Rocky Mountains to ??
 

We are planning on spending 8 days in Colorado. Flying into Denver, spending 5 nights in Estes Park to explore and Hike Rocky Mountain National Park. Where would you recommend we go for two nights afterwards. Trying to be keep drive to 2-3 hours max. We wonder if there is a good river for White Water Rafting level 3-4 , and/or if Colorado Springs would be a good choice. Thanks for your advice.

Maybe see Great Sand Dunes National Park. Pike Peak, Royal Gorge.

Aspen

Colorado Springs is nice. You can take the cog railway to the top of Pike's Peak (or drive). It's beautiful. Garden of the Gods is worth a few hours and very different from what you'll see in Estes/RMNP - take a walk on one of the many trails. We took a bike trip in CO Springs - they drive you to the top of a mountain and it's a 4-hour ride downhill back to town - mostly on trails or dirt roads. Beautiful scenery and lots of fun. And there are quite a few good restaurants (although I can't remember names). Not sure if you can still tour the Air Force Academy or not... regardless, there's plenty to keep you occupied for 2 or 3 days, and it's a reasonable drive.
My hesitation on recommending Aspen is that, while it's a great town in beautiful surroundings, it's kind of more of the same of what you'll have already seen.
What month are you traveling?
Have you picked your accommodations in Estes?

I just checked the Air Force Academy website and, yes, you can still visit. That's also very worthwhile (I did it years ago as a kid and found it quite impressive).

We will be traveling late July. Is there any good river rafting within an hour drive of Colorado Springs?

Yes, there are many rafting companies who have trips on the Arkansas River out of Canon City, less than an hour's drive from Colorado Springs. We did a trip with Clear Creek Rafting last July with our children, so it was a milder trip, but everyone loved it and the guide was great. There are plenty of more challenging trips through the Royal Gorge, Class III-IV, if that's what you're up for. Great place to white water raft!

You can also raft the cache la poudre river outsde of loveland / fort collins on your way out of estes.

i'd make the drive to beuna vista area and raft the arkansas and then go from there to col springs for a day or two... the drive from estes to buena vista isnt too bad... (3-4 hours?) - depends on which side of RMNP you are staying.