Here is my 4-day itinerary for visiting the Colorado mountains! There are plenty of beautiful mountain towns to explore in Colorado, but my favorite is Estes Park. My mom's family went on a vacation there when they were kids and decided to explore the area again with a family reunion decades later, bringing all the cousins and spouses. We had a blast, fell in love with the beauty and nature, and keep going back. Lucky for us, some family members loved it so much they actually ended up buying a home in Estes!
Some people might complain that Estes is a bit touristy and crowded compared to other locations--such as Grand Lake--but I love the charm and never feel overwhelmed by the tourists, and I mostly visit during peak times in July. Maybe some of the shops in town are a bit kitschy, but they are fun and the area is super walkable. It is hard to beat having access to an adorable mountain town a 1.5 hour drive from the airport while also being the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park, with this entrance being best for some of the most famous trails in the park.
This is the itinerary I used for a girls' weekend in July. We were able to use my family member's house, but if you plan to travel in the summer I highly suggest booking accommodations pretty far in advance. We have previously stayed in single-family cabins or Airbnbs (there are so many to choose from!), but there are also a good amount of hotels and nicely renovated motels in the area.
Day 1:
Depending on where you are coming from, try to arrive either the night before or in the morning. All of us were coming from the east and had flights that left after work and arrived between 9:00-11:00pm the night before, so we grabbed an airport hotel. After waking up, we started our morning at the hip Stanley Marketplace, enjoying a delicious breakfast from Denver Biscuit Co.
There are two routes to get to Estes Park from Denver: one is the toll road that takes you straight north towards Longmont then over. Every car rental agent believes this is the one and only route and will therefore insist you have a toll pass. I think a toll pass is useful (especially for driving some airport roads on the way back), but not entirely necessary if you plan for traffic. The other non-toll route takes you west through Boulder then up. Because we were driving during an early Friday afternoon, the traffic was not bad and times were comparable. We chose the Boulder route exclusively because we wanted to stop at a Trader Joe's to stock up on some snacks! Estes Park does have a Safeway grocery store, but it can get pretty crowded in the summer. There are also plenty of stores in Longmont to stock up at if you choose the toll route.
After getting settled and soaking up the sunshine and views, we had a dinner reservation at Bird & Jim, a delicious family-favorite restaurant. We then topped off our first night with drinks at the haunted Stanley Hotel. This hotel has such a cool ambiance, making it fun to just wander around. I have been on 3 (!) ghost tours here, and they have progressively gotten worse as time goes on--they are pretty cheesy now! But the guides know a lot of the hotel's history and I recommend doing it at least once. We opted to skip that this time and just got drinks and dessert at the Whiskey Bar & Lounge (main building). I also love grabbing happy hour on the front porch!
Day 2:
Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) has required timed entry reservations during the peak season for the last few years, and as long as you plan ahead it is easy! We reserved our slots about a month in advance. There are two options for entrance: Park Access and Park Access+. Park Access+ includes entry to the Bear Lake Corridor, which has some of the top hiking trails in the area. For our trip, we secured Park Access+ for 2pm entry (we had two cars and therefore needed to secure two entry tickets).
After a relaxing morning, we opted to grab some lunch and explore downtown Estes before heading into the park. Some of our favorite stops in town include: Kind Coffee, Brownfield's, Trendz At The Park, and--most important--Hayley's Ice Cream! You cannot go wrong with a Huckleberry ice cream cone.
Our entrance was at 2pm, but we got in line 20 minutes early at the Beaver Meadows entrance because it can sometimes take up to 40 minutes to get through. Once in, we headed right to the Bear Lake Corridor overflow parking lot and shuttled up to Bear Lake. My group of friends was a mix of avid hikers and non-hikers, so I thought the flat half-mile hike around Bear Lake would be a nice way to warm up and see the views; it ended up feeling a bit too short, but the views are great! Most hikers are here to hike all the way up to Emerald Lake (stopping at Nymph and Dream Lakes on the way)--which I have done 3-4 times and always enjoy. It is moderately challenging (mostly uphill) and about 3.2 miles long.
