YMCA of the Rockies - Snow Mountain Ranch Family Resort and Cabins — Hotel in Granby

tl;dr: Great land, great activities, but good luck navigating the trails.

Just got back from our summer trip and it's really great, beautiful land. In the summer the few trails that seem to have had recent investments are great hiking but those seem few and far between. Had fun hiking Waterfall Trail, and 9 Mile Trail ( or is it Grand View Trail? ) but with no recent investment in accurate maps it's hard to find the hiking trails and not at all clear which ones are currently maintained or suppose to be accessible for hiking. Neither trail has an accurate info on Google Maps for the trailhead location. Other than those two we really couldn't tell which summer trails are maintained or not - there's no current maps available on the website. May just print out the few random maps floating around the internet and go exploring next time we visit in the summer.

From our winter trip earlier this year the nordic trails were great, staff in the shop were friendly, trails well groomed, and there's really nice signs on the trails - but with no accurate maps, who knows where a lot of the trails actually go or what ones we'd want to explore. We've since realized that we missed out on a lot of potentially fun, less crowded trails, because we simply didn't know they existed, where they went, or have a reasonable way to figure out how to get to them. The printed maps in the nordic shop have incorrect trail names ( apparently all the lynch trails were renamed?? ), are missing 1/3rd of the trails, and have incorrect intersection numbers on the few that are labelled. Love Nordic Pulse for the grooming updates before heading out to the slopes and that map seems to align best with the trail names on the land, but fumbling with a phone on the trail while wearing gloves and trying to see the screen is obnoxious, and it still doesn't have the intersection numbers. We've had to make our own map for next time after realizing how many good trails we're probably missing out on from just trying to navigate the property with the official maps.

We have accommodations off-site so can't speak to the on-site lodging. We've looked at staying on-property but the limited food options quickly ruled that out - there's no cooking options in the cheaper rooms and the cafeteria pricing is horrendous.

Our kids really loved the day camp - but again, navigation was a struggle and I got a frantic call from my wife trying to figure out where the day camp building was on the first day. The name confusion with the larger CCO camp & their area of the campus made it especially confusing.

Edit: ('cause replies aren't a thing?) So, bit disappointed your reply didn't show any signs that you actually read my review.

Put concretely on what's missing on the winter map: Update the nordic map that you hand out to guests in the nordic center. Fix the trail names that you all renamed a few years ago because apparently "Lynch" isn't politically correct? Put the right intersection numbers on it. Include the other 1/3rd of the trails that are inexplicably missing. Iirc the back side isn't printed so the inset is MIA for most trails in Zone C . Speaking of, do any of the maps in the nordic center show the zones? Your folks there mark up that ancient one every year and have it on display at check in at the nordic center. They're great folks and it's amusing that they go to the effort but really just sad you all can't be bothered to fix something that's so clearly broken and outdated for years now.

Summer: Put the trail maps on your site. They're all on openstreemap.com and various trail sites anyways it's just obnoxious to find them that way. We're also happy to explore, as are poachers, but would like to at least try to be respectful of whatever trails you all are intending for summer use. My guess is the truth is you just can't be bothered to hire a graphic designer to update your maps.

We don't stay on property and check in to the trails with the QR codes so would never visit whatever physical check in locations may...

We booked our vacation after school started on purpose, for a quiet family vacation. Day 2, 4 Denver public school busses pull up with 200 kids.... awesome. They are using everything and I'm hearing cuss words and the f-word all over. Such a bummer....

While the students were here, we found that almost all the free activities were being used at all times, and we could not gain access. I called to talk to YMCA about this- because we wanted to plan our stay as best we could- and they told us they could not tell us how long people were staying and that the activities were first come first serve, nobody had exclusive rights. We just wanted to know how are we as guests supposed to enjoy our stay that we also paid for when they were literally shifting in groups from one thing to the next? When there are families, and there is a line, people politely move to the next thing, that was not the case for 48 hours of our stay with this group on campus.

so far while the kids have been here they have left a mess in their wake.. my kids picked up 25 golf balls left out, they found the pool table triangle left broken, ping pong paddles constantly not turned in, all the fuseballs left out and not returned, a pickleball net torn apart ( my husband was able to set it back up) broken up room keys on the roller-rink, not to mention the wrappers we keep finding. They knocked down tons of insulation onto the floor in the Kiva building. i feel so bad for the staff cleaning up after that.

also for some reason is smells like leaking LP gas right by the laundry.... that is REALLY concerning

the discs for the disc golf have all been chewed up by a dog

So.... really crappy guests ruin this beautiful place. I don't know if they have a good way to charge these guests for ruining things and then replacing things. (send a bill to the Denver public school for their students damage!!)

