Colorado trip mid June Itinerary
 

We will be arriving in Colorado Springs on June 19th. (Driving from Central Illinois).Here is our itinerary with a few questions. Feel free to offer suggestions too! (Five adults coming ages 24-53)
Sat-Sunday: Colorado Springs see Garden of the Gods late Saturday afternoon or early evening and dinner. On Sunday considered driving up Pikes Peak but deciding if it's worth the time commitment since we will also be in RMNP and other mountain areas. Drive to Estes Park. Would love suggestions for stops along the way or should we just just spend more time in Colorado Springs.

Sunday evening -Wednesday morning Estes Park. Have all of our passes. Hiking one day Bear Lake area and driving Trail Ridge Road and spend time in Grand Lakes. (We may do the drive on Wednesday and use Tuesday for more time to explore there park. A bit worried about the crowds, but I know everyone want to get away this year!

Thursday afternoon-Saturday morning staying in Fairplay. Here is where plans are kind of just up on the air. Looking at Breckenridge, Buena Vista/Salida, and Frisco. No rafting for us but thoughts of other great things to do? Easy/moderate hike ideas welcome as well.

Thoughts and suggestions welcome.

Spend some time in Denver? No more in Co Springs.

You could try the new cog railroad to the top of Pikes Peak. I think it is scheduled to re-open in about a week. It has been under extensive rehab for the past couple of years. The Garden of the Gardens is always spectacular. You have old Colorado City, Cave of the Winds, Manitou Cliff dwellings and some other minor tourists attractions. Personally think they are so, so. Personally I would consider skipping Colorado Springs for more time in the mountains but you could have your reasons for C Springs. Gretchen is correct.

Very hard to forecast crowds in June. Would think they would be excessive but it is a strange year. I am not a big fan of Grand Lake and once over the pass keeping on moving to your next stop. Georgetown and Georgetown Loop railroad is great stop off I-70 just a you begin the climb to the tunnels. Take the silver mine option. It is worth it.

Why are you staying in Fairplay?? There is nothing there. Stay in Breckenridge or Frisco. Make that a base for a number of day trip loops. The Mineral Belt Trail in Leadville is great hidden gem in the state and nearly flat 10 mile, hard surface, hike. From Leadville take Indpendence pass to Aspen. Return via Glenwood Springs and drive through Glenwood Canyon or spend an afternoon in the HUGE hot spring pool at Glenwood Springs. Even better rent bikes and ride the length of the canyon. There is some fire damage in the area but still it is spectacular. Much more so than Colorado Springs.

I could go on but you didn't indicate that you were spending the summer here.

This won't impact the OP, but FYI, per the local news:

The Pikes Peak summit will be closed to vehicular and pedestrian traffic until June 15 due to weather delays impacting construction of the new summit house, the city said Tuesday.

I don't understand the Fairplay stay at all, either. Unless you have relatives to visit or something, it doesn't seem to make sense since you talk about visiting Breckenridge or Frisco, which are north of there, so you have to travel farther to get to Fairplay. Unless you really want to avoid I70 for some reason, as you can get there via route 285. And I'm sure it won't be as busy there, as other more desirable places. You also don't have any real plans there, so I'd stay elsewhere. You could stay in Silverthorne or Dillon and visit those other places easily (except Salida and Buena Vista are obviously closer to Fairplay). You're going to have to go back up to I70 to drive home to Illiinois, anyway.

CO is known for outdoors activities, you can do anything you want in that regard in any of those locations, I'd say (west or SW of Denver). I guess if you are really into fishing, Fairplay is supposed to be good for that, but that sounds dubious since you are driving home shortly (I mean what would you do with the fish, unless you catch and release). If anyone likes horseback riding or wants to try, there are various ranches around there that will do day rides (or an hour or two), not just stays. I think M Lazy C Ranch is well known.

https://www.mlazyc.com/horseback-riding/
Tarryall Ranch is maybe 45 miles away but is a possibility also but looks more expensive for that type of thing.

Of course you can do that in Breckenridge, also. https://breckstables.com/trail-1-5hrs/

Thanks for the suggestions. We chose Fairplay because my husband wanted somewhere away from the crowds for this part of the trip. (We are in Estes Park and Colorado Springs for the first half) We found a beautiful cabin with a great deck and great views. He can spend the day fishing if he wants and the rest of us can do a day trip. After 32 years of marriage, we've just learned to compromise with our very differing views of vacation, LOL!

In that case you've chosen wisely. Fairplay is well away from the crowds...and civilization:)