October in Colorado
 

We have an October 15, 2015 family (7 and 10yo) vacation planned. We would love feedback on our itinerary. I’m unhappy that we can’t fit Garden of the Gods into this.

Day 1
8:30am arrive Denver airport and rent car
Tour Sports Authority or Coors Field
Lunch – heard good reviews Cherry Cricket, Buenos Aires Pizzeria, Ristorante Amore
Check into Golden (Table Mountain or Golden Hotel)
Coors Brewery Tour
Visit Red Rocks

Day 2 (RMNP weather permitting)
Drive through Boulder and Estes Park
Walk Bear Lake Trail
Drive Trail Ridge Road
Sleep in Grand Lake

Alternate Day 2
Explore Boulder (Flatirons, Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Chautauqua Park, The Sink restaurant)
Explore Estes Park and what parts of RMNP we can.
Sleep in Boulder

Day 3
Georgetown and train
Visit Breckenridge and/or Vail
Drive Loveland Pass
Sleep in Glenwood Springs

Day 4
Hanging Lake Trail
Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park
Glenwood Vaudeville Revue
Hot Springs
Sleep in Glenwood Springs

Day 5
Stop into a ski town
Mt Evans
Sleep near Denver airport

I think Loveland Pass is not on the way you are going that day?
You realize you will have been in a "ski town" in Breck and Vail?
Near sCoors Field have lunch at Marco's Coal Fired Pizza--best in Denver.
Where are you staying that first night?

Morrison, near Red Rocks, has a little dinosaur museum that is good--and Morrison has some good restaurants.

I think your days are pretty packed and require "let's get a move on so we can go here and there".

It seems to me you have a lot of "ifs" in this itinerary that are very weather dependent. I read back in some other comments you had that RMNP was your #1 place to visit on this trip, but based on feedback from others this whole section of your trip is weather permitting. Maybe scratch it and come back to see this part of CO at another time when it would definitely be open? You could fit in Garden of the Gods that way, I think. I've also seen where the top portion of the Mt. Evans drive can close as early as September some years, and I'm not sure about everything that would be open at Glenwood Caverns. I'm sure the cave tours would still be going and the alpine slide would be open, but maybe not much else.

If Garden of the Gods is something you really want to see, I would suggest bumping Day 3/4 up to Day 2/3. On Day 4, do your alternate Day 2 plans (you'd have to drive back to Boulder in the morning, about a 3 hour drive according to mapquest), and then on Day 5, make a day trip to Garden of the Gods from Boulder before returning to Denver to stay near the airport for the night. I think that takes out some of the weather permitting plans and allows you to see Garden of the Gods (although it is a little more driving). And I'm with Gretchen, I don't think it's necessary to stop in another ski town since you are doing Breckenridge and Vail. If Mt. Evans is open when you are there, you could also probably drop one of the two of these towns, and do that on your way to Glenwood Springs. So, if you shuffled around to the itinerary I suggested, it would be from Golden -> Mt. Evans -> Georgetown -> Loveland Pass -> Breckenridge or Vail (Vail is closer to I-70) -> Glenwood Springs. Long day, but so are the rest of your days.

As for driving Loveland Pass, it's a little detour off I-70, but definitely on the way to Glenwood Springs from Georgetown. It doesn't take that much longer to drive, so I definitely think it's worth it for the views. You can rejoin I-70 in Silverthorne.

Good places to eat in Glenwood Springs are Juicy Lucy's Steakhouse (somewhat expensive) and the Lost Cajun. Have fun at the Vaudeville Revue, I absolutely loved it!

Between Garden of the Gods and the rest of the CO mountains, I choose the latter, maybe especially with youngsters.
Even driving through RMNP on a rainy day would be a good trip for me.
Be sure to stop at the area along I70 near Glenwood that exhibits how that road was built.
Going on toward Aspen (if RMNP gets scratched) to see Maroon Bells and the town could be a substitute.

Thanks for the Morrison and pizza tip Gretchen. Marco’s web site looks delic! Is it easy to park at that Denver location? Is the I70 road building exhibit near the tunnel?

We’re sleeping in Golden the first night. Any reviews on the Table Mountain or Golden Hotel?

Virginia1990, Your review of the Vaudeville show inspired me to add. I love this type of entertainment. We saw a similar show in Keystone, SD last year and it was a highlight. Good point about Glenwood Caverns not open for everything as we’ve done many caves in SD, MN and Italy. I didn’t think about Mt Evans being closed. Gulp. Would Pike’s Peak close too? If not that could take us in the direction of Garden of the Gods.

