So, ever since I saw some pics in the 5th gen off road thread of Ouray I've wanted to visit there and Colorado in general. I was hoping to get some advice from locals or experienced visitors as to ideas of places to visit in the state or even narrow it down to a region of the state would be nice. The main draw of visiting the state is nature and hiking. Sadly we would be flying out so no offroading. Also since my wife is going too, any ideas for nice small towns to visit near hikes are a plus. Of course any ideas of cities to visit ( denver, aspen, ???) would be welcome as well as we usually like to break up a trip with part city and part nature. Hope you guys can help!
Need help planning trip to Colorado
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I would suggest Durango, Silverton, Ouray, Telluride and even Great Sand Dunes and Mesa Verde National Parks if you have time to venture slightly further. Even though you would be flying to Colorado, there are a plethora of 4x4 and Jeep rentals available in those areas...
snivilous
Senior Member
If you fly into Denver, you can head west about an hour (from the airport) to Boulder, which is right against the Rockies and the flat irons. It's the best city there is in my opinion, very outdoors based. Tons of rock climbing and hiking nearby. If you head a half hour west of Boulder, 20 miles into the Mountains is Nederland (halfway between Rocky Mountain National Park and I-70). Which is a small tourist type of town, with lots of hiking and a ski area nearby. It's nice since it's not all condos like a lot of ski resort towns, it's just a small area.
I would say base your adventures around Boulder since it's the capital of hiking/climbing, though honestly all of Colorado (west of Denver) is pretty sweet. I'm not a fan of Telluride or Estes Park and places like those since they are city-ified, though mountains are mountains.
If you take I-70 west and cross the divide and then head north to Granby and Grand Lake there are some really cool areas and lakes, though that's about a 3 hour drive from the airport probably. Leadville, south of I-70 is really cool and a nice drive to it. Like the above guy said, Great Sand Dunes is wicked cool too, and a nice drive through the Sangre de Cristo. It all depends on your preference, Colorado has everything except ocean beaches. My preference is away from the cities and just hopping from small town to town. Good luck!
I would say base your adventures around Boulder since it's the capital of hiking/climbing, though honestly all of Colorado (west of Denver) is pretty sweet. I'm not a fan of Telluride or Estes Park and places like those since they are city-ified, though mountains are mountains.
If you take I-70 west and cross the divide and then head north to Granby and Grand Lake there are some really cool areas and lakes, though that's about a 3 hour drive from the airport probably. Leadville, south of I-70 is really cool and a nice drive to it. Like the above guy said, Great Sand Dunes is wicked cool too, and a nice drive through the Sangre de Cristo. It all depends on your preference, Colorado has everything except ocean beaches. My preference is away from the cities and just hopping from small town to town. Good luck!
slapdappy
Banned
hike Maroon Bells. Don't bother with Denver. Boulder is ok. You'll spend the day on the Pearl St mall. Spend your time in the Mts. Perhaps a raft trip on the Arkansas and a night in Sedalia. Drive Independence Pass Rte 82 east of Aspen. Hike up Aspen Mt and get a free ride down on the Gondola. Hike the Colorado Trail at Kenosha Pass, beautiful hillside of Aspen trees. Take peak to peak hwy rte 119/72/7 north to Estes Park and spend night in cabin. drive through park to Grand Lake. I camped at Great Sand Dunes and it is kind of cool, but its just a huge, huge pile of sand. If you want to hike up a big sand pile, then go for it. A classic thing is hiking one of the 50+ 14'ers.
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Kmvreter
New member
Hope the OP doesn't mind if I piggyback on this somewhat recent thread.
Just found out I'll be in Denver in September for a meeting. I'm planning to tack on a few extra days to fill out the weekend and drive around with the wife.
After a quick look at the map, the suggestions above and surfing some ideas on the net, here's my 2-1/2 day quick drive plan:
Start in Denver
285/126/67 south to Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak (stay in Colorado Springs)
24/82 west to Maroon Bells, Aspen & Glenwood Springs to catch I70 east (stay in Vail)
I70 east to 40/34 north through Rock Mtn NP, 7/72 & 119S to Golden (or 119E to Boulder)
End back in Denver
Plenty of stops for hikes and pics.
Open to any other suggestions such as places I've missed, places to avoid, problems with this route, most importantly good places to eat (good bar in Denver?) Unfortunately we can't get too far south and west in the limited time.
Looking forward to seeing the mountains up close. Thanks in advance.
Just found out I'll be in Denver in September for a meeting. I'm planning to tack on a few extra days to fill out the weekend and drive around with the wife.
After a quick look at the map, the suggestions above and surfing some ideas on the net, here's my 2-1/2 day quick drive plan:
Start in Denver
285/126/67 south to Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak (stay in Colorado Springs)
24/82 west to Maroon Bells, Aspen & Glenwood Springs to catch I70 east (stay in Vail)
I70 east to 40/34 north through Rock Mtn NP, 7/72 & 119S to Golden (or 119E to Boulder)
End back in Denver
Plenty of stops for hikes and pics.
