Rocky Mountain NP and surrounds
 

I'm centering in on what we want to do, and need some more of your help! I'm thinking of nine nights, flying in and out of Denver. I'm using points to stay at Holiday Inns (for the most part), so if some of my choices seem weird, let me know! I don't understand the whole acclimation thing, but I am prone to headaches, so that worries me, and that's something that I could use some help with. So here's what I have:

Day One, fly into Denver, look around a bit, drive up to Loveland, spend the night
Two, drive into RMNP, hike a little, stay at the YMCA in Estes Park
Three, drive across the top of the park, hike around a little near Grand Lake, spend night in Fraser
Four, Five, Six, drive to Moab for three nights (see Arches, Canyonland)
Seven, Eight, drive to Glenwood Springs for two nights, see Aspen, maybe raft
Nine, could either put this somewhere else, could stay in Denver or somewhere else midway between Glenwood Springs and Denver? Ideas?

I'm choosing 3 nights in Moab because some friends who used to live in Grand Junction suggested that many. Also Glenwood Springs because they suggested it. But what do you think?

Also, I could do this trip the other way around if there are reasons to. As is, all the nights are free except for Estes Park.

Thanks for your help! Oh, just to let you know, we're not big hikers. I like hikes under two miles. We mainly want to see beautiful scenery. We'd rather stay a couple of nights somewhere than just one.

Me again. I just saw someone else's informative post on altitude sickness, so that helped to answer that question.

Seems reasonable to me.

Regarding day nine, is that the last night before your flight out? If so be aware that traveling I-70 out of the mountains can take a VERY long time on Sunday, or any day if there is an accident, or construction.

If you are flying the next day you might want to be in the Denver area instead of staying in the mountains.

If you flight is late you could consider something midway like Georgetown or Idaho Springs, or even Golden. Depending on your interests any of those places could be worth a final night, as is Denver. But don't underestimate how long it will take to get to DIA, leave a buffer.

Have a great trip.

"Day One, fly into Denver, look around a bit, drive up to Loveland, spend the night
Two, drive into RMNP, hike a little, stay at the YMCA in Estes Park
Three, drive across the top of the park, hike around a little near Grand Lake, spend night in Fraser
Four, Five, Six, drive to Moab for three nights (see Arches, Canyonland)
Seven, Eight, drive to Glenwood Springs for two nights, see Aspen, maybe raft
Nine, could either put this somewhere else, could stay in Denver or somewhere else midway between Glenwood Springs and Denver? Ideas?"

Did you say what time of year you will be here?
You don't like one-night stays, but you have a few of them.
How many people?
What times are your flights arriving and departing?

Moab is the outlier here. I'd save that for another trip. Have you researched how long is the drive from Fraser to Moab? Of course, time of year matters.

For 9 nights:
Day One, I suggest you stay in Denver, drive to RMNP the next day. (Loveland is a tiny town with nothing worth seeing, really.)
Day Two & Three, RMNP staying @ the Y
Day Four & Five, drive over Trail Ridge Road (again, what time of year?) to Grand Lake. Stay in Grand Lake
Day Six & Seven, drive to Glenwood Springs, visit Aspen for sure
Day Eight, wild card to add anywhere else, but not adding another stop
Day Nine, stay in Denver

Yes, it does make sense to stay in Denver for day one. I was thinking that Loveland is way closer to RMNP, but it's just about a thirty minute difference according to google.

We'll be traveling in late July, and I don't have the flight times yet. We definitely want to include Moab. There are three of us, husband, wife, and young adult son.

Thanks for the advice to leave a buffer on that last day. Will do! Other ideas?

There's nothing worth spending a night for in Loveland - I would drive directly from Denver to Estes Park.

I agree that Moab is too far out of the way - it is really awesome but IMO needs more than 3 days and the drive back to Denver is pretty long. Maybe instead of Moab you could go down to Black Canyon of the Gunnison and Ouray (which also has hot springs).

Have only driven through Glenwood, but if you go to Aspen the Maroon Bells are the most photographed mountains in CO and the "hike" to get to that iconic shot is maybe 20 yards from the parking lot, so very doable for non-hikers.

Otherwise, midway between Glenwood and Denver - Breckenridge could be a good choice. You can ride some of the lifts in the summer to see the views without having to do any hiking.