Colorado Vacation Question
 

We are planning on visiting Colorado this summer for one week. We wanted to visit the Pikes Peak area and Rocky Mountain National Park. Do you think this is doable in one week? How many days should we allot to each area?

I can't tell you about Rocky Mountain National Park because we did not go there. A few years ago, we flew to Denver from Baltimore and headed to Colorado Springs. We stayed at the Sheraton, which was real nice and toured for about 4 days. Colorado Springs was great because you have the AirForce Academy tour, cog rail ride to the top of Pikes Peak, the Garden of the Gods (rock formations from millions of years), the River Gorge Bridge and then whitewater rafting in Cotopaxi about 1 1/2 hours away. Then we drove to Vail via Aspen and the continental Divide and stayed in Vail for a few days. Then back to Denver for the flight home. For kids (13 and 18) who initially did not want to go to Colorado, they (and us) really had a ball. Have Fun!

Is this a 5 day week or a 7 day week? I would put 3-4 days at Rocky Mountain and the 2 - 3 days at Pikes Peak & surrounding area.

Utahtea

Hi howdy,

It is certainly doable. Utahtea is the obvious expert here, but just so you know what I did on a limited time frame:

I was in Colorado Springs for a conference. During the conference days, I saw the red rock park (whose name escapes me at the moment) and hiked Seven Falls in Colorado Springs. I had 2 days after the conference to see more of Colorado. Day 1 I went to Pikes Peak, drove to Vail, spent about 3 hours there (it was fall, no skiing yet), then drove toward RMNP and stayed in some little town south/west of the park.

Day 2: Drove through RMNP, did a little hiking etc, and that night drove to Boulder.

Day 3 drove back to Colorado Springs for my flight home.

Now, is this my ideal vacation? No. I would have loved to have more time to hike in RMNP and visit Boulder for more than a few hours.

However, it does show you that a week between these 2 areas is certainly doable.

Utahtea gave you a good breakdown. Have a great trip. It is a beautiful part of the country.

Karen

I think it is quite doable. If you are a hiker, RCMP could use up 4 days very easily. Also, beware the altitude!
Much of RCMP is above 8,500 feet and altitude sickness can affect many people.
headaches, no appetite, lack of energy, etc.
Pike's Peak has some interesting old mining towns around it like Cripple Creek.

I would spend the majority of your time in/near RMNP. Most of the attractions in/near Colo Springs are pretty close to each other. I would spend a maximum of 2 days there.

Howdy Howdy2004! Welcome to Colorado! I used to live in Colo. Springs, now in Denver. There are tons of really fun things that have already been mentioned here to do in the springs. RMNP is absolutely beautiful and stunning. In fact just this morning I started looking into a horse-riding trip in RMNP near Estes Park with some friends and my husband for our anniversary in June. He's NEVER been on a horse in his life and I was riding before I was walking so he's willing. Sorry to go on, could go on about Colorado all day, I wish you could spend more time here but go ahead and pack in as much as you can. I'd spend no more than 2.5 days in the Springs, then head "UP"! You'll have a wonderful time!