Things to do and see in Avon, Colorado

Also known as the “Heart of the Valley”, Avon gives visitors picturesque views, tons of recreation, and lots of restaurants. It’s home to Beaver Creek Ski Resort and right down the highway from Vail.

Year round there are concerts, festivals and other fun events going on. Lodging ranges from economically friendly to downright opulent.

History

Being a part of the low lands of the side of the Rocky Mountains, Avon has seen the pioneering history of Colorado. Just like most towns in Colorado, the early settlers in the region were the Ute Indians. The first Anglo-Americans who visited the area were not mainly looking to create a town out of Avon. They were merely trapping beavers to develop a fur reserve, which they sell in the city.

In 1845, Adventurer John Charles Fremont and his expedition team went to the Eagle River and caught a “buffalo fish.” Because of this discovery, they had hoped to find other species in the river and decided to create a riverside camp that they named “William’s Fishery.”

It wasn’t until the early 1880s that the town has started looking more like a community. George A. Townsend bought 160 acres of land to build his home (which stretched over Eagle River and Beaver Creek). Townsend decided to call this part of his property “Avondale,” but it eventually transformed into Avon.

The early settlers in town used farming as a source of income. They grew hay and raised cattle to feed the miners in Red Cliff. Homesteaders Metcalf and Oscar Traer then formalized the paperwork to claim the land under the Homestead Act.

The town eventually created irrigation ditches. Then, on July 4, 1891, Avon was featured along with other cities near the Eagle River (which they called Eagle County), as a “good place to visit, a better place to settle in, and the best place in the state for capital seeking investment.”

Avon then grew from a simple lettuce farming town to a vibrant and beautiful tourist town that’s popular to this date. Popular sites around Avon include the Historic Water Wheel and the Beaver Creek Resort.