Activities: Nestled in the heart of the historic Brush Creek Valley, the Eagle Ranch Golf course offers the chance to play an Arnold Palmer designed course at an elevation of 6,600 feet, without falling off the side of a mountain on a downhill lie.

Just down the road from Vail and Beaver Creek, Eagle Ranch plays along the banks of picturesque Brush Creek. More than two years of careful planning and painstaking planting work along the courses stream banks have focused on the environmental vitality of Eagle Ranch, with the golf course maturing into a lush wetlands meadow. On some holes, the perfect club may be a fly rod.

Less than a 1,000 foot variance in elevation between the highest and lowest points on the course allows the option to walk while the 6,600 foot elevation extends playing season to the end of fall. "The fairways are very playable and the roughs are not extremely tough," says Palmer. "Mountain Golf at its level best."