Buena Vista sits in the heart of Colorado's Collegiate Peaks, surrounded by some of the state's highest fourteeners and the San Isabel National Forest. Originally a brawling mining supply town — it had 68 bars before its first church was built in 1879 — it has settled into a picturesque base for outdoor pursuits. The Arkansas River running through the valley offers some of Colorado's best whitewater rafting.
The historic hot springs, sacred to the Ute people for centuries, remain a draw — Mount Princeton Hot Springs is the best known. Hiking and mountain biking trails radiate into the surrounding mountains, and the town itself has the Buena Vista Heritage Museum in the old courthouse. The Collegiate Peaks Scenic Byway frames the valley's lineup of fourteeners, and Brown's Canyon National Monument south of town protects some of the finest canyon scenery in the Arkansas River Valley. Leadville, another old mining town, is a short drive north.