bb3520

Knowledgeable Fodorites ---
Please help. My wife and I will leave Denver airport early afternoon on Wednesday October 7 and need to plan:
1) what to do,
2) where to stay,
3) where to eat,
until flying home from Denver on Sunday at 1 pm (Oct 11).
My initial thought is to stay in Estes Park and visit RMNP, but I would really like agreement or alternative suggestions.
Am I at risk of bad weather shutting the park (and my plans) down?
Is 3 full days too many for RMNP? If so, is Estes a good base for other places?
Should we do two nights there & two nights elsewhere? Or bag Estes/RMNP entirely and spend the time somewhere else?

We plan to spend our days hiking and birding and photographing. We like high quality food; and we like fairly upscale, but rustic/scenic places to stay (B&Bs are great; historic lodges are great; unique, small inns are great; nice cabins can be good).
Scenery and relative seclusion is a big plus; touristy stuff and highway noise is a negative.
But Is October weather a concern for RMNP?; for elsewhere?
Any suggestions / favorites for 1,2,3 ???

Hez

If you're looking for upscale and not touristy Estes Park is not your place. There's also nothing else around there if the weather is bad - and in October there's a reasonably good chance there will be snow at the top of Trail Ridge Road.

So - I'd have a look at Vail or Breckenridge if you really want to be in the mountains.

Or, you could look at basing yourself in Boulder where there are lots of great hikes ( http://www.go-colorado.com/Boulder/Hiking/), quality food etc. and it's only 45min to RMNP so if the weather is good you could easily have a day trip up there. You could look at someplace like http://www.alpsinn.com/ to stay. We had a wonderful meal at the http://www.redlionrestaurant.com/ the other evening. It's right up the road from The Alps Inn. Boulder downtown has lots of great restaurants as well.

emalloy

When we were there in the last week of September the Trail Ridge Road was due to be closed Oct. 1. Go to www.nps.gov, click on RMNP and find out if it will be open at all. If you don't mind driving, there are lots of there places in Colorado that will have what you want.

WhereAreWe

Weather is not a big concern at that time. There could be snowstorm but highly unlikely it would be so severe as to shut down everything. The park is open year-round. Even if there was a storm, the lower elevations would probably be just fine.

Not sure why TRR was due to be closed Oct. 1 as they don't have a set date for closure - it is weather dependent. Perhaps road construction was scheduled for that date, but they will keep it open as long as feasible. It's not unheard of for the upper portion to be closed and reopened a few times in the fall as storms go through but in early October you have an above average chance that it will be open. Even if it is closed, there is plenty to do on the east side for 3 days. I would recommend you pay attention to the weather forecast if you plan on driving over to the west side as people have been stuck on that side when a storm rolls through and closed the road. It's a long drive around if that happens.

Estes Park is not a good base for anything other than RMNP and maybe the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area directly south of the park. I don't if it's a great choice for you - Estes Park is not known for high quality food, the town itself is pretty touristy, and birding is probably no better in RMNP than elsewhere in the mountains. I don't think that highway noise is a big concern mid-week that late in the season. If you're OK with average food in a tourist town then you'd be fine.

colomonica

Estes doesn't have much great food. I've never had a great meal any closer than Boulder. But you're not going to get nearly as impressive photography in Boulder. You could stay in Boulder & take day trips to RMNP, the Indian Peaks / Peak to Peak Highway. You'll probably be a week or 2 past peak fall color but are likely to have great weather.
That said it would be fairly unusual to get snowed out of RMNP that early. October is usually beautiful there.

bb3520

Thanks much to all. I really appreciate the input. Sounds like TRR may be open and may not be. Estes may not merit high scores on my not-too-tourity/good-meal criteria. Boulder could be an option but best photography is distant.

So if I wanted another option for good scenic day hikes, preceded by a good breakfast and followed by a good dinner, what is my best bet?
Vail?
Breckenridge?
Elsewhere?
Or is Boulder the best bet, along with Hez's great list of nearby hikes?

Any favorite B&Bs or Inns?

bigtyke

We were there the day after Thanksgiving last y ear. Msst of the roads were open (although not the ones that go real high). I don;t know if the elk are down from the mountains by then, but when we were there, a big herd was gathered in one of the meadows - great!

PeaceOut

Your preference for lodging is hard to find in Vail: "rustic/scenic places to stay (B&Bs are great; historic lodges are great; unique, small inns are great; nice cabins can be good)."

Near Winter Park, the Devil's Thumb Ranch has been re-modeled and expanded. The lodge is new, but they did an amazing job of making it 'rustic' in style and furnishings. It is very nicely done. I think they still have cabins there, too. The Ranch House restaurant is one of the best we've ever been to, for upscale. Also other dining choices on hand, too.

"Scenery and relative seclusion is a big plus; touristy stuff and highway noise is a negative." Check, and check. Gorgeous mountain setting for hiking, photos, anything you like. I'd gladly spend four nights there myself!