Colorado help
Apr 11th, 2019 | 03:40 PM
#1
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Joined: Apr 2019
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Colorado help
ive been to Colorado numerous times but not in many years. I’m starting to plan a trip with some very specific parameters and would love some insight and guidance:
trip will be first week/weekend of October 2020
six adults (three couples), renting a house, to celebrate my wife’s 40th birthday. I will be the old guy at 48. Age range of group is 38-48 and we do an annual trip with this gang.
I know how amazing and vast the state is but I’m trying to find Us a spot to stay within roughly two
hours of Denver airport. It’s not a long trip and want to maximize time together and not have a huge haul when we land (all coming from different parts of the country).
ideally we are in or close to a town where there are decent dining and drinking options. The gang varies in fitness and interest in rugged outdoor activity; priorities will be short hikes, scenic drives, looking at and hopefully staying in scenic vistas; eating and drinking together, maybe some hot tubbing. Lots of cocktails and conversation and cozying up by the fire.
Considering breckenridge, Estes Park, maybe boulder but we don’t want to be too crowded in amongst the college crowd. We had a great trip to Sedona last year but the level of touristy commercial vibe was just about more than we’d collectively bear. If this was just me I’d go to far flung corners of the state but I need to think of the group and their likes and dislikes and varying levels of ruggedness and need for proximity to a nice supermarket, restaurant, bar, and a boutique or two.
any help would be greatly appreciated!
trip will be first week/weekend of October 2020
six adults (three couples), renting a house, to celebrate my wife’s 40th birthday. I will be the old guy at 48. Age range of group is 38-48 and we do an annual trip with this gang.
I know how amazing and vast the state is but I’m trying to find Us a spot to stay within roughly two
hours of Denver airport. It’s not a long trip and want to maximize time together and not have a huge haul when we land (all coming from different parts of the country).
ideally we are in or close to a town where there are decent dining and drinking options. The gang varies in fitness and interest in rugged outdoor activity; priorities will be short hikes, scenic drives, looking at and hopefully staying in scenic vistas; eating and drinking together, maybe some hot tubbing. Lots of cocktails and conversation and cozying up by the fire.
Considering breckenridge, Estes Park, maybe boulder but we don’t want to be too crowded in amongst the college crowd. We had a great trip to Sedona last year but the level of touristy commercial vibe was just about more than we’d collectively bear. If this was just me I’d go to far flung corners of the state but I need to think of the group and their likes and dislikes and varying levels of ruggedness and need for proximity to a nice supermarket, restaurant, bar, and a boutique or two.
any help would be greatly appreciated!
Apr 11th, 2019 | 04:59 PM
#3
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 2,304
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Estes Park is pretty darn touristy. You can mitigate some of that by staying out of town as much as possible - spend your days in the park, book lodging on the west side of town so you're not driving through town every day to get to RMNP. Midweek won't be horrible in October, but the weekend will be a zoo. There will be a weekend festival in town, and tons of day trippers to see the elk rut. On the plus side, lots of hiking in the park with a good range from super easy to strenuous, great views, lots of elk, plenty of dining and drinking options for a week.
Grand Lake is another option for RMNP but it's on the west side and not nearly as dramatically scenic. It would definitely be quieter and less touristy than Estes.
Breckenridge - spent a week over the 4th of July last summer. My impressions - beautiful little town and way less crowded and touristy compared to Estes Park. Harder to find hiking (not that there isn't any, but you have to do your research and it's not as convenient as driving into a national park and finding trails everywhere. I can't imagine there are huge crowds on the fall weekends (at least not like Estes). We got slightly bored walking around town for a week because it's pretty small. Easy enough to drive to Frisco or DIllon for a change though. On the downside, elevation is 9600 feet and it was tough to deal with that for the first 4 days - trouble sleeping, getting winded on simple walks uphill, etc.
Have you considered changing locations during the week? Possibly the first 4 days in Estes then drive over Trail Ridge Road and spend the last several days in Grand Lake or Breckenridge or another mountain town? I'm just thinking that would let you visit the east side of RMNP for several days and experience all that, but then get out of town before the weekend when the crowds descend on the town/park again. I know you don't want a long haul on the front side and that idea would still meet that requirement.
Grand Lake is another option for RMNP but it's on the west side and not nearly as dramatically scenic. It would definitely be quieter and less touristy than Estes.
Breckenridge - spent a week over the 4th of July last summer. My impressions - beautiful little town and way less crowded and touristy compared to Estes Park. Harder to find hiking (not that there isn't any, but you have to do your research and it's not as convenient as driving into a national park and finding trails everywhere. I can't imagine there are huge crowds on the fall weekends (at least not like Estes). We got slightly bored walking around town for a week because it's pretty small. Easy enough to drive to Frisco or DIllon for a change though. On the downside, elevation is 9600 feet and it was tough to deal with that for the first 4 days - trouble sleeping, getting winded on simple walks uphill, etc.
Have you considered changing locations during the week? Possibly the first 4 days in Estes then drive over Trail Ridge Road and spend the last several days in Grand Lake or Breckenridge or another mountain town? I'm just thinking that would let you visit the east side of RMNP for several days and experience all that, but then get out of town before the weekend when the crowds descend on the town/park again. I know you don't want a long haul on the front side and that idea would still meet that requirement.
Apr 11th, 2019 | 06:53 PM
#4
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Joined: Apr 2019
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This all really helpful. I might not have been clear in my initial post - my wife and I will likely have 4, 5 days max and the other guests 3, so we’ll get a place for 3 days and do things that are close to there. There will probably be a night on the front or backside in Denver proper for my wife and I (at a hotel) and the rest would be at the rental house. Breckenridge the front runner at this point!
Apr 14th, 2019 | 08:17 AM
#5
Joined: Nov 2006
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Breckenridge would be my first choice given your criteria. It is an easy two hours from the airport unless you hit rush hour. But an easy drive. And it is good hub for lots of activities. Good hiking in the area. One of the hidden gems is the Mineral Belt trail in Leadville, 12 miles hard surface loop. Like an outdoor museum in the old mining days of Leadville. Georgetown and Georgetown loop railroad and the silver mine tour is another good side trip. Copper Mt, Vail, Keystone, Frisco, Breckenridge are linked by hard surface biking/hiking paths. Local bike shops (for a fee) will haul you to the top of Vail pass and it is all downhill via Copper to Frisco. From Frisco it is slightly uphill to Breck but easy to do. Breckenridge has a number of excellent restaurants. I could go on but the options are nearly endless for any activity.
The one potential negative -- but the same every where in the mountains -- it is the change over season and snow and cool if not cold weather could be encountered in that time period. We had early snow this year but who knows.
PS Do try to avoid returning to Denver on Sunday PM. A two hour trip can become four hours very quickly.
The one potential negative -- but the same every where in the mountains -- it is the change over season and snow and cool if not cold weather could be encountered in that time period. We had early snow this year but who knows.
PS Do try to avoid returning to Denver on Sunday PM. A two hour trip can become four hours very quickly.
Last edited by fmpden; Apr 14th, 2019 at 08:41 AM. Reason: Adding
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