Denver trip for 5 days. what to see. (Boulder, Estes Park: to rent, live)

[larrykwiat]

I am coming to denver on June 10th and would like to rent a car and take some day trips. Or could stay in multiple places. I want to see Rocky Mountain national park and Estus park. Can anyone recommend what to do there in this timeframe?

Thanks in advance.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by larrykwiat

I am coming to denver on June 10th and would like to rent a car and take some day trips. Or could stay in multiple places. I want to see Rocky Mountain national park and Estus park. Can anyone recommend what to do there in this timeframe?

Thanks in advance.

One suggestion is to go to RMNP/Estes via Boulder and spend an afternoon (or so) in that city. Lots to see-Pearl St. Mall, Boulder Creek Path, Dushanbe Teahouse, etc.
25 Best Things to Do in Boulder, Colorado

[Kathy884]

Estes Park./RMNP is wonderful. If I were you I'd plan on two nights or more there to avoid driving back and forth between there and Denver, which is a good two hours without heavy Traffic. The Bear Lake area has some great trailheads and easy hiking. If you want to stick to a very short hike, I would go up to Dream Lake and back and also walk around Bear Lake, a paved trail. If you are into slightly longer more moderate hiking (still rated easy, but with the altitude for low landers feels moderate, I love the hike up to Emerald Lake. // On another day, spend all day driving up Trail Ridge Road to the Alpine visitors center and take your time, stopping at all the scenic outlooks along the way. At the Alpine Visitors center, stop for a snack, see the gift shops, and if motivated visit the tundra areas up there. We often from there go all the way to Grand Lake and then head back. I'm not someone who is into driving, but make an exception for this drive with stops. It's such a great day.

[bluescreen73]

I'm gonna be a Debbie Downer here, but when it comes to hiking I simply cannot recommend Rocky anymore. Is it beautiful? Absolutely, but Rocky and Estes are completely overrun by touristas from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Going up there is simply not enjoyable. The sheer number of ill-prepared knuckleheads with no trail etiquette that you run across is astounding.

My favorites are the flatlanders who've never hiked above 3,000', but after reading the wiki page are bound and determined to summit Longs Peak with nothing more than a Slim Jim and a couple small bottles of water. The fact that they're setting off from the trailhead 5 hours too late during prime thunderstorm season wearing nothing more than a wife beater, denim shorts, and canvas tennis shoes? No big deal, you only live once, brah!

They'll be on the news later when park rangers either have to a) rescue them from the Broadway Ledges because they moronically decided they were too good for the Keyhole Route or b) retrieve their remains from the area below The Narrows.

If you're not hiking or you don't care about solitude, then by all means, go to Rocky. Otherwise pick an easy 13er and hit the trail.

[alloo66]

https://www.denver.org/

[MN_Ski]

So when I first moved here, I would always avoid RMNP/Estes Park on weekends. I just knew what to expect, and always figured it was not worth the effort.

But one weekend I had a permit for the Boulder Field to do the Longs Peak summit. It was the first Sat of August, so still a crazy busy time of year. I planned for the worst, and left Denver at 5am in order to pick up my permit and have time to get a meal in before starting the route. Thanks to some poor planning on my friends part, we weren't able to get up there until 10am. I have never been so furious/panicked in my life. I was about to call the whole trip off, and considered ending my friendship with these people. But I was pleasantly surprised by how easy everything still was.

10:30am, The visitor center was only about 1/2 full, and it took me about 3 mins to get my permit.
11:00am, We ate a nearby restaurant, with no line, and no problem with parking.
11:30am. My friend was able to find street parking in order to leave her car overnight.
12:15am. We got a spot in the parking lot for the Longs Peak trailhead.

I was so relieved that everything went smoothly with no traffic or issues with parking....on a Saturday with perfect weather during peak season.

Anyway. Long and unnecessary story aside, if you can get up to the park before 9:00am you should be OK to get to most of the park/trails. The problems typically happen when you don't leave Denver until 8-9am, and then try to get into the park with the huge wave of people all doing the same thing (we call them the "Bruncher" hikers). If you wake up late and you aren't reaching town until 11am or so....don't even bother. Seriously. You won't be getting anywhere.

A friend of mine was able to do a hike from the Bear Lake trail head on the 4th of July weekend. He said he got up to the Bear Lake parking lot around 7:00am and it was only about 2/3 full. It's really about getting ahead of the wave of people...kind of like filtering a gallon of water through a drinking straw. Your experience can go from amazing (1.5 hours from Denver to Trailhead), to Hell (3-4 hours from Denver to Trailhead), in a matter of an hour or so.

[Katarina Witt]

^^Good post! And I will say, in response to bluescreen73 who posted before you, the OP has to go to Rocky! I mean, it's one of the great national parks. I don't know where the OP is from, but people will ask him if he went to RMNP. If nothing else, he can drive through it, and go hiking somewhere else. But I agree with MN_Ski, get there early and there shouldn't be any huge problems. You can get to Estes from Boulder (my suggestion) in about an hour, to the first visitor's center within a few minutes of that.

[Neditate]

I agree with Katarina. If you want to see RMNP then you should.
First, visit the RMNP website: https://www.nps.gov/romo/index.htm
https://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/index.htm
Info on Estes Park: About Estes Park | Information & Rocky Mountain National Park
Also look at Trip Advisor. Everything you need or want to know about RMNP and Estes Park is there.

[emm74]

You could look into a class with the Rocky Mountain Nature Conservancy. They are pricey but the guide we had on ours was amazing, and it was a fascinating day, with someone else doing the driving so you can get lost in the scenery. Some have short walks, others have more of a hiking component, so you can find something that suits your interests and desired activity level.

https://rmconservancy.org/events/

[synapse]

Also, even if crowded, it's rare that the park and ride in the Bear Lake entrance to RMNP is full - and the shuttle there takes you to some of the most gorgeous trailheads in the park (my favorite is Glacier Gorge trailhead and the hike from there to Mills Lake, IMHO).