After getting back to our car, we headed up Trail Ridge Road which is the scenic route through the park and is the highest continuously paved road in America! I love this drive. We usually drive up to the Alpine Visitor Center at 11,796 feet and turn around, but you can continue on the road all the way to Grand Lake. If you choose that option, you either have to drive Trail Ridge Road all the way back, or take a road around the park which can be upwards of 1.5 hours back to Estes. Due to the wildlife, the views, the switchbacks, and the frequent pull offs, it is not a quick drive--I believe our drive up and back down, to include all of our stops, took about 2 hours.
For us, we stopped at the Rainbow Curve Overlook, the Forest Canyon Overlook, and the Tundra Communities Trailhead. At the Tundra trailhead, we all got out with some of us completing the full 1.2 mile hike. It is not long, but at this elevation you will get winded much more quickly! A magnificent herd of hundreds of elk ended up crossing the trail while we were on it and we stopped in awe to enjoy the view of these majestic animals--to include several babies--and waited until they were safely across the path. Please do not pet the wildlife or get too close! In addition to the elk, we saw plenty of marmots and pikas on the drive and at overlooks; in times past, I have also seen bighorn sheep. By the time we reached Alpine Visitor Center, it was unfortunately closed. It is normally one of my favorite stops to buy souvenirs and they also have a nice cafeteria.
Our ride down took place during golden hour and beginning of dusk, which was a first for me and a beautiful time to be in the park. As the pinks and purples were starting to emerge in the sky, with our windows down and Fleetwood Mac playing, it was a magical drive. We opted to exit out the Fall River Road entrance in order to drive past Sheep Lakes. A lot of animals are most active at dawn and dusk and these lakes serve as an important watering hole. We didn't see anything this time, but I have seen several moose here, bighorn sheep, and even coyotes. It is always worth a stop if you are driving by! We ended our night at the absolutely delicious Himalayan Curry & Kebob and enjoyed s'mores by our firepit.
Day 3:
The temperature up in the mountains in July is usually in the 70s in town, getting cooler the higher up you go. We wanted to take advantage of the warm weather and ended up going down in elevation to where it was a bit hotter in Lyons, a 30 minute drive away. There, we had made last minute reservations at Ray's River Rentals and had an absolute blast tubing the river! The rental station is located in a very popular park--which made it a bit hard to find parking--and you pick up your safety equipment, tubes, and get a brief rundown of the potential river drop-in locations and are let loose. We took their recommendations and each trip down the river was about 20 minutes and definitely had some hite water rapids to go through which we really enjoyed. It was fast and the water was cold, but there were stretches of flat water to catch your breath. We all were laughing the whole way through, and each person fell off their tube at least once so make sure all your belongings are secured and water proof. You exit the river about a 15 minute walk away from the park and can repeat the cycle as much as you want; we did about three runs.
If tubing isn't your thing, there are plenty of other activities in the area! If you want to go back in the park for more hiking, in addition to Emerald Lake, I also love climbing around Alluvial Fan. My family also loves to do picnics at Brainard Lake Recreation Area (about 50 minutes away), which has beautiful hiking around it and I have seen moose every time I go. We have also had a lot of fun doing ATV and Green Jeep Tours.
Day 4:
The hikers in our group wanted to get up early to do the Emerald Lake hike. This was not planned but luckily, RMNP reserves about 40% of the daily passes for release the day before, starting around 7pm. So the previous night we logged in right at 7 and snagged a 6:00am Park Pass+. Entering right at 6:00am, driving up, parking, completing the hike, and making a very mandatory stop at the adorable Coffee on the Rocks on the way back, took us about 4 hours. I love this hike and it's mountain views!
After helping the non-hikers finish cleaning up the house, we departed Estes Park around 1100 for the 1.5 hour drive back to the Denver airport, giving us plenty of time to stop for lunch and return our rental car before our early evening flights.
Comments