Minturn
New Minturn Homes near Vail Resort
By All Vail Listings

The charming town of about a thousand people in Minturn, Colorado is about to blossom.   Nestled midst steep, rocky hillsides at an elevation of 7,861 feet in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, Minturn is the oldest town in the Vail Valley—only 7½ miles by road from Vail, Colorado real estate.

The main attraction in Minturn is its quaint past.  The new private ski and golf resort on Battle Mountain will certainly bring changes to this quiet town.  One of the changes will be the cost of Minturn and Vail real estate.  A mixture of Victorian Minturn real estate, newer residences, and the Minturn Country Club offer Eagle County homes for families hard-pressed to afford Vail CO real estate.

Minturn has adapted to several major changes in the local economy over the decades, including the development of Vail and Beaver Creek ski resorts, the closing of the Gilman mine, and the abandonment of rail lines through rural Minturn real estate.  Despite the transformation, Minturn retains a reputation as one of the friendliest towns in the mountains, and today Minturn is courting a new major development:  the Ginn Ski and Golf Resort.

The Florida-based company's plan for a private ski/snowboard and golf community on 5,300 acres at Battle Mountain—on land wedged between Vail and Beaver Creek—is is being scrutinized by locals and the other resorts.  With a history of connections to professional golf, Bobby Ginn wants to build the Ginn community including 1,700 homes and condominiums.  His eight square miles of land connects to quality habitat in the Eagle’s Nest and Holy Cross Wilderness Areas as well as to areas further west.   Near the old mining town of Gilman just south of town, Ginn wants the town to annex the land and zone it to permit home building. 

Eight ski lifts are planned on Battle Mountain in the Willow, Holy Cross, Rock, and Kiln creek drainages. With a vertical drop of more than 2,000 feet, the ski area has as much terrain as Beaver Creek.  Ginn has worked on many compromises during the 3-year period of planning including agreeing to build a new wastewater plant, to avoid most of the 50 wetlands around the mountain and in the Bolts Lake area, and to somehow accommodate wildlife such as the rare lynx  and elk, bear, deer, and other animals in the area. 

To encourage community responsiveness to the project, Ginn is offering local residents who have lived nearby for 18 months deeply discounted rates to ski and golf at the exclusive private resort.   The Town Manager referred to the project as "a good economic addition to the county and the region” as she asked for other building improvements such as a senior center, a youth skate park, and better government facilities.   The Battle Mountain project, sometimes compared in Colorado press reports to the private Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Montana, might provide as many as 1,000 jobs to residents in the surrounding small towns.

There are jobs in town, however.  In addition to historic architecture, downtown boasts great restaurants, a winery, unique galleries, western antique stores, and specialty shops.  Another central part of town hosts businesses such as a bed and breakfast, car wash, and bank.  At the southern end of town, several unique services including a photographer’s studio, woodworkers’ shop, and filling station add to the diverse collection of over 140 businesses.   In a recreational paradise, school children can play at the new Little Beach Park and Amphitheater or go tubing on Meadow Mountain; older Scout types can tackle the cliffs and the Eagle River.