My husband and I had some free time before he had to start his next field job in Louisiana so we took a 6 day trip to Colorado. He’s originally from Colorado and I have visited a few times but it was mostly to visit family. So we decided to make this trip mainly to go sight seeing and explore nature. Our first stop on our 6 day vacation was Estes Park. We dedicated 2 days to Estes but here’s the catch….we stayed with some friends that live in Fort Collins since the hotels in Estes were expensive. So we lost some time driving back and forth. However, we still made the most out of our time there.
Estes Park Travel Guide Summary:
Day 1
Drive to Estes Park from Denver International Airport
Take Aerial Tramway to Prospect Mountain
Explore Prospect Mountain
Have a drink at The Stanley Hotel
Head to Fort Collins
Day 2
Drive to Rocky Mountain National Park from Fort Collins
Park at Bear Lake Trailhead
Hike to Emerald Lake
Drive to Estes Park for some Ice Cream
Explore all the Cute Shops in Estes
Head to Fort Collins
Day 1: Prospect Mountain and the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park
First day in Colorado! We landed at Denver International Airport, picked up our rental car and headed straight to Estes Park. Well….we made a pit stop at a McDonalds to grab a Dr. Pepper for the ride. The drive took about 2 hrs without toll roads. On the drive there we saw some cute mountain neighborhoods and some great views.
Our first stop was to take a picture at the Estes Park sign (located at the main road entrance if coming from Lyons) which had a gorgeous mountain backdrop! That’s where I first saw chipmunks! They were so CUTE! I wanted to take one home…. After taking our photo, we headed into town and parked at the aerial tramway parking lot. The tickets were $16 a piece but totally worth it! It was a great view going up to prospect mountain, you could see all of Estes Park.
Prospect Mountain
Once we got to the top of the mountain, we stopped in the little gift shop to grab some drinks (I got a chai latte and my husband got a coffee). With our caffeinated drinks in hand, we went back out to explore more. There was a dirt trail that went around the mountain so we decided to start there…however, it didn’t really seam like it led to anywhere. So after a while walking up the trail (maybe about 15 mins) we headed back down to see some other parts of Prospect Mountain. The mountain was pretty much free range, you could walk/climb anywhere/anything.
So we climbed various rocky areas to take in the view…and of course to take some photos. At one point we just sat on the rocks and took a moment to just relax and enjoy nature. The weather was fantastic since it was August, so not too hot and not too cold. On our way to one of the rock formations we were going to climb, some nice people gave us peanuts to feed the CHIPMUNKS which is totally allowed on Prospect Mountain! My husband was telling me when he was younger, his dad would take him and his sister to Prospect Mountain to feed the chipmunks peanuts and I guess it is still a tradition. Needless to say….we fed the chipmunks because why not?!?
The Stanley Hotel
After feeding the cute little chipmunks, we took the tramway back down to our rental car. We drove to The Stanley hotel to grab a drink at the Whiskey Bar (a bar inside the hotel). If you don’t know about The Stanley hotel, it is THE hotel that inspired Stephen King’s book The Shining. It’s a grand historical hotel that has preserved it’s character throughout the years. You can either stay at the hotel, take a tour or just grab a drink and roam around the property. My husband I did the latter. I ordered the Redrum Punch and my husband got a local beer.
Once we got our drinks at the bar, we headed to the outside patio to give our legs a little break and to enjoy the beautiful weather. (We were coming from Houston, so it was nice to be somewhere where there wasn’t a ton of humidity in the air.) About 10 mins later, we carried our drinks with us and roamed around the estate. We walked behind the main hotel building and then in the “garden maze” in front. The maze wasn’t really a maze and the hedges weren’t very tall. There was a cute garden in the front that granted some great photo opportunities! Unfortunately, you couldn’t wander around certain areas since they were blocked off and only guests staying at the hotel were allowed to enter. So it was a quick exploration before we headed back out to Fort Collins.
We got to our friends place in Fort Collins, unloaded our stuff and went straight to my husband’s favorite brewery for sour beers…New Belgium. The brewery was cool with a ton of outdoor seating and even a food truck in case you get hungry. After drinking a couple beers, it was dinner time! We didn’t grab something at the food truck because my husband had a favorite pizza place. Oh, did I mention my husband went to CSU so he’s really familiar with Fort Collins?!? The pizza place was called Krazy Karl’s Pizza and can I just say YUM! If you go I recommend trying their special as those are always an excellent choice. This was the last activity we did before heading to bed.
Day 2: Emerald Lake Hike and Exploring Estes Park
Time to do some more hiking! We got up a little early to account for the 1hr to 1.5hr drive from Fort Collins to the Rocky Mountain National Park. However….we did make a pit stop to grab breakfast at Einsteins bagels to get some food into our system before the hike.
We got to the entrance for the national park and showed them our reservations (see tip below). They gave us our paper work and we headed to the Bear Lake Trailhead to start our hike to Emerald Lake. There was a ton of parking available so it wasn’t difficult to park.
Tip: Rocky Mountain National Park has implemented a temporary reservation system to enter the park. Create an account with Recreation and login at 5pm MST the day before you want to hike to reserve your time as reservations fill up fast.
Emerald Lake Hike
The hike was around 3 hrs round trip. One section was pretty steep and I was huffing and puffing…coming from sea level to 10,000 ft above sea level was a little rough. We saw a total of 3 lakes along the hike (Nymph Lake, Dream Lake and Emerald Lake). Each lake was gorgeous and had plenty of rocks and shaded spots to rest. You could sit down, rest and enjoy the views for a little bit or continue on to the next lake. My husband and I stopped at each lake to take some pictures and to drink water. STAY HYDRATED!
At the final lake, Emerald Lake, we found a nice rock in the shade and brought out our snacks. We had beef jerky and pepperoni to munch on since we knew we were going to be hungry. The view during snack time was so peaceful and the weather that day was perfect for a hike.
Tip: Pack non-perishable snacks and a water bottle to bring with you during your hike.
Estes Park
After our snack, we headed back down to hop into our car and drive down to Estes Park. This time we walked around the cute town and browsed through some adorable shops. Oh wait…did I mention, we stopped and got ice cream at one of the many ice cream shops in town?!? We got ice cream at Laura’s and it was just what we needed after our hike. After devouring our ice cream, we made our final stop in Trendz and OMG! I loved all of their stuff in the boutique. I ended up just getting a little sticker and magnet as a souvenir.
Once we were done browsing (mainly me), we headed back to Fort Collins for our last night with our friends. We just ate in that night and ended it with some tasty s’mores! After the fire burned down, we called it a night.
Our short visit to Estes Park and the Rocky Mountain National Park was just what we needed to start off our 6 day trip in Colorado. Have y’all hiked any trails in the Rocky Mountain National Park? If so, what were your favorite hikes?
Love Estes Park. My husband and I just hiked to Emerald Lake in August and loved it. If you ever go back, you need to visit Mills Lake and Lake Haiyaha.
Spectacular views and a perfect place for a hike! Love the lake!
Oh my goodness, we definitely don’t have hiking like this around me!