PHOTO BY WENDY GRIFFITH
By Kim Fuller Published in Elevation Outdoors and MTN Town Magazine
Like most of Colorado’s coveted locations, Eagle is a community that is continuing to grow. With this population expansion is a real interest in preserving outdoor recreation, and Eagle has been increasingly staking its claim as a mountain-play mecca.
Unlike it’s colder, “up valley” neighbors, like Vail and Beaver Creek, Eagle’s trails stay open until December 15 for mountain biking, hiking and trail running.
PHOTO BY JEFF CRICCO
“We continue to build ‘singletrack sidewalks’ so kids can experience the thrill of riding to school on dirt and learn about trail building and environmental stewardship,” explains Amy Cassidy, owner of Take Aim Marketing, Inc. She has lived in the Vail Valley for over three decades, and has been based in Eagle for 21 years.
The town recently passed a sales tax to fund a whitewater and riverside park. Along with constant new trail building, Eagle also has a brand new pump track next to their BMX track.
In the late-summer and autumn months, hunting season has started up, and the rivers are still moving for fishing, kayaking and stand up paddling. Road biking is always an option, too.
“A road ride out Brush Creek Road to the Sylvan Lake and Yeoman Park intersection in the fall is one of my favorite things to do,” shares Cassidy. “The colors of the scrub oak and aspen trees are amazing, and you follow Brush Creek the whole way.”
Autumn Recharge
Cassidy says Eagle has an active and growing yoga community as evidenced by the local studio, Yoga Off Broadway, and outdoor summer yoga series, Yoga in the Park.
Yvonne Schwartz, owner Yoga Off Broadway, founded Eagle YogaFest with the “desire to bring yoga to every body.”
“Just in the last five years, I have seen incredible growth and diversity in the people practicing yoga,” says Schwartz.
Her vision for Eagle YogaFest was to create a yoga festival that allows you to leave feeling relaxed, renewed and restored.
“The focus of the festival is to celebrate mindful movement and the slower side of yoga,” she says.
And what better time to do so than in the crisp autumn days in Colorado?
PHOTO BY WENDY GRIFFITH
“The fall is an amazing time for a yoga festival in the mountains,” she says. “The leaves are at their peak. They days are warm and the nights are cool. It is the perfect time to recharge as we head into the winter season.”
The weekend gathering is set for Friday, October 14 through Sunday, October 15, featuring more restorative yoga styles, along with educational lectures and live music.
New this year will be a yoga nidra (“yogic sleep”) class with teacher Jeremy Wolf, and yoga therapy classes with Jessica Jollie of Yoga Landing in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Colorado School of Yoga, based out of Boulder, will be offering a continuing education intensive on Friday of the festival.
For entertainment, Eagle YogaFest has Family Glow Yoga on Friday evening, The Soapbox with musician Scotty Stoughton on Saturday evening, and the Yoga Pants Party held at Bonfire Brewery to follow.
For a full schedule and more information on Eagle YogaFest and to register for the event, check out EagleYogaFest.com.
Still “Small Town”
Eagle is becoming a “favorite mountain town” to many, including Schwartz.
“It is a good ten degrees warmer than Vail, so you can count on wearing t-shirts and having sunny days for three extra months each year,” she says.
Eagle’s local motto says it all for outdoor enthusiasts: “Your driveway is your trailhead.”
“You never have to load your car on your bike to go for a mountain bike ride, trail run, hike or whatever,” says Cassidy.” There’s still a very authentic small town feel and you know most everyone at the coffee shops, breweries and restaurants.”
In fact, Eagle just opened a new coffee roaster and shop in Eagle Ranch, called Color Coffee Roasters. Some other local hot spots in town include Yeti’s Grind, Bonfire Brewing, The Dusty Boot and the new 7 Hermits Brewing location at 1020 Capitol Street.
Kim Fuller is a freelance writer and yoga teacher based in Vail.
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