Visiting Denver
 

My husband, adult daughter, and I will be spending our vacation in Denver. Is 1 week enough time? Too long? Too short? We like to hike (5 miles at most). We need restaurant, hotel, and "things to do" suggestions. Thanks!

There are a LOT of threads about Denver and Colorado currently--might take a look at some of them and decide how you might spend some time in Denver and out of Denver.

> We like to hike

Denver is close to a hiker's dream.

http://www.rocky.mountain.national-p...m/hike.htm#hik
http://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/hikes.htm

If this going to be one of the foci of your trip, you may want to get lodging in Estes Park, or (at least) Boulder.

And actually Boulder probably has some good hiking closer by. But the Park would be almost a must for your trip with at least a week.

What time of year? For hiking, you'll want to avoid mud season.

From the other post, I think they are coming in May.

Thanks, Marty. I just found that post.

If you like lions, tigers, bears and more, try this
http://www.wildanimalsanctuary.org/

One place I always recommend for folks for shopping--and an adult daughter would enjoy--is Five Green Boxes on Pearl Street. There are two of them with very eclectic offerings of clothes, scarves and jewelry in one, and interesting gift things in the other. Both are small and cute. The street is full of other interesting shops and good restaurants--a fun place to shop.
If you like to antique, browse the shops on lower Broadway.
The Art Museum is a lovely browse--particularly (for me) their native American exhibits, and the restaurant there (Pallettes) is a very nice place--reservations could be helpful. The architecture of the nearby public library is worth a look also.
Botanic Gardens are nice.

Sorry about the double post. I didn't realize that the first one went through. Your suggestions are very helpful. Thanks.

Stay on this one--it has the most, I think.

I guess that I should not have used "Denver" as the name of the forum. We will be flying into Denver. That's why the post was called "Denver". So, in summary, we have one week to travel, hike, and sightsee. Given that the arrival and departure flights are from the Denver airport, what would be a cool itinerary for us? Thanks!

I'm not a Colorado native, but have lived here for 20 years and love the state. My usual advice (and of course, my opinion only) is that the best part of the state is the mountains, so I encourage people to go anywhere in the mountains, or alternatively to the SW corner of the State, to the unique Mesa Verde and surrounding area.

If you're going in May, though, especially this year, when we've had lots of snow, hiking in the mountains is likely to be a bit limited in May, and may fit the definition of "mud season." Rocky Mountain National Park was also effected by the flooding late last year - go to the Park website for more info.

So with a week (do you mean 7 days, or 10 days?), you could go to the Mesa Verda area and do hiking there. Or head up into the mountains, whether it be RMNP or Summit County (Breckenridge, Frisco, Keystone, etc.) or Vail and enjoy some low-level hikes, in addition to biking and other outdoor activities. Pretty much anywhere you go in the mountains, it doesn't need to be a nationatl park, it's absolutely gorgeous.

For a one week trip, the route that is most often recommended is some variation of:

Denver -> Estes Park -> Grand Lake -> Summit County -> Denver.

- or, slightly more driving:

Denver -> Estes Park -> Grand Lake -> Leadville -> Aspen -> Denver.

I think southwest Colorado is too far for only one week. Note that the Estes->Grand Lake and Leadville->Aspen sections are only open roughly Memorial Day through mid-October.

But those routes will have everything you are looking for.

Have a great trip.

If you do make it to Rocky Mountain National park, be sure to take the scenic drive across Trail Ridge Road. It's the highest paved road in the country, I believe. There is a visitor's center at the top with a store and snack bar. Some nice short hikes along the way would be the Ute Trail - you can go out as far as you like and then turn around. Also the Tundra Communities Trail which has some unique rock formations. Just keep in mind that at that elevation you will be breathless pretty easily!

http://www.rockymountainhikingtrails...ional-park.htm

I think they are coming in May so Trail Ridge Road will not be open till Memorial Day weekend. With this year's snow averages being 150% or better it could be later than that weekend.

Strictly speaking Trail Road is the highest, continuous paved road in the US. The highest paved road is Mt. Evens.

Thanks fmpden, I missed that they would be there in May. You are correct Trail Ridge won't be open.

When, generally, is mud season?

April and May--as the snow melts. it is also not a good fishing time as the streams are up and fast with the runoff.

Except last April we got lots of snow in the mountains, so that one ski area re-opened. You just never know.

Mudd season is April,May, and little into June depending on location. And the mountains can get heavy snow in April. It just depends. It is the Spring season when the snow is melting and running down hill. And it depends on altitude. The lower levels and the foothills dry out sooner than the higher levels.

May is a really good time to visit Denver...as long as you don't want to go hiking in the mountains. Daytime temps are in the 70's but it'll be chilly in the evenings and early mornings. May is definitely mud season in the high country, so the hiking will most likely to be poor. I'm going to commit heresy and suggest that, at that time, you might want to skip RMNP.

