First trip to Colorado - need location and entertainment tips
 

Hi,
We are an active young couple arriving in Denver on Nov 12 and staying 4 nights and 3 days in Denver or surrounding areas. We plan to rent a car, and might take in Vail just for a look..?? We would love suggestions about what to do with the limited time we will have in Colorado. We can stay in Denver if there is lots to see and do there, or maybe a day or two road trip out of the city would be better?

This will probably be our only trip to Colorada, and we would like to take in as much of what colorado has to offer,as we can. We typically enjoy a few of the "Typical Tourits Traps" but also enjoy the undiscovered jem as well. Any Suggestions would be welcome.

I live east of Colorado Springs and can tell you that this is an 'iffy' time of year. Blizzard conditions today but clearing tomorrow. Best advice is to check weather conditions before you travel anywhere. If weather permits, come on down to Colo Spgs and have a look around. Your time is limited so enjoy. Good idea to have cold weather emergency gear in the car before you go anywhere.

Thanks Larry, I am truly shocked to find out that Colorado has such cold and snowy weather this time of year. We are from Canada and are used to snow and such, but we do tend to to avoid travel to destinations that are equall in the climate conditions.

What is there to do in colorado Springs, anything in particular or just worth a short look?

Hi knuk,

I would recommend not staying in Denver. Get out of the city and up to the mountains. I would first suggest a drive to Estes Park. This is a cute litte tourist town. Unfortunately, I believe Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National Park is already closed for the season.

A drive up I-70 to Vail would be nice... go a little further though, and you can have a wonderful stay in Glenwood Springs. I would also recommend the town of Breckenridge.

Colorado Springs has the Air Force Academy, Pikes Peak and the Garden of the Gods if you decide to go that direction.

I also live in Colorado Springs and it has quite a few nice sights. (In addition to those above I'd add the Olympic Training Center, Seven Falls and the historic, 5-star Broadmoor Hotel.) Many of Denver's best attractions are in and near downtown (Capitol, the Mint, Nature and Sciences Museum, art museum, zoo, aquarium).

If this is your only trip, I'd recommend you head up to the mountains (while maybe hitting some of Denver's attractions either on the way up or the way back). Vail is nice, as is Summit County (the ski resorts Breckenridge, Keystone and Copper Mtn. are all there as well as the very pretty Lake Dillon). None of these resorts are open for skiing yet but they have beautiful scenery and weather permitting you can get some great hiking in. Lots of lodging up there and all of it will have more character than any chain hotel you'd end up staying in in the city.

Actually, Copper opens Friday, A-Basin is already open and Loveland opened a couple of weeks ago.

It was ZERO degrees at 7:30 this morning! It's warmed up to a toasty 20 degrees now. (we're talking farenheit!) Summit and Eagle Counties (up I70 about an hour and a half) are beautiful right now. I promise you, you will be back!

Knuk,

since you have limited time and this may be your only visit I suggest you give Vail and the Breckenridge area a miss. They have good skiing to be sure but Vail has almost no view. Your time would be much better served visiting Rocky Mountain National Park via Estes Park. Estes is a typical tourist town with not much to recomend it but if you want some great scenery then RMNP is for you. Depsite Trail Ridge Road being closed you can still dive to Bear Lake and the Fall River Valley year round and you will see some nice groups of Deer, Elk, Big Horn Sheep etc. The high mountain views will be great with some snow on them. The Bear Lake road just recently reopened after road construction.
It's too bad you don't have more time because western Colorado is really worth seeing. Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Red Mountain Pass thru Ouray and Silverton are truly remarkable.

cheers,

BeanMan

If it were summer, I would give you a totally different answer. I'd say go to Vail or Breck for the biking and hiking especially since you say you are active. But if the weather is crummy up there you won't be able to do much of either. Denver is a very nice town. The art museum is fantastic especially if you are interested in Native American history and the Natural History museum is the best I've seen. If you like that kind of stuff then stay in the city. RMNP is gorgeous but again its going to depend on the weather how much you get to see. If you want, you can do the mountains and the city. We found it very easy to go right from the Denver airport up to Breck, spend the night there and return to Denver the next day.

I agree with the Estes Park suggestions. The drive up there was just voted the best for a day trip by readers of the Rocky Mountain News. You never know with the weather. The forecast for this weekend is 60-64 degrees and sunny. We go often and the weather there is never much different from Denver--maybe 5-10 degrees cooler. We rarely have run into bad road conditions, unless it was also bad in Denver.

If you're looking for places to stay, one of our favorites (Glacier Lodge) is closed for the winter, but there's the YMCA of the Rockies (800) 777-9622, and Pine Tree Cabins (800)484-9523 (code 6346). I'd also suggest checking out vacation rentals by owner--www.vrbo.com.

Sue

Hi, I was recently traveling to NY and came across this great website that listed a ton of sites and things to do for every state I believe. It was called http://takingatrip.com Hopefully that can help you out.

Nov 12th is opening day for skiing in Keystone. If I was coming to Colorado for the first time I would head to Keystone or Breck at that time. Ski a couple of runs take a hike. Should be a fun weekend. If your ona budget look at the Arapahoe Inn in keystone.

I can't believe Copper and Keystone are already opening! Guess they are expecting a good winter???

Doesn't even feel like November to me right now, still feels like Sept or Oct even after that little storm we just got. Gorgeous weather!

