Through housesitting (<-referral link for a discount!), I spent around five weeks in the mountain town of Nederland, Colorado, located about 30 minutes west of Boulder and an hour from Denver.
Nederland is a unique town! It’s a little bit rustic but still has plenty of shopping and dining opportunities, making it a great day trip or stop on the Peak-to-Peak Highway. I was told there’s “Old Ned” with the mountain folks who don’t want to live in Boulder and “New Ned” with folks who can’t afford to live in Boulder. The result is a downtown with wild-west-looking storefronts next to trendy coffee shops and pizzerias.
Nederland Attractions
Carousel of Happiness
The most obvious attraction in Nederland is the Carousel of Happiness, a very charming, more-or-less homemade indoor carousel. Open year-round (though maybe not all week); it’s a great winter activity and only costs $3 per ticket. There’s a nice shop and a play area upstairs with a view over the carousel.
Also, check out the pretty Swiss-like pedestrian bridge over the creek, connecting the carousel to the main downtown strip.
Nederland Mining Museum
Nederland started as a mining town, and you can learn about its mining history at the Nederland Mining Museum. It’s free to visit, but not open all year, only from June-October. Now and then, they also fire up a loud steam shovel behind the museum for visitors.
Make sure also to check out the Nederland Visitor Center, basically right smack in the center of town. I think it even used to be the post office. They sell maps, books, postcards, and other souvenirs there, and the folks inside are very friendly. I think there’s also an ATM and public bathrooms outside the building. It’s at least a good central place to park, and there are a couple of EV chargers as well.
Backdoor Theater
As someone who stayed a few weeks, my favorite thing to do in Nederland is the Backdoor Movie Theater, literally at the back door of the rec center. It’s the only movie theater in town and usually shows one movie per weekend, once each on Friday and Saturday nights with a matinee on Saturdays with open captions. It only costs $6 for adults, $3 for kids 12 and under, and all concessions are $1-4. And they raffle off candy before each movie! Even if only 30-40 people are in the theater, they’ll still hand out 10-14 candy bars. It’s a total hoot! I think I won twice.
Hiking
There are some easy walking trails pretty much right in Nederland for more natural attractions. You can walk along the creek and through a park to a small dam from the pedestrian bridge, then walk around the Barker Reservoir. You can’t walk all the way around it, however. In fact, you can’t quite walk to the lower dam (though you get tantalizingly close!) There are some picnic tables and trash cans along here, and I think some porta-potty restrooms, but that’s about it.
I prefer Mud Lake Open Space, just above downtown, which has two ~1-mile loops connected by a short trail. It has some lovely views and elevation changes, and you can extend your walk out to the Caribou Open Space, which I never managed to visit. There is parking and restrooms for Mud Lake just off the Peak-to-Peak Highway. I was there in September and got to see the aspens change into a luminous gold color.
I’m sure there is much more real mountain hiking in the area. A short waterfall trail is just off the road coming into town, and there’s a paved walking trail next to the road coming up from Boulder for a few miles.
Shopping
There are several great shops along 1st Street, which is pretty much Main Street in Nederland. Besides the Visitors Center, you can shop for gems at Nature’s Own rock shop or gifts at the Rustic Moose. When I was there, there was a pretty little plant shop and art gallery, and there are a few clothing boutiques and a janky sort of thrift shop over on 2nd.
Across the pedestrian bridge, there is a grocery store parking lot with several shops in a strip-mall situation. For some reason, I never made it over here, but there’s a backcountry store, music shop, and some other gift shops. Across Bridge Street is the great little Blue Owl book store & ice cream stop, and a fun alpaca-only store.
Dining
There are several fantastic restaurants in Nederland, surprising for its size. I’m told they support the smaller mountain towns further west as well. I really enjoyed Crosscut Pizza, Busey Brews, and Kathmandu Nepalese. There’s also a Thai place, Ned’s Restaurant, and a deli that serves Boar’s Head brands, if you can catch them open. There are a few wineries & breweries as well – at least one winery by the carousel, and a few of the restaurants are also breweries.
There are three coffee shops in Nederland. My favorite is Salto, with art, soaring ceilings, and a spacious patio next to a bike shop. Another is New Moon Bakery, where the breakfast sandwiches are huge. A third is found in a collection of train cars near the carousel. I didn’t try their coffee, but I did get froyo once, and it wasn’t very good.
If you’re out to cook your own food, there’s one grocery store, the B&F Mountain Market, plus a smaller Co-Op on 1st Street. Both options are going to cost a little above your average grocery prices.
Marijuana in Nederland
There is a strong culture of marijuana in Nederland, and you can find several dispensaries in town, maybe around 4-5. Most visible are the Silver Stem and Kind Castle since they’re right on the main drag (as it were.) I won’t say you’ll smell weed just walking around town, but you’ll probably get a whiff now and then. My biggest issue was having the windows open at my housesit when the neighbor next door decided to light up – several times a day.
Hotels
There’s only one proper hotel in Nederland, the Boulder Creek Lodge, which looks pretty nice. It’s right next to the pretty Boulder Creek and the pedestrian bridge. Otherwise, there are several Airbnb rentals in town. I’m pretty sure there was one right below me during my housesit.
Good to Know
Two things are good to know about Nederland if you’re going to stay there for any length of time. First is the wind – it can get very gusty! And due to the wind (and sometimes on its own), the power might go out for a while. Even sticking around for five weeks, this only happened a couple of times, and it nowhere near happens as much as it used to. But it does still occur occasionally. My visit was in the fall, so I didn’t get a ton of wind, but it can get, and stay, very windy during some parts of the year. And it goes without saying that it can snow a whole lot in the Colorado mountains during the winter.
Frozen Dead Guy Days
Speaking of snow, Nederland hosts Frozen Dead Guy Days, newly returned in March this year! Apparently, there has been a Norwegian man cryogenically frozen in Nederland since the mid-’90s, and the town celebrates it every March. There are heated music tents, food, and specially brewed beer just for the event. Teams compete in costumed coffin races, and there’s a polar plunge, frozen turkey bowling, and a frozen t-shirt contest, all capped off with the Blue Ball, a costumed dance party.
Frozen Dead Guy Days are usually very popular, so you’ve got to book your stay well in advance or carpool if you come up from Boulder or Denver. There isn’t exactly a ton of parking. Tickets cost $25 in advance and $30 at the door per day of the three-day event. Friday’s Blue Ball costs another $25/30 (and comes with ownership of an acre on the moon…??)
You can also pay $175 for a VIP pass for all three days, the Blue Ball, a bottomless cup for beer all weekend, VIP parking, a VIP viewing area for the coffin races and polar plunge, participation in the polar plunge, turkey bowling, and frozen t-shirt contest (so those activities must carry an extra fee), a swag bag, and access to an (I assume stationary) VIP party bus with a snack bar and firepit and a bathroom. It sounds like a deal to me!
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