Buena Vista – A Town Where the V is for Vitality!

Mountain Life, Mountain Town Magazine, Treks & Travels 0

Buena Vista is a town bursting with vitality and imagination 

by Anna Winger

Buena Vista, Bewna Vista, Bewnie, or BV-  the opinions behind the pronunciation of this town are as vast and fast as the Arkansas River in mid-June, but one thing rings true:  BV has become a place to be- with a quickly emerging music scene, a Main Street full of bars,  restaurants, shops that no longer roll up the carpets at dark, and an organized effort by the people that live here to both protect and allow enjoyment of all the 100,000 BLM and Forest Service acres and the river play park downtown that make up the surroundings of a town bursting with vitality and imagination.

Bewnie is a place that I have made my home for 20 years. I came here by way of the river and stayed for the ideal mountain life.  Back then, it was multi-generational families that had lived through the booms and busts of a mining town.  Otherwise, it was me in my 20s, five-ish friends in their 20s, the bar regulars, and the deer on Main Street at night.  When those few friends and I had the trails to ourselves and our off-leash dogs; it was quiet, mellow, special.  Some may say that those were the good ol’ days of BV, and some may say much like most of Colorado, Buena Vista is being ruined by out-of-towners bringing their big ideas, wallets, and vibes – ruining God’s country.  But while I did pour one out when we went from one stoplight to two a few years back, I disagree with this sentiment of things getting ruined.  What’s happening in Buena Vista is so engulfed in passion and ingenuity, and the growth is driven by community trying to make community more awesome.  

It’s the riverfront through town that is made up of trails and waves to play in, not mansions that someone lives in three weeks a year.  It’s the Surf Hotel and Ivy Ballroom which cater to visitors who need beds and good times, but also houses an amazing restaurant and two music venues that we all get to boogie to through the four seasons.  It’s the fact that we do still get an off-season where you know everyone at the bar.

There are a few entrepreneurs who made Buena Vista their home before it was the cool thing to do.  When Jed Selby and Katie Urban discovered that 41-acres alongside the Arkansas River was up for sale in 2003, the two pro-kayakers created a plan around a world class whitewater park and a development that revolved around conscientious land-use design, green building, and a walkable nook in town.  South Main houses Eddyline Brewery, The Midland Coffee Shop, Black Burro Bike Shop, The Surf Hotel, two amazing music venues and Wesley and Rose, a restaurant that perfectly offers a casual upscale dining experience right on the river.  What could have been a riverfront of large houses and private lots became a playground for kayaking, sup’ing, rafting, hiking, biking, and dancing.  

Earl and Cheryl Richmond moved Colorado Kayak Supply to Main Street from Nathrop in 2000 and saw the vision of the whitewater park at the end of Main Street.  “We didn’t have the full vision of Main Street in the beginning.  We moved there to be adjacent to the fun runs like The Numbers, The Narrows, and The Fractions and a whitewater park that was in the baby days of ideas.  Town was empty, locals were supportive, but questioning us.  No one is going to come to BV to shop for things!  We were stubborn and ignorant because it was out one choice in our budget. We moved in and the rest is history,” explains Earl Richmond.  

The Roastery Café, The Asian Palate, and The Deerhammer Distillery all followed in the footsteps of the early days of Main Street, when often there were truly zero cars on Main Street at night.  It took gumption, vision, and paved the path for the revitalization of this town.  

Main Street Buena Vista today is a mosaic of fun.  This year, CKS River Supply and The Buena Viking made their permanent homes in their brand-new brick and mortars. There are cute and unique boutique hotels such as The Inn on Railroad, The Even Keel Lodge, and The Shorehouse Hotel (pictured above) giving fun options for places to sleep.  Crave Pizza and The Main Street Tavern are giving new life to an otherwise sleepy block.  We no longer must order cute clothes online due to Luna Vista Consignment and Hilonesome Boutique keeping locals and tourists alike styled and hip, and the kids are all psyched for options for ice cream with Louie’s Ice Cream (pictured below) and Chocolatte.  

A quickly emerging music scene is also putting Buena Vista on the map.  The Ivy Ballroom and The Lawn in South Main have hosted the likes of Thievery Corporation, Kitchen Dwellers, Leftover Salmon, Fruition, Trevor Hall, Brett Dennon, Keller Williams, and The Motet, just to name a few!  The Meadows Farm has hosted festivals like Vertex and 7-Peaks and has settled on slightly smaller, more intimate shows such as Billy Strings “Renewal” every year.  Back up on Main Street, The Lariat is serving up good food, beer, and a world class sound system that hosts music 3-4 days a week.  

Margaret J. Wheatley once said, “There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.” In Buena Vista and surrounding areas, you can hike high alpine, bike amazing singletrack, skin to quiet and still forests and ski back down to your car, play on the river in all forms, and we have really nice benches placed in perfect places to take it all in.  There is a lot to protect and a lot to plan for to not ruin what makes it all special.  Our town has people with that passion and drive.  

The Buena Vista Singletrack Coalition is a non-profit trail advocacy organization “committed to collaborating with agencies, businesses, and locals in order to build, maintain, and steward sustainable trails for muscle-powered users.”  

Friends of Fourmile aims to balance good stewardship with quality recreational opportunities. These two volunteer organizations are working to build infrastructure responsibly in the way of minimizing direct and indirect impacts in our local trail system.

You can’t really talk about Buena Vista without talking about The Arkansas river being a vein of energy and importance for our culture.  Traveling a bit north of BV and ending in town is a classic stretch of river that offers everything from class V stretches to class III stretches.  They make for great after work runs, lunch hours, and sunset cruises.  Ending in downtown Buena Vista, we have our river park.  The park contains five man-made play features which allow a variety of user groups to easily access and enjoy the river.  

The Friends of the Buena Vista River Park has emerged as a protector and guide for the future of this increasingly busy area.  This 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization raises funds and awareness for all future outdoor recreation projects, improvements, and maintenance involving or benefiting The Buena Vista River Park.  It is made up of people who know and love our river and encourage sustainable and ongoing improvements in safety and fun.  

I’ve made Buena Vista my home since 2008.  Barely a drop in the bucket for some local lineages.  I’ve seen change.  I’ve become an entrepreneur, and I’ve felt the growing pains of this little town that could.  Buena Vista, Bewna Vista, Bewnie,  BV is a gem worth talking about, and as Norman Maclean once said, a river runs through it, connecting us all in making this an amazing place to visit, raise our kids, make our homes, run our dogs, and cheers beers to a life well lived.   

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Featured Photo Courstesy of CKS River Supply

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