Vail Golf Club in Colorado: Walk, ride or bike in mountain splendor

VAIL, Colo. -- Don't just play golf at Vail Golf Club, the classic parkland municipal course located in the heart of the village.

Add some exercise to your round.

The 6,766-yard course, designed in 1962 by Ben Krueger, is the rare layout in the Vail Valley where walking makes perfect sense. The mostly flat terrain winds along the Gore Creek with a nice backdrop of the imposing Gore Mountains.

Riding is a great option, too: Not in a cart but on a golf bike. The 10 bikes are quite popular. Make sure you book in advance.

Vail Golf Club will open a new golf and nordic center clubhouse in the fall of 2016. The upgrades will expand the pro shop and public grill and create banquet space for up to 160 guests, along with improving the views of the mountains. The expansion forced the club to shorten the par-5 finishing hole into a nasty par 4. Your scorecard will suffer with the change, but the cozy new home will ultimately be worth it.

Golf Advisor user "FightingIllini201912" gave Vail Golf Club five stars, writing: "As a resident of Illinois I have never seen such a scenic and beautiful setting for a golf course. The course itself looks nice but the mountain backdrop is just phenomenal. Aside from the looks the rest of the course was good too.