In 1882, the Denver, South Park & Pacific railroad built the Section House at the 11,481-foot summit of Boreas Pass to shelter the crews who kept the narrow-gauge line open across the Continental Divide. Restored in the 1990s through a partnership between the nonprofit Summit Huts Association and the U.S. Forest Service — with local volunteers doing much of the work — it now sleeps about a dozen guests hut-style in one of Colorado's most historic overnight settings.

Next door stands Ken's Cabin, a tiny three-person hideaway dating to the 1860s wagon-road era and among the oldest structures in Summit County.

Winter guests earn their bunks with a roughly 3.5-mile ski or snowshoe up the old railroad grade from the Boreas Pass winter closure gate above Breckenridge. Wood stoves, solar lights and a shared kitchen keep the experience nearly as simple as the section crews knew it.