If you have any interest in snowshoeing, there's likely to be some snow at Brainard Lake Recreation Area. The road is plowed partway up, so people park along the edge of the tree lined roadway and snowshoe or XC ski up to the lake. It sits at about 10,000 feet, so you WILL notice the altitude. The scenery is spectacular. You can rent snowshoes from several places, like the big REI in Denver that's right off the highway. You'd then go through Boulder, where there are no doubt, several shops that rent winter sports equipment as well. Round trip with snowshoeing would be most of a day. IIRC, it's about 1.5 hours from Denver up to the ad hoc winter time parking area.

If you want to overnight somewhere in the mountains, you could drive up to Steamboat Springs, about 4 hrs from Denver. It's a great drive and Steamboat is a really nice town.

Roxborough State Park in the SW corner of the metro area is low enough that you should be able to hike without getting mud up to your ankles. It's pretty small as state parks go, but it's got some cool red sandstone formations.

The Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge is between downtown Denver and the airport. It's often a good place to see bison, but there's never any guarantee that they'll be near a fence line. Bison do whatever the heck they want.

Someone else suggested the Wild Animal Sanctuary which is about an hour from Denver. Take your binoculars for better viewing. The enclosures are large. It's a cool place and the bears should be pretty frisky by then, having recently come out of hibernation. They have a well trained corps of volunteers on hand to answer all your questions and tell you about the individual animals.

Denver's a really good restaurant town nowadays and I think you can get just about anything you'd want.
Did you want to stay in a hotel downtown?

I'll second the suggestion to the Denver Art Museum. They have a very good collection of western art.

I don't know when you'll be arriving, but First Fridays in the Santa Fe arts district is a lot of fun. It's on Santa Fe Dr. between 8th and about 12th Ave. Galleries stay open late, food trucks complement a few restaurants along the route, great people watching, impromptu street music, and still family friendly.

I suggested a tour of Stranahan's Whiskey Distillery, to another person visiting Denver. www.stranahans.com It's 10 min south of downtown, has good parking and a tasty brewpub next door.

If you have 9 or 10 days, yes take the full day drive down to Mesa Verde National Park and stay a couple of days. It's a really interesting place.

Whatever you do, I hope you enjoy your stay here.

Does this itinerary make sense for the middle of May? (Trail Ridge Road won't be open yet).
Day 1 - arrive, pick up rental car, walk around Denver
Day 2 - Drive up the Peak to Peak Scenic Byway (1 1/2 hours) to Estes Park. Spend the day adjusting to the altitude in Estes Park. (Small shops, etc.)
Overnight - Estes Park
Day 3 - Rocky Mountain State Park - hike Bear Lake Trail to Emerald Lake (approx 3 hours)
Estes Park JazzFest
Drive to Boulder
Overnight - Boulder
Day 4 - Boulder - Possibly tour Celestial Seasonings (tea)
Eldorado Canyon State Park - Hike the Eldorado Canyon Trail (3.5 miles one way) for canyon views
Overnight - Denver
Day 5 - Hot Air Balloon ride
Red Rocks Park
Days 6 and 7- Either Denver (U.S. Mint? Molly Brown House Museum?) or Colorado Springs (Garden of the Gods, Pike's Peak)

Where do you overnight on Day 1? Where will you walk around Denver? I suggest Cherry Creek North for shops and cafes, or Washington Park for walking.

Be sure to have a Plan B, in case of rain.

Day 4, you could overnight in Boulder so you don't have to change hotels. Just drive to Red Rocks from Boulder.

I've not heard of hot air balloons at Red Rocks. It would be fun, if you like that sort of thing.

For your final nights, I recommend Denver. Or even Golden, rather than driving down to the Springs and back to Denver airport.

I like the Bear Lake Trail to Emerald Lake but check trail conditions, bring proper footwear and possibly poles.

http://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisi...conditions.htm

http://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisi...conditions.htm

There is still a lot of snow up there, but temps are warming up so there will be melting slushy snow, icy spots, and mud.

I think you are going to need more than a plan B. You still haven't told us when you are coming other than mid May which is the middle of this week. What are your exact dates?

Just to give a weather update. Today, we are in the middle of an extensive snow storm. Maybe a foot in the city and considerably more in the mountains. While the snow in the city will be gone in a day or two, the snow will still be in the lower foothills which could make many of your planned hikes messy. There are reason why we call May mud season.

If you go to the Celestial Seasonings tour (which is in the suburb of Gunbarrel, a few miles east of Boulder proper, a 15-20 minute drive), make time for a stop at the "Leanin'Tree Museum of Western Art" (www.leanintreemuseum.com); it's 2 blocks away from Celestial, free, and has a really nice outdoor sculpture garden and easily viewed small gallery inside.