in winter, take a capable vehicle, leave extra time, and check the current road status with the Colorado Department of Transportation before you set out. On a stormy day, a shuttle or a private transfer is the calmer choice.

If you'd rather not drive, several operators run the airport transfer. Epic Mountain Express is the main shared-ride and private shuttle service, with regular departures from Denver International and service from Eagle County as well, dropping directly at Beaver Creek, Bachelor Gulch, Arrowhead, and Avon.

For this market, a private SUV transfer is common, and worth the price for a group, particularly from Denver, where a driver who knows the pass takes the whole weather question off your plate.

To get around the valley itself, use the regional Core Transit system, which connects Avon, Beaver Creek, Vail, and the towns between them. The Town of Avon also runs free local shuttles from Avon lodging up to the Beaver Creek gondola. Between them, a car-free trip in Beaver Creek is completely workable.

Here's the part that surprises first-time visitors. You'll barely use a car in Beaver Creek. The village core is compact and pedestrian. The lifts rise straight out of the plaza, and a free on-demand shuttle circulates through the resort to carry you between your home, the base, and the village. Even the climb from the parking structures up to the plaza includes heated outdoor escalators and heated walkways, a welcome relief at the end of a ski day.

If you do drive in, the resort has parking structures near the lifts and day lots, with a shuttle up to the village. Rates and lot arrangements change by season, so verify current details when you plan. Most guests staying slopeside park once or skip the car entirely, and move around on foot, on skis, and on the shuttle for the rest of the trip.

Once the arrangements are handled, the rest is the easy part. Our collection of Beaver Creek luxury vacation rentals puts you within that pedestrian village, with a local team to arrange transfers, hand over the keys, and show you all the finishing touches on your vacation home away from home, from fully stocked kitchens to ski gear delivery. From there, our guide to things to do in Beaver Creek will help you plan the days ahead.