Was thinking of doing Breck on way to Glenwood and Vail on the way back or vice versa.

I’ve been researching the dates that Trail Ridge Road closes for the winter and have found encouraging data that it may be open when we arrive, so not ready to scratch RMNP. Is there a hot springs near RMNP? Then we could spend less time in Glenwood.

On any given day in October (or May) in Colorado, there could be a foot of snow!! Just go with the flow.
DS was married mid-October in Denver--75* blue sky Saturday. sunday morning 6 inches of snow on the ground--went to Breckenridge and it was 17* and 10 inches.

Looks like a good trip with a contingency plan in case Trail Ridge is closed. (It will not open on Memorial Day this year).

I agree you have a lot / too many things scheduled, but maybe they are just giving you options. You might need to drop some in order to have more quality time at others.

I'll add one more! The Georgetown Loop Railroad:
http://georgetownlooprr.com/

These hot springs are close to RMNP, never been there so can't comment:
http://hotsulphursprings.com/pools/

P.S. nice choice on the NCAR tour if you take that alternate option. Not many people think of that, but it's a way cool tour in a neat building, at a highly scenic Flatirons location in Boulder.

From what I've seen it's just a possibility that Mt. Evans would be closed, not a definite. And it's just the top 5 miles. I haven't done it, we actually wanted to but it was closed when we came through in April this year.

I think the hot springs in Glenwood Springs is worth staying there to visit. And the kids will like it because it has a diving board! Another tip - if you've already done those caves, you probably won't be impressed with the ones at Glenwood Caverns. We have impressive caves in VA that I've visited numerous times, and I really wasn't impressed with the ones at Glenwood Caverns, except the King's Row room. It's funny to me what the tour guides considered large stalactites/stalagmites because they would be small compared to our standards in VA!

Hopefully the Trail Ridge Road is open for you, because RMNP is really beautiful. But, you at least have other options if you do choose to scratch it!

Thanks Nelson - NCAR would be so enjoyed by my son. Maybe our first night should be in Boulder instead of Golden as they have better hotels. The Hot Sulpher Springs look swanky.

Great tip Virginia1990 on the caves. I'll have to call Glenwood Caverns to see if the thrill rides will be open.

"Go with the flow" Gretchen - that's the way it should be on vacation. I'll need a day to unwind....maybe I shouldn't skip Golden and the Coors brewery tour. Haha.

Does anyone have any restaurant recommendations on/just off I70 or Boulder?

Any hotel recommendations in Grand Lake or Glenwood Springs? Thanks!

You may need to check the UC football schedule in October for your dates for places to stay in Boulder.
I will also say you all would enjoy the Celestial Seasonings tour there--the kids will get a big kick out of the "mint room".
Idaho Springs has a great deli--can't remember the name. Frisco has great places to eat.
There is also a gold mine tour in Georgetown that is cute for kids.
Copper Mountain has the Woodlands training complex--jumping into huge pits of foam balls. Used for training for skate boarding and ski tricks.

<i>maybe I shouldn't skip Golden and the Coors brewery tour. Haha. </i>

You could always do a craft brewery tour in Boulder instead! For example:
http://averybrewing.com/taproom/

There are others.

Lots of good restaurants in Boulder. Most people like The Med, as one option. Brasserie Ten Ten, across the street from The Med, is also excellent but can be noisy. Sforno Trattoria Romana is decent and not too expensive Italian. The Dushanbe Teahouse is fun and different, good food, and Very Boulder.

You can wander around the Pearl Street area and see what strikes your family's fancy at the time.

We love the pool at Glenwood, a special trip for us every couple of years.

There is a thread here on Boulder restaurants. Was not real impressed with The Med, personally. Recent favorite is Riffs on the mall. Also liked Mountain Sun for more casual, but there are many good restaurants there. Boys like the 5 guys burgers on the hill.

Although Gretchen's suggestion was good about checking the football schedule, it's called CU not UC. There is a game 10/17 vs Arizona so you may want to reserve hotel early if you will be there that night. We have stayed at the Courtyard Marriott & the Residence Inn in the last couple of years. Both were fine, residence Inn was a little hard to find but had the pull out couch & big free breakfast.

Great restaurant tips all!

Good Boulder hotel suggestions BetsyG.

Thanks for getting my humor Nelson!

Pits of foam, thanks Gretchen.

Glenwood Caverns told me the thrill rides will most likely be open mid-October. Yea! Any Glenwood Springs hotel recommendations?

My husbands recent knee surgery may hinder us all hiking Hanging Lake Trail. Is it just as nice to hike half way or are there other trail recommendations in the Glenwood Springs area?