6 full days in Colorado Itinerary Ideas
 

My husband, adult son and I booked great deal "spur of the moment flights" to Denver arriving on the evening of May 9th departing morning of the 16th. We are interested in short hikes, wildlife viewing, fly fishing, and photography. We hope to visit RMNP but are now concerned that it will not be open this early in May. I would love to also see the San Juan Mountains and Pikes Peak. Our son wants to visit Red Rocks Amphitheater on the 12th for a concert so I'm afraid we wont be able to fit everything in this time frame. Is it possible to visit the amphitheater and not attend a concert? Looking for options and suggestions. Thanks in advance.

google is your friend

http://redrocksonline.com/visitor-in...irections-maps

have a fun trip

RMNP is open year round, but probably not Trail Ridge Road.

RMNP will be open, and crowded. If there is late snowfall, as Sylvia said, you may only get up to Many Parks Curve or Rainbow Curve, but there are plenty of other good spots, and a great many short and intermediate hiking options.

The easiest - walk around Sprague Lake off Bear Lake Road, or - outside the park - around Lily Lake off Highway 7 (if you do, go clockwise and at the back, scramble up and come back to the front over the top - much fun).

Before you enter the park from either entrance, pull in at the Visitor Center and ask about conditions. From Bear Lake up to the three cute lakes Nymph, Dream, and Emerald for example, you may need crampons - they'll tell you.

Make sure you go check out the Alluvial Fan - the field of boulders that came down when a lake burst high up in 1982 and caused incredible flooding etc. - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawn_Lake_Dam

There are two fourteeners where you can drive right up to the top. Mt. Evans doesn't open until Memorial Day (or later). Pikes Peak is the other one - check when it gets closer to your trip.

You can go to Red Rocks - lots of people do their morning exercises there, it's like a rec center on some days. But if there is an afternoon or evening concert, the hours for the public may be limited, so go before sunrise and enjoy the views as the sun comes up over Kansas.

Another incredible sunrise can be had at the Garden of the Gods - be tough on yourselves and get up really early, be there long before the first light and find a spot where you can see east and where the first rays will light up rocks behind you. Awesome! See www.gardenofgods.com/

Early May is still late winter in the mountains. Anything above 9000 feet or so will be snow covered and anything from 7000 up will be mud. May is often referred to as mud season for good reason so hiking will be extremely limited. So far this season we are headed to a record snow fall in the mountains. At the moment the east side of the divide is a little light so Estes Park, any of the front range should be a little dryer. But cross the divide and the world changes.

All the national parks are always open. Just a question of how or how high you can go in the parks. The road across RMNP called Trail Ridge road will not be open until Memorial day weekend - never is and sometimes not even that weekend. Same for the road up Mt. Evans. Pikes Peak can have similar problems so check the web site for when it is open. The cog railroad is the best way up but don't know the schedule.

The ski areas with the possible exception of Arapahoe Basin will be closed and changing over to summer activities. You can get great lodging and restaurants deals at this time.

Red Rocks is a part of the Denver park system and is always open except for when a concert is scheduled then areas are closed off prior to the concert.

Not sure how good fly fishing will be at that time. All of the streams will be running very full if not with some flood caused by the massive snowpack this year along with Spring run off. White water rafting could be great.

Be sure to bring your winter clothing along with rain gear. March, April, and May are our wettest month. So you just need to be prepared for a wide range of weather if you go into the mountains.

Denver itself should be absolutely lovely with Spring breaking out. Although the first year we lived here, May 9th was the only snow day for our school district that year.

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If you going to a concert on the May 12th (Bonobo & Nick Murphy) at Red Rock as you stated in your OP, Devil's Thumb doesn't work very well since it is a long ways and you will have to go via Winter Park. You could go for a day or two but conditions around Devil's Thumb could be very iffy at that time of year. There is a reason they are offering a sale. If you are in RMNP then you will come down the front range via Boulder, Golder, and around on US 40 to get to D Thumb.