Vail Vacations, Vail Vacation Reviews, Tourism Guide

Incredibly, Vail is a very young town. It wasnt incoroporated until 1966, at the base of Vails prominent ski resorts. The land, however, is quite historic.

Vail was the hunting ground and summer residence of the Ute Indians before the arrival of the white man in the mid-19th century. Irishman George Gore, known as Lord Gore, and American frontiersman Jim Bridger were among the first explorers to venture into the mountainous region.

By the 1870s, the Gore Range was attracting fortune seekers as the news spread that its hills contained both gold and silver. Mines were set up and railroad tracks laid down to transport the precious metals. The greedy intruders drove the Ute Indians from the land; upon their departure, the Utes allegedly set fire to thousands of acres of trees, resulting in the deforested area today known as Vails famous Back Bowls.

It wasnt long before the miners depleted the areas mineral resources and abandoned the valley. It remained a peaceful home for sheep ranchers until 1939, when construction began on Highway 6, running from Denver through the Gore Valley. Charlie Vail, the projects engineer, lent his name to the road--the Vail Pass--and eventually to the Town of Vail, too.

During World War II, the Armys Tenth Mountain Division used the Vail area for backcountry survival training. After the war, many of the men who trained there were drawn back to the mountain valleys.

Vail is also known for its fequent visits by celebrities.