We are two families who are headed to Colorado next summer for a ranch vacation. There are four active adults and 5 unpredictable (but usually active) teenagers. At the ranch we will enjoy hiking, horse back riding,fly fishing and many other outdoor activities. We are meeting in Denver at the start of our trip and will spend the first night there. On our travel out to the ranch (Tumbling River Ranch, near Grant, Colorado) we plan to sight see. Here is where the trouble starts! There is so much to see and do in Colorado! Our plan was to see Red Rocks Ampitheater, then maybe Golden Colorado, possibly a visit to Mt. Evans or go past the ranch and see Breckenridge (or some other ski resort.) Suggestions and routes are very welcome. We had thought to skip Estes Park because this will be mid summer--we expect traffic to be a nightmare but are open to things to do/see on the way to the ranch. We have all been to Colorado before but it has been many years.

Our families will spend a week at the ranch and plan to white water raft on the day we leave. Here are more hard choices. Should we do a half or full day? We are rafting near Buena Vista, Colorado . If we raft the first half of Sunday we have time to drive to another area and see it all day Monday. If not we travel Monday and sight see. One suggestion has been to head to Great Sand Dunes National Park and sled on the dunes. I have been there but not everyone in our group has. Another suggestion is to head to Colorado Springs and visit Garden of the Gods or maybe Pike's Peak. I have a feeling that the traffic will be heavy here too with the railroad closed. We could also head to the Breckenridge area (or another ski resort) and do whatever is at that resort. Our family has Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. The other family has Monday and Sunday. Thank you for sharing your ideas!

Rafting in Buena Vista might be more like floating - not much snow this year.

Traffic will indeed be heavy heading up Pikes Peak, but 1) you'll be coming from the opposite direction on Highway 24 from Buena Vista so you'll miss the worst of it, but 2) there's talk of shuttle only service this year since the cog is closed. Nothing has been decided yet, early days.

If it were me, I'd head up into the mountains vs down to the Sand Dunes - it can be miserably hot down that way and accommodation is pretty scare...not to mention it's a bit short on pretty.

Or just stick around Buena Vista - hot springs, some nice walks in Chalk Creek Canyon.

Your dates, please. And departure time.

They say "mid-summer" but the day of the week might also be impactful from a traffic point of view.
You really might forego the rafting--as mentioned it may not be real exciting.
I think you'll also have some opportunity to do a day trip while at the ranch even though I'm sure they can fill every minute. Think about that.
I don't think Pike's Peak is worth the time on this schedule--go up Mount Evans if you want that elevation.
At Keystone Ski Mountain there is a Woodward "facility" that your kids might really like to do one day. It is where trick skiers and snowboarders go to practice by skiing down inclines and somersaulting into pits of foam rubber. Or kids just jump off the sides, etc. Fun to watch also.

It is sort of a shame not to see RMNP and one way to avoid traffic "might" be (Colorado people can comment!) to drive through from the west entrance of Trail Ridge Road to the east. I would assume you would be going against a lot of traffic. You could do this on your last day assuming a late departure--or spending the night in Denver. If you did this you might want to spend it at the airport.

Disappointed to hear the river will be so low. We were hoping that in mid July it wouldn't be so low yet. We have the chance to raft through the ranch but didn't want to miss other things going on at the ranch that day. We'll be rafting on a Sunday post ranch. We are driving so departure time will be early Wednesday. Our family has been at some pretty high elevations so if My. Evan's isn't worth it it's okay to say that. I was just trying to get the RMNP scenery in. We could go there when we arrive if it's a must do. I don't think we'll take shuttles up Pike's Peak. I guess we'll have to see what's offered. Thanks!

Before you cancel the rafting, talk to the rafting operator. It's been a bad snow year, but they'll be better informed about the specifics in that area.

And FWIW we got about five inches of snow in the mountains where I live yesterday, but I'm a good hour from Buena Vista.