Snow fun in Colorado in November
 

Hi,
We are planning to spend our Thanksgiving break in Colorado this year. Taking my 3 and 9 years old to have some fun in the snow. We are not going for skiing or any kind of crazy snow activities. Just to enjoy snowfall and some outdoor play in the snow. Someone suggested that Estes park is the best place for this. Keeping that in mind we are thinking of driving from Dallas to a hotel around Estes Park with a stop or may be two. Anyone has any better suggestion? Hopefully we won't get snow in the road until Texas border. My concern is after entering Colorado will it be okay to drive?
Thanks in advance for any kind of suggestion/help.

Thanksgiving is not a sure bet for snow in Colorado. Ski areas pray for snow that holiday, and often get cold enough weather to create their own snow. But that’s not what you’re looking for.
I suggest you search for annual snowfall amounts on those dates, at various areas, to find your best chance. Try Breckenridge, Winter Park, Steamboat Springs, and Estes Park, for starters.

The two take always I have from your post are your first expectation is to drive hundreds of miles for snow that you may or may not see. Second, you appear to be concerned with driving in snow. There are no guarantees that you will not encounter snow storms and icy roads. Are you sure this is what you want to do?

I would be much less concerned with driving and snow than the possibility of having enough snow in the high mountains for your kids to be able to play in it. The roads will be cleared, IME, especially in colorado.

You could look at projected opening dates for ski resorts in New Mexico as well, not just Colorado. It sounds like you're mainly looking for snow rather than any specific area or activity.

Estes Park itself probably won't have much snow but Rocky Mountain National Park should have snow at higher elevations. The upper elevations of Trail Ridge Road are close for the season usually by late October, so if all else fails you could probably drive to the road closure point and find snow beyond that. That doesn't really sound all that exciting but it's an option. There is a designated snow play area inside the park but there's no guarantee it will have any significant snow by Thanksgiving.

I think your best bet is any ski resort that makes their own snow. Your kids won't know the difference between man made and natural snow. You just need to research to find one that would actually have accessible snow. Their manmade snow is directed to the ski runs and you wouldn't be able to just wander around anywhere.

Thank you everyone for your valuable suggestions. We had the idea of getting snow for sure in November. In that case we are thinking of doing it during Christmas break instead. Does it sound better ?
Did not finalize any plan yet. We are leaning towards Aspen. Any suggestions will be much appreciated.
Thank you.

Christmas will be great for snow. It will also be uber expensive. So you will need to "shop" for places to stay. Since you don't necessarily want to ski you can stay outside the ski areas. you may want to search for places with snow tubing and sledding.

Maybe Christmas will be great for snow. Maybe not.

We've had some very strange weather here in the past few years - last year we had very little snow, even in the high country. The year before last we had tons.

Today we had hail and flash floods - I was in the middle of it and it was damn scary.

Melnq8, I'm glad you're okay. Some of the storm pics looked terrifying.

Ana, since you only want your kids to experience snow rather than ski, I'd probably just fly in for a weekend once you have a better idea of how much snow we're getting in the high country. My 3 year nephew enjoyed playing with a little bit of snow on Trail Ridge Road during October last year, BUT I don't know if he'd want to be out in it everyday for a week.

You're driving from Dallas, concerned about driving in the snow, and not interested in skiing. Going to Aspen over Christmas break would be a bad idea: too far to drive and extremely expensive.

I suggest you re-think your plan.

From Texas, you could more easily drive to a New Mexico ski area, for instance. Or Durango, CO.

Or consider flying, other than the holidays.

MoBro - Somewhere like Red River, NM?

Thanks wtm003. I'm fine, my car a little less so.

Have a look at the YMCA of the Rockies, Snow Mountains Ranch near Winter Park ski resort. Stay in a log cabin and there are plenty of activités for kids. Likely less expensive than the ski resorts

Problems:

• No guarantee of snow in Nov.

• Better chance of snow at Christmas - but by far the most expensive time to visit snow country.

• You are just looking for snow play - but you'll have to pay the going rate for ski accommodations.

Thought -- there are holidays in Feb and a pretty sure chance of snow. Yes, accommodations will be pricey over the holidays, but NOTHING like Christmas. Just something to consider . . .

Melnq8, did your car get hail damage? That's the worst. I hope not! My husband was in Englewood last evening and he said it was hailing like crazy, about pea-sized hail. We live in central Denver and got a lot of wind for a while, but didn't get a single raindrop. Our weather is weird!

RE: Snow Mountain Ranch, we have spent lots of time there, especially when our kids were little. We did a lot of cross-country skiing there, used the crafts room, ate at their simple grill. It's a great family place. And more affordable than many places. Too bad they had to take down so many trees because of the beetles.

I just looked at their website,and saw this: "**PLEASE NOTE: Cabins and Vacation Homes become available for booking on the first Wednesday in April each year for the June-November timeframe and on the first Wednesday in October for the December-May timeframe. On those days, online booking is available beginning at 6 a.m. MT, or you can book by phone beginning at 8 a.m."

(sludick, sorry, I don't know anything about Red River, NM.)

MoBro -

Yes, it did - the stones that did the damage were the size of a quarter. It's not that bad, but its there. I hid under a tree during the worst of it but had to move when the gravel road I was on turned into a river...and I was downstream. As bad as the storm was, at least it didn't produce the baseball sized hail that tore the hell out of Fountain back in June - that was horrendous.

Hail storm damages homes, cars totaled in Fountain - KOAA.com | Continuous News | Colorado Springs and Pueblo

More bad weather in store for tomorrow - oh joy. It's feast or famine around here.

Melnq8, too bad about your car, but it's so scary you were on that road. I HATE hail. We had a golf ball size hail storm a few years ago and it was so loud that I was actually scared. We had a broken window, had to get a new roof and our trees were stripped but that protected the rest of the windows. My son was at school a few miles away and I expected his car to be trashed but he missed the worst of the storm. In May, we had a hail storm that was "only" pea size hail but it lasted quite awhile and destroyed my tomato plants and newly planted flowers. I'm listening to thunder as I write this. Grrrrr.

It's been a long time since I stayed there, but Snow Mountain Ranch is a good suggestion for families.

A photo from the Colorado Springs newspaper of the hail the other day.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d6e2904394.jpg

Years ago after a Fort Collins baseball-sized hailstorm I went up on the roof of our house and put my fist right through the holes!

Yeah, Colorado is pretty noted for its hail storms. My DDIL's Mercedes (old but classically nice) was declared totalled by hail damage a few years ago!! That picture is amazing.
BUT of course, hail doesn't equate to snow or even snow temperatures (on the ground). We had one of those funny hail storms at the beach one time!! LOL

It's hailing again right now...and the sun is out!