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3 weeks in Colorado?
I am trying to plan a three week trip for me, my wife and our 7 year old daughter. We we’re thinking of flying from Florida at the end of February and then spending three weeks there but we are not huge snow skiers. My daughter loves to play in the snow sledding tubing etc. I am happy to do a road trip and see the sights but was not sure if this is the right time of year for a road trip and if there is enough non skiing activities. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
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I would make your base Colorado Springs. It's not as likely to be very snowpacked and you can go up into the mountains for snow recreation. You can wander through the colorful rock formations at Garden of the Gods; go through Cave of the Winds; wander around Manitou Springs eating saltwater taffy, exploring art galleries and the historic Cliff House hotel; and eat and shop in Old Colorado City. Pikes Peak is open year-round, weather permitting. You can drive up there and get some great views. The normal daily high will be around 50 F and it is almost always sunny.
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Anything can happen weather-wise in Colorado, so it kind of depends on your confidence and experience with winter driving.
Snow has been a little thin on the ground here lately, but that's certainly not a given and you'll most definitely encounter at least some snow if you head for the hills. We live in CO and just returned from a two week road trip ourselves, traveling to Utah to visit the National Parks in low season. It was a great trip - our biggest concern was crossing 11,312 foot Monarch Pass on both ends of the trip. We planned our routing around the weather, for which one needs to be a bit flexible. If snow and outdoor activities are your main interest, I'd suggest avoiding big cities and splitting your time between Buena Vista, possibly Durango and Grand Junction. From BV you can access Monarch and Ski Cooper, either for skiing, or other snow related activities (snowshoeing, etc). I know of two snowmobile operators in the area if a day or half day of guided snowmobiling appeals. You might also like to spend an afternoon at Mt Princeton Hot Springs. You could also take a drive up to Leadville, if weather and conditions allow. https://www.colorfulcolorado.com/vacation/snowmobiling/ From Durango you can access Mesa Verde, and countless snow-related activities, or take a side trip to Telluride for a day of skiing or snow activities. You'll want to avoid Red Mountain Pass in winter, but there are alternate routes to Durango. It's a cute smallish city and it makes a great base for exploring nearby areas. There should be plenty of snow at nearby Purgatory and further up Coal Bank Pass and if the road is in good condition you might even be able to get up to Silverton (no guarantees and don't undertake this without checking road conditions first). The Durango train has a shortened winter trip that might appeal as well: https://www.durangotrain.com/excursi...-winter-train/ https://www.nps.gov/meve/planyourvis...activities.htm From Grand Junction, you can easily get to Colorado Monument, and if the weather cooperates even Grand Mesa (check conditions). And from Grand Junction, you can be in Moab, UT in just over an hour. https://www.nps.gov/colm/index.htm https://www.colorado.com/articles/yo...ter-grand-mesa Whatever you decide, you'll want to keep an eye on the weather, especially on the mountain passes, and have a Plan B if you run into weather issues. If it were me, I'd avoid most of I-70 and Glenwood Canyon, which has been very problematic the past few years. Closures there seem to happen on a regular basis and can throw a spanner in the works. US 50 has been under construction for awhile with one way traffic during most hours of the day, but that project has been suspended until March 2022, so it makes a good winter alternative. So, it's certainly possible and there are lots of options, just do your homework and be mindful of mountain road conditions and ever changing weather. |
This seems so odd to me but..
A 2 week trip to Colorado would be a GREAT time to LEARN to ski or snow board!! Even for one week of the 3. Why not do skie things in the best ski country in the US? Your 7 year old is a great age for the dinosaur eshibits that are all around Colorado. The one in Woodland just outside CO Springs is really interesting and has a working lab and a nice small museum of eshibits. And Morrison on the southern outskirts of Denver has a nice small exhibit. You can google and find other areas for these fossil finds also. Denver has museums and the zoo. Driving in the West in February may be iffy at best with snow. Is there a particular reason for the february timeline? |
7 years old is also a great time to learn to ski. I'd do ski school lesson in the morning and tubing in the afternoon. We go to the local sledding hill as there's no longer official tubing at Crested Butte mountain resort. If there's no snow on the ground, Denver has some wonderful playgrounds. We especially loved one in Centennial. The Littleton Museum was also great but I did not visit there in the winter.
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There's tubing at Keystone--and probably other ski areas. It does require reservations as will other activities you may want especially if the areas are limiting numbers because of Covid restrictions.
https://www.keystoneresort.com/explo...nt-tubing.aspx I might also add that your time frame is a high occupancy/maybe high dollar time because of spring breaks and desirable skiing. |
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