Estes Park, Co suggestions

[Makdad]

I'm going to be heading down to Estes Park, Co this coming weekend and was hoping someone could suggest some trails down there. I'm going to have my wife and little girl with me, so I'm not looking for anything crazy, just some scenic/easy trails that we can enjoy and hopefully get some nice family pictures with our new camera.

It's been so dry around here I don't imagine there is a ton of snow down there right now, but if anyone knows better and has been up there recently I'll happily take any advice.

Thanks for thelp.

 

[GrantK]

wish I could help however...
The trails I know around there while great in the summer are impassible in winter (many feet of snow) because they aren't maintained at all.

 

[Makdad]

Yeah, I figured a lot of the trails would be like that, but was hoping there would be at least a couple that were passable in the winter...especially considering how little snow there has been this year. Thanks for the response anyways.

wish I could help however...
The trails I know around there while great in the summer are impassible in winter (many feet of snow) because they aren't maintained at all.

 

[BFLAN]

Yeah I dont know of any trails this time of year that you could take. Some may be OK, your best bet is to just go and see how far you can make until you hit drifts that are too high to plow through.

 

[jessandjamie]

Most of, if not all of the trails up there are closed from Oct-Dec until spring time. That doesn't mean that if you find one you can't go down it. Just at your own risk and the possible risk of a ranger hassling you. But to answer your question I can't think of any "4 wheel" trails in the immediate area. Plenty if you go north or south of highway 34 though. Good luck.

 

[4BYTOY]

I'm going to be heading down to Estes Park, Co this coming weekend and was hoping someone could suggest some trails down there.

I don't know of any trails that you could 4wheel around Estes Park as most of the area around town is part of Rocky Mountain NP. However, if you are coming up Hwy 34 from Loveland there is plenty of forest land that has some trails open to 4wheeling.

As for the snow, my friends that live outside of Estes Park claim they got about 10 inches of snow this weekend. Much of the land above Estes 10,000 ft. and above has a 28" base already. Yes, that is really down for this time of year, but three feet of snow is more than I care to break a trail with in my 4Runner. In the lower part of the canyon, the snow is minor or non-existent.

My advice, stop at the USDA Forest Service office in Ft. Collins and ask for a "Motor Vehicle Use Map" (it's free) for the Canyon Lakes Ranger District and Roosevelt National Forest. The map details all of the trails (and roads) in these areas. (Details such as type of road or trail surface, dates the roads/ trails are open, length of trail, type of trail (as some are for ATV's and narrow 48" wide) and where to find free camping. Great source for the summer.

Enjoy your trip to Estes...my avatar tells how I spend my time above Estes...snowshoeing

Cheers
4BYTOY