All the staff and volunteers have been SO KIND. Amazingly kind!!

we really wish they would adjust prices for things like the aerial obstacle course, archery, horse back riding, etc.

We enjoyed the waterfall hike! beautiful. All the trails are beautifully done!

When we booked our stay 5 months ago we were told that the pool was under repair but it would have to be some pretty bad circumstances for it to not be done by the time we got here. It is not open. That was a bummer.

Our kids had fun at the bingo and science nights. they have loved rollerskating as well. The mini golf is very nicely done. The hikes are beautiful.

The tubing hill is AMAZING!

I'm not sure where to leave reviews for staff, we had the best concierge, we had the best help with our room microwave, we had amazing help at the program building today from an older woman, so kind and informative, and the 2 young men in kiva tonight FANTASTIC!

One thing that is sad that we noticed is how many people drove up to the campus and just started hiking or using the mini golf, etc, without wristbands😔. A small administration building at the stop sign could stop freeloaders from taking advantage of this great place. If you read reviews, you'll see that some people state that they know you're supposed to pay, but they didn't.

WE ABSOLUTELY WOULD RECOMMEND THIS AS A PLACE TO STAY WITH YOUR CHILDREN.

WE ALSO RECOMMEND CHECKING THE PROGRAM DAILY. It changed a few times on us and things we intended to go to were no longer available and we missed other things because...

I gave one star because zero stars is not available. Our grand-nephew held his wedding at Snow Mountain Ranch in the middle of June, 2015. My husband and I thought we would UPGRADE from a local hotel experience to a "lodge" experience. We happily reserved our room in the Aspen Leaf building based upon info in the reservation brochure. I was stunned upon arrival to discover the lodges do not have elevators. Although I am mentally and physically disabled, and my husband has a heart condition, I do not request a handicap accessible room because we are both ambulatory. Not once did it occur to me that I should ascertain the presence of elevators in 3-story buildings. After dragging our luggage up many flights of stairs, down hallways, through doors and up more stairways, we found our room. By this time, my husband had to lay in bed. I was crying, sweating and shaking from the exertion. I went all the way back to my car and drove to the lodge office. I asked them to indicate where it states that the rooms are not accessible by elevator, and guests must be able to navigate an environment time. That is the only time they would do it. Additionally, because their cancellation rules are so punitive, we were not in a financial position to leave the lodge for a different location. The "parking lot" was a dirt area that was deeply rutted from cars driving through it when it was wet. I FELL TWICE DURING MY 3 DAY STAY. A wheelchair/walker user would be stranded in their vehicle, because "Handicap" parking is in this dirty, rutted mess, and it's right next to a long flight of stairs hostile to disabled people. While they could understand my frustration, they had nothing to offer except changing rooms, and they would move all our luggage. While this may have been an acceptable alternative, we were so ill from our ascent, we were not able to accept the offer at that that would flummox the best of handicapped people.

The room, itself, was drab and worn. Our sink was cracked from the drain hole to the overflow hole. The shower had almost no water pressure. The carpet and bedding was definitely from the 20th century. The advertised wifi is not on a secure server. Below our room was a commons area where young adults gathered each night to drink and party. Our first morning, I was standing at the sink when housekeeping knocked and announced themselves. As I was in my pajamas, I called out to have them return in about 20 minutes. Again, the young man knocked and announced himself. He then insisted I open the door! My husband and I exchanged confused glances, and I opened the door. He said he must empty our trash. ?? It was just the icing on the cake of our crappy week.

If you are a couple or family that enjoys multiple outdoor activities, and you use your room for sleeping only, then this is a wonderful place for you. The facility is very family friendly and offers a variety of fun events. If you're anticipating that a "lodge" will give you a pleasant, upgraded experience... you would be better off at a Motel 6. I guess I must now ascertain the existence of elevators when calling hotels for...