Dillon, Colorado's Ice Castles Will Make Your Winter Dreams Come True

I’m an absolute desert baby at heart so snow, ice, and Patagonia jackets are all unfamiliar territory to me. Snow is a rarity for me to see, and I still get all giddy inside when I see the little flurries fall out of the sky. Well, this past weekend I took a trip to the Ice Castles in Dillon, Colorado and I was utterly amazed.

I posted a photo after attending and got so many questions and comments about my experience there I thought I should write a blog post about it! I'm glad you are all curious about this gem of a place because it certainly should be on your bucket list!

A little over a year ago I was rummaging through Instagram (as you do) and I stumbled across this photo of a girl in an icicle looking archway and I thought to myself how freakin amazing is that!  With that, I immediately became so fascinated with this little hideaway and found out everything I could about them.

This little winter wonderland is known as the Ice Castles in Dillon, Colorado. For me, this was very convenient because my boyfriend is from Colorado. Eventually, I knew we would make our way up to the Rocky Mountains and maybe I would find myself at the Ice Castles. Well, without fail, for my birthday, my boyfriend bought me a plane ticket, flew me out to Colorado and bought us passes to visit Ice Castles. Ladies, this is LIVING PROOF boys do listen to us. 

I was so excited to go PLUS it was extra magical because it had just snowed earlier in the day so all the things winter were fresh. We got a room (although I should say condo, that room was huge!) up in Keystone, Colorado and was able to enjoy some of the ski towns while we were up there. A perfect little getaway if you ask me.

We scheduled our time at the Ice Castles for 4:00p because we wanted to see the exhibit in the daytime and nighttime when they have all the lights on. I have to say that was the ideal time to go. We spent about 4 hours there and it was like seeing two exhibits. We spent the first hour and a half there exploring the canvas. There were tunnels that led into igloos, deathly looking icicles staring you right in the face and hanging so low you could almost touch them, and there was an ice slide which was wicked fun.

It's been so much fun to go through all of our photos and I wanted to share our favorites and our experience with you guys. 

Disclaimer: All photos were shot with my iPhone XR. I am not a professional photographer, I jsut wanted to capture the magic.

This is the view outside of that little ice window rob is posing in front of.

Okay, so about this time, it is getting darker, Rob and I are growing colder but we can't leave the park because there is no re-entry. All we really wanted was to slam a beer down so we could warm up and stay for the light portion of the exhibit. We asked a lady at the exit if we could leave and come back and she said no (go figure), only if we had to use the restroom. Hmm... so it IS possible to come back in! We went back to the entrance and told the guy I forgot our gloves in our car and he said no problem and that he would remember us.

Scorage, we're out of the park WITH a way back in. We headed over to Pug Ryans Brewery (700ft away from the entrance of the Ice Castles) and slammed a peppermint schnapps shot because 'tis the season.' It would've tasted better with some hot chocolate but not outside food or beverages were allowed and we were in a hurry. Minty liquor was the right way to go because my belly, throat, and mouth were VERY warm after that so we headed back to see the shift of the Ice Castles from day to night.

Fun fact: Rob took the below picture as I slid under him through his legs, not bad for an upside-down down angle. 

This was one of the smaller ice slides.

Tips to Consider If You Plan On Visting The Ice Castles

• Sit upright while going down the main ice slide, you will go so much faster
• It would be best to go at the end of January on a weekday when all the winter breaks are done and over with if yu are looking to avoid the kiddies.
• There is no re-entry but if you can manage to sneak out and sneak back in (read above for how Rob and I managed this) I recommend grabbing a shot of Peppermint Schnapps at Pug Ryans Brewery and heading back for the night show
• Bring in alcohol and put a liquor coat on as your top layer
• Wear snow clothes. If you want to slide down the ice slides and crawl through the tunnels to capture the whole experience, snow clothes are a must. At the minimum, you'll need gloves. 

I love boomerangs so I took quite a few of those with some videos in between and wrapped them all into a video for you to enjoy. Feel free to take a look below!

A HUGE shoutout to my boyfriend for taking me here. He secretly probably just wanted me to get off his back about it but either way, he's a total sweetheart for fulfilling this travel bullet point.

Now, I don't want to spoil some of the magic but I do want you to know this is a man-made exhibit. ME, being the desert rat I am and not understanding how the weather and mother nature work, thought this was a magical little ice kingdom wedged in between some mountains somewhere naturally. Just know, it is in a fenced-in area behind a lodge. Still very magical, but just want to keep it real with ya.

Ugh, I miss the Ice Castles. It was an absolute treat to spend the day with my boyfriend in this jewel of a spot. Do you have any fun winter spots you would recommend? Let's talk about them in the comments below!