Open to any other suggestions such as places I've missed, places to avoid, problems with this route, most importantly good places to eat (good bar in Denver?) Unfortunately we can't get too far south and west in the limited time.
Looking forward to seeing the mountains up close. Thanks in advance.
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bofa
New member
I can't answer all of your questions because I'm still exploring CO myself... but here's some touristy stuff:
Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak are good. You can drive Pikes Peak or grab some tickets on the Cog Railway, which is pretty fun. Just be careful in that area if there are any downpours.. they are getting pummeled with muddy flash floods from runoff from the Black Forrest fires. Hopefully the shops and stuff recover before you make it down.
If you make it to Golden, be sure to take a Coors Brewery tour. If you decide on Boulder, Celestial Seasonings does tours too. Or just do both.
While in Denver, I'm a big fan of Sam's No. 3 for breakfast. There are quite a few bars, it's just a matter of what you want to drink.
Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak are good. You can drive Pikes Peak or grab some tickets on the Cog Railway, which is pretty fun. Just be careful in that area if there are any downpours.. they are getting pummeled with muddy flash floods from runoff from the Black Forrest fires. Hopefully the shops and stuff recover before you make it down.
If you make it to Golden, be sure to take a Coors Brewery tour. If you decide on Boulder, Celestial Seasonings does tours too. Or just do both.
While in Denver, I'm a big fan of Sam's No. 3 for breakfast. There are quite a few bars, it's just a matter of what you want to drink.
if you hike Maroon Bells, then I would recommend getting there early so you can drive to the parking lot before it closes to avoid having to use their shuttle; if you're really ambitious, then I would even recommend starting your hike early (e.g. 0500 hrs) so you can finish before the afternoon showers and/or storms roll in
the Peak-To-Peak Highway is nice, you can stop in Nederland and drive around or hike; you can also hike to Longs Peak or Estes Peak a little further north of there
in RMNP, I would highly recommend the one-way Old Fall River Road drive up to the Alpine Visitor Center
further west of RMNP, I would recommend stopping in Hot Sulphur Springs and trying the spa, and then driving Trough Road from Kremmling southwest down to Colorado Hwy 131 [and if you like to shoot, then you can use the Byers Canyon Shooting Range, open to the public free of charge by the Colorado Parks and Wildlife between Hot Sulphur Springs and Kremmling...]
bofa
New member
The original is downtown at the corner of 15th and Curtis - that's the one I would recommend for your first time. If for some reason you end up outside downtown, there is one it Aurora and a new one in Glendale.
If you like beer (and a good variety or exotics) I'd recommend Rock Bottom Brewery for lunch. It's on 16th and only a few blocks from Sam's (there are other locations in CO too if you aren't downtown for lunch). They have a lot of choices on tap and, back when I still ate chicken, I loved their Mac 'n Chicken.
Beers for lunch... PBR's or HQ craft beer?
PBR = Back Country Provisions $3.75 for a 24oz PBR on 16th and Wazee.
Lucky Pie also 16th and Wazee great selection of beer.
Wynkoop Brewery 17th and Wynkoop Great beer that they brew themselves
Vine St. pub excellent brewery 17th and Vine st.
Fresh Craft Blake and 15th Excellent beer list
Ping Pong and beer Ace on 17th and Pearl
the list is huge... narrow it down (what you are looking for) and I can help you out more...
IMO that's a pretty ambitious trip, especially day two. And day three. It takes much longer to drive those routes than you would expect, partially due to the mountain roads, partially due to the oh wow stops you'll make everywhere. I think you'd spend 70% of your time driving.
If you do want to do this I'd suggest something simpler like head west and do mt Evans, should see mountain goats. Then head over to the best western in Frisco, vail (expensive) or if you have time Leadville.
Next day get up early and explore the mining area at Leadville briefly then head south then west by twin lakes, over independence pass and to maroon belles south of aspen (aspen==expensive) then over to glenwood springs and stay there. Last time we were there we went from Frisco to Maroon Belles to Glenwood Springs to Frisco. We didn't stop all that long at any one place but it was an all day trip.
Last day follow 70 and stop at hanging lake if you want a strenuous trail to a cool lake. Stop in Vail if you want, or go over to Breckenridge if you want or explore some areas west of Denver.
A better idea would be to just head up to Estes Park and get a place there, check reviews. There are some cottages on the river on the east edge of town. They are cheap, clean but nothing fancy and they have a gas grill on the deck over the river. Visit the Stanley hotel (shining movie) then head into RMNP and explore the east side. Before dusk head into the park and see how many elk you can count, be careful driving even in the western part of Estes Park.
Second day drive over the pass and get ice cream, theres supposed to be some great place in grand lake. The west side of the park is much different than the east.
Third day figure out what you want to do or see and head out. There are awesome trails some easy some harder, but great. I could give you a few to check out.
Viper45
New member
I've actually haven't been to RMNP since I was a kid, but Trail Damage I a good starting reference point for most of the trails I haven't run before; plus it'll tell you everything you can do along your route.
Kmvreter
New member
Sorry, but I should have been more specific. I'll have a rental car so I won't be running any trails (although I would like to.)
Which one trail in RMNP is a HIKING "must do"?
