Crested Butte Wildflower Festival

July 11-20, 2025

The Crested Butte Wildflower Festival is an annual 10-day Festival offering over 150 workshops in wildflower expertise each July, be it painting, pollination, photography, culinary arts, or leading hikes into the wild beyond in the heart of the Wildflower Capital of Colorado, Crested Butte.

The Wildflower Festival began in 1986 through the efforts of a few insightful Crested Butte locals. The Festival has grown into a summer-long season with over 150 events offered by over 40 instructors, tour guides, and volunteers.

Our 501(c)3 nonprofit organization was founded in 1986 to celebrate the beauty of the montane and alpine wildflower environments in and around the Gunnison Valley. Today we continue to advocate for the preservation and appreciation of wildflowers and instill both awareness and admiration of our interdependence with our natural wildflower habitats through our events.

Navigating Our Program

Our Program Guide divides up our events into several umbrella categories: Art, Botany, Culinary & Medicinal, Geology & Geobotany, Members Only, Photography, Popular Pollinators, Garden Tours, Jeep Tours, and Guided Hikes. These sections are preceded with an overview of events by day & time.

Each section will introduce the pertaining umbrella category and offer helpful insight on special requirements to keep in mind while deciding which events to register for (such as supplies needed or required fitness levels).

Each event will list the name of the event, name of the event leader, price of the event, a brief event description, as well as the dates and time the event is offered. Next to each date and time option is a “code” for that specific occurrence of the event. This is the code you will use to register for that specific occurrence of that event. As applicable, each event listed will also list the level of expertise and materials needed to participate.

**Hikes and Walks ** The listed mileage for our events is for the roundtrip distance, though these are estimates as it depends on how the instructor manages the group – sometimes they go a little further, sometimes a little less. It varies year to year and group to group. If you are looking for a set route, one of the Garden Tours, “Wildflower ID Walks,” “Wonderful Wildflower Connections,” or “Gothic Wildflowers” hikes/walks would be great options!

“Follow the Bloom” is a great event to see where the most magnificent blooms are, as there is no set route and leaders will take you to the best blooms at the time of the event.

Geobotany events: What is Geobotany? Think of it as flower ID and geology combined in order to tell us what flowers grow where due to the geology and soil of the area. These events do not have a set route; hiking depends on the level of fitness within the participants and where the flowers are blooming most brilliantly at the time of the event.

Butterfly hikes tend to be hot and sunnier than other hikes, since these conditions are perfect for butterflies!

**Transportation ** Unless the event description specifically states that transportation is provided, you’ll meet at your class location (specified on your registration confirmation email) and your leader will split the class into 2-4 carpools. You may be asked to drive and take other guests in your vehicle, and you will follow the leader to your event. If you do not have a vehicle, you will be able to ride with someone else.

We do offer the Garden Tours/Historic Garden Tours that can be accessed from the 4-Way Stop in town, so no transportation would be needed for those if your transportation options are limited. Our Art classes are also great options for in-town event options!

Registration Dates

March 31st – Garden Level & Fairy Slipper level Members can start registering for events April 2nd – Mariposa Lily, and Scarlet Gilia can start registering April 4th – Columbine level Members can start registering April 7th – Lupine Members can start registering April 10th – Blue Flax Members can start registering April 14th – General registration opens June 14th – Cancellation & transfer deadline

Wildflower Preservation

Let it Grow Please do not pick, cut, or walk on wildflowers or other plants! If you see someone doing this, please give them a friendly reminder not to, and ask them to pass it along to others.

Stay on the Trail Please stay on the trail. If another trail user needs to pass you, please gently step off the trail and wait for them to pass. Please do not create multiple, parallel trails. If a trail is wet, snowy, or muddy, please do your best to keep to the main trail. This will prevent the creation of parallel trails.

Protect Our Pollinators The fauna in the Valley play an imperative role in our unique ecosystem. While you explore the magic of Crested Butte, if you happen upon one of our many types of pollinators, please give them space and do not disturb their hard work.

Learn & Share One of the most important tools in preservation is awareness. Take what you learn at the Festival and pollinate the knowledge!

For more information, visit our offical website.