lauramsgarden |
Jul 27th, 2015 04:40 PM |
a lovely week in Grand Lake
Here is a brief, long overdue trip report on the week we spent in July in Grand Lake. First of all, a word about driving routes as that has been controversial. We took the route 285 drive up from New Mexico and it was an excellent choice. It was exquisitely beautiful and easy driving. There were some mountain passes on the way - but if you are going to Northern Colorado I'm not sure there is a way to avoid them. I don't like heights, but didn't find them too bad ( I found the road in the Rocky Mountain National Park much scarier, and don't think I would take it all the way across).
We stayed in a very nice home we found through VRBO - the owners were very accommodating and the house was quite comfortable. There were five of us (my husband, myself and three grown sons, and for two nights a friend as well). Grand Lake is a sweet vacation town, easy to drive in, everything is close, and lots of non-chain places to eat and shop which I love (a coffee and ice cream lovers paradise). We ate out two nights and had good though not necessarily top notch dinners.
Mostly we loved the national park and managed to hike every day. My favorites were Lake Irene, the Colorado River Trail and Green Mountain trail. The young ones climbed one of the taller mountains, and tried the hot springs as well which they raved about (in Granby). We also went kayaking one day - the lake is beautiful and I would have loved to do it more.
So all in all - I highly recommend Grand Lake if you are looking for a Colorado mountain/lake vacation. Happy to answer any questions.
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