Colorado Town Named One of the Best Lake Vacations in United States

Who needs Lake Tahoe or Lake Michigan? This Colorado town is among the best freshwater destinations in the country.

April 28, 2025

Grand Lake is the largest and deepest natural lake in Colorado. gograndlake.com

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Grand Lake, Colorado is living up to its name.

The small mountain town in Grand County was declared one of the best lake towns in the United States, according to a ranking by the online boating marketplace Boatmart released on April 14.

Grand Lake secured third place on the list, beat only by first-place Burlington, Vermont of Lake Champlain and second-place Sandpoint, Idaho of Lake Pend Oreille. Grand Lake outperformed several cities with famous bodies of water, including Lake Superior (fifth place), Lake Tahoe (thirteenth) and Lake Michigan (fifteenth).

Grand Lake's namesake is the largest and deepest natural lake in Colorado. The town also provides access to Lake Granby, Shadow Mountain Lake and Monarch Lake, in addition to Rocky Mountain National Park and Arapaho National Forest.

The ranking praises Grand Lake's "wildlife and postcard-worthy scenery," with "swimmers, anglers, and boaters alike exploring the lake."

The national recognition is a welcome milestone in the town's comeback after Grand Lake and the surrounding county were devastated by the East Troublesome Fire in 2020. The second-largest wildfire in Colorado's history burned 193,812 acres, destroying 366 homes and killing two people. The town created an exhibit to inform tourists about the impact the fire had on Grand Lake in 2021.

Here are the rest of the top ten best lake towns in the country, according to Boatmart:

Burlington, Vermont
Sandpoint, Idaho
Grand Lake, Colorado
Chelan, Washington
Grand Marais, Minnesota
Greensboro, Georgia
Hot Springs, Arkansas
Lakeway, Texas
Cedar Lake, Indiana
Lake Placid, New York

Hannah Metzger is a staff writer at Westword, reporting on news, arts and culture since joining the staff in October 2023. She previously worked at publications including Colorado Politics and the Denver Gazette, where she covered the Colorado Legislature, the Denver and Aurora city councils and breaking news. Hannah has been honored with numerous awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, Colorado Press Association, Colorado Student Media Association and Denver Press Club. She graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder with a major in journalism and a minor in political science.

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