Enjoy Grand County | Kremmling, Colorado

With gas prices approaching $4 a gallon, it makes sense to stay closer to home when thinking about traveling around. On Friday, I called the Kremmling Chamber of Commerce to ask where to go for the best eats in town.

I was given a variety of choices by the nice lady on the other end, and eventually settled on the Moose Cafe because they were said to have good burgers.

The drive from Fraser to Kremmling takes about 50 minutes, but the scenery--especially this time of year--is spectacular. As you drive by the Windy Gap reservoir, you see the now swollen waters of the Colorado River as it winds its way through ranch country on its way to Hot Sulphur Springs and Byers Canyon just beyond:

Byers Canyon From: route40.net

On the other side of beautiful Byers Canyon, the land opens up and you're greeted by the sage brush covered rolling hills of West Grand. After passing the Byers Canyon Shooting Range, you'll shortly be passing by the town of Parshall. Don't blink--you'll miss it!

Approaching Kremmling from the east, you pass by the end of runway 27 at McElroy Field off your left side. The airport has expanded a bit since I flew out of there as a teenager. The runways and tarmac are improved and there are more hangars.

As you pass the entrance to the airport, you'll notice a Cobra attack helicopter mounted on a pylon in front of the West Grand High School on your right. That's not something you see every day!

Many people at the east of the county talk about, "the way things use to be..." Well, a trip to Kremmling will set those laments to rest. Kremmling hasn't changed as much as other parts of the county over the years, and that's a good thing. I like it over there, because the town has a very local feel to it.

The Moose Cafe is on the right side of U.S. 40 (Main Street) at the west end of town, and parking is right off the street. We pulled in about 10 minutes before they closed (whoops!), but they graciously sat us and handed us our menus:

Moose Cafe From yelp.com

Since the burger is what was recommended, the burger is what we got. And how did it taste? Wonderful. I got the mushroom and swiss, well-done. It came with fresh cut onions and lettuce, and the vegetables were so fresh they burst in your mouth with each bite. It was, in a word, delicious. I'm finicky about my fries; I like thin-cut and crispy fries. The Moose Cafe has some of the best fries around. It gets a thumbs up.

After our meal, we headed over to Big Shooter's Coffee Shop:

From Flickr User bugeaters

Big Shooters features the high-mountain roasted beans of the Rocky Mountain Roastery in Fraser. They also have a wide variety of ice cream and associated shakes and cones. My kids settled on cookies 'n cream, my wife went for a chocolate shake and I had to have a vanilla malt.

The thing that sets Big Shooters apart from most coffee shops is its large size. Friday the 13th was a beautiful day in Grand County, so outside seating was a must. Big Shooters has a three-man lift chair mounted adjacent to their parking lot, and my kids immediately set about eating their ice cream and swinging on the chair. My wife and I joined them and had a wonderful time eating our ice cream and swinging.

We could have headed toward Denver, but going the opposite direction revealed prettier country and a unique experience right here in Grand County. Plus, it was cold down there on Friday!