I agree with the suggestion that you not stay in Denver. Although we love our Denver, with your limited time and having never been to Colorado, I'd say head for the hills. Personally, I'd skip Colorado Springs, though.
For an "active young couple" I think you'd enjoy Boulder for a visit or an overnight. You can walk at Chattaqua Park, Flagstaff, Boulder Canyon (try the Red Lion Inn for dinner), CU-Boulder campus, Pearl Street 'mall', etc. Then you could head to Estes, or go to Eldorado Canyon, then through Golden, and up I-70 to a mountain town.
Don't worry about the weather-- there's nothing you can do about it anyway! Being from Canada, you know what I'm talking about. Just be prepared for anything this time of year. You will love Colorado, and I predict you will return!

Here's what I would do:

* I would spend one day seeing Denver... You could go to the Colorado History Museum (13th and Broadway) for a very moving exhibit of Pulitzer Prize winning photos. Stop at the Tattered Cover (largest private book store), walk over the the REI store (an event), meander around Coors field, visit the art galleries, etc..
* Then, I would spend one day taking a drive out to the Red Rocks Ampitheater (you can walk right down on stage - and there's a museum)... drive the canyon up to Evergreen and stop at someplace funky like the Wildflower cafe for lunch. You could drive out past Lake Evergreen to the end of Upper Bear Creek road where Willie Nelson used to live - great views of Mount Evans (one of Colorado's 14000 foot peaks). If the weather's nice - as you drive out of Evergreen towards Highway 70 - turn left on Squaw Pass road and go up and over the pass into Idaho Springs... If you want to stop and hike, you can do so around Echo Lakes. Take I-70 back to Denver.
* I'd spend my last day in Boulder - walk around Pearl Street Mall and the University of Boulder. Also, hike around Chattaqua Park (Baseline Road towards the mountains).

Personally, I wouldn't drive all the way to Estes Park or Colorado Springs. But it is certainly an option.

We can get really bad weather - but I would plan on it being nice - it typically is. You could of course ski for a day... I'd just go to Loveland if I was going to ski at this time of year.

Estes Park from Denver is less than 1 1/2 hours. From Boulder, I think it's only 45 minutes.

Sue

An hour and a 1/2 to Estes Park is pushing it - it can probably be done (I work in Boulder and lived in Estes until recently)... But I should restate what I said - its a long way to drive for spectacular views but tons of cheap souvineer shops.

Interesting itinerary from julie above. (I didn't realize Willie Nelson used to live there.) If you're going to be downtown at the REI (to me it's simply a larger than normal REI, but that's just my $.02) and you enjoy fish at all you should check out Ocean Journey right next door. It's the only aquarium you'll ever find that also has tigers (no, they're not swimming in the tanks with the fish!). The Natural History museum (or Nature and Science, as I believe they are now calling themselves) is also downtown and is really nice.

Julie's point about the weather is right on target. Two misconceptions a lot of first-time visitors to Denver have are: 1. It's always cold and snowing (Colorado actually has 300 days of sunshine a year and I only wear my heavy coat about twice a winter) and 2. The mountains are right by the city (a misconception they get from watching football games where the powerful TV cameras zoom in)

I agree that Estes might not be worthwhile this time of year, given your limited time, because it's a sort of 'dead end' with Trail Ridge Road closed and it doesn't sound like you just want to souvenier shop.
And for a young couple, I'd recommend skipping the museums, etc. in favor of seeing scenery and getting outdoors. Ocean Journey has been in financial trouble since day one, and is being sold, so it's not been upgrading its displays for several years. And the Natural History Museum (old name) isn't downtown or within walking distance of it-- it's at 20th and Colorado. It does have a spectacular Egyptian exhibit now, but again I'd stay outdoors since you haven't seen the Colorado Rockies before.
Julie's Red Rocks/Evergreen loop suggestion would be good if you're returning to Denver at night. Personally, I'd skip Leadville, though. I never understand why people make it a destination myself.
I'd head up I-70 and see the mountain towns. We like the Winter Park area best for its openness and relatively undeveloped nature (though that's changing fast), but it's over Berthoud Pass and that can be a challenge in bad weather conditions. They have widened the Pass where it needed to be, and they do maintain it well, though. If you go there, you could go as far as Grand Lake to see a beautiful natural mountain lake.
Too many suggestions, too little time!

I would recommend going to Estes. The town may be full of tourist stores, but the setting is fabulous and you can go into Rocky Mountain National Park. I've been in all sorts of weather, and some of my favorite memories are from when it was cold and snowy!

If you are staying in the area (either Boulder or Estes Park) and want to have a special dinner, I would book a table at the Fawnbrook Inn in Allenspark. It is amazing - a truly special place and worth the drive for a memorable evening.

I would also spend some time in Boulder. It is a fun town with a lot to do.

An alternative is to just jump in your car and go... you can very easily get a nice B&B in any town this time of year... If you do that (not sure from your note the plans) you could drive to Boulder - visit stuff already mentioned... drive to Estes Park...spend the night (get there before sunset and drive through Rocky)... drive down the peak to peak and have lunch at Beau Jos in Idaho Springs.... drive out to Breckenridge and spend the night (not sure why anyone would recommend Vail - except for skiing - and I totally agree on Leadville - though I can't find where anyone recommended it)... drive back on I70 and exit Evergreen - drive down the canyon to Morrison and to Red Rocks (not sure why, but I think Red Rocks is really neat - and the drive down the canyon is very pretty) .... return to Denver for dinner... By the way, weather this weekend doesn't look great.... but improving on Sunday. Have fun!... I've totally shot all my ideas!...