Best Front Range Scenic Drives (Denver, Colorado Springs: university, live, shop)

[ab14asos]

My wife, daughter and I are flying to Denver over Memorial Day Weekend to look at areas to relocate to in the Denver Metro. We will be in town for 4 days. We are wanting to explore the Front Range area of the Rockies while we are there visiting. We are curious on what are some of the most beautiful scenic (paved) drives in and around the Front Range. What we are looking for is a drive that has wonderful mountain views and good areas to stop for lots of pictures. We'd also like to find a couple of drives that have some really interesting towns or sites to stop at and play around at for a while.
We drove the Peak to Peak highway (Estes Park to Central City) the last time we were in the area. It was a beautiful drive but we're looking for other drives for this trip. Does anyone have any ideas on what drives we could take?

Also does anyone have any ideas of any great mountain streams/creeks and lakes/reservoirs in the area that we could visit and maybe have a nice picnic at while we're there? What does everyone know about Gross Reservoir West of Boulder? From what we can see in pictures it seems like a pretty place. Well, thanks for the help. Hope to receive some suggestions.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by ab14asos

Also does anyone have any ideas of any great mountain streams/creeks and lakes/reservoirs in the area that we could visit and maybe have a nice picnic at while we're there?

Not sure if this fits into your planning/routing but here goes. Below are a couple photos of when I took my daughters up to the first and second Palmer Lake reservoirs. They are about a 1/2 mile hike west of the town of Palmer Lake. (Palmer Lake itself is immediately east of the town of Palmer Lake.) We live about eight miles east of Palmer Lake near Monument. So these scenes are about a ten minute drive plus 20 minute hike from I-25.


You can see it here; Hike west from Glen Avenue. There are two reservoirs about 1/2 mile from each other up the same trail.

palmer lake, co - Google Maps


Why might this be a good place to check out? This area is located just north of Colorado Springs so it is in between jobs in Colorado Springs and Denver.

[kryptos]

My favourite two:
1.) Trail Ridge road from Estes Park to Grand Lake
Trail Ridge Road - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2.) Mount Evans Scenic Byway
Mount Evans Scenic Byway - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Both of them have jaw-dropping scenery. I love the drives themselves too, both of them topping out at over 12,000 ft.
There is a burnt-up gift shop near the summit of Mt Evans, a place where mountain goats seem to hang out quite a bit. This is one of my all-time favourite places to be (I do some amateur photography).
Trail Ridge road itself is within the Rocky Mountain National Park, and there are several places in there for a picnic and a lazy hike

[WestCoDude]

Highway 93 from Golden up to Boulder is stunningly beautiful, especially with a coat of freshly fallen snow.

Just hang onto the steering wheel. It gets gusty.

[Katiana]

I remember driving down Highway 93 one spring morning and seeing a baby cow still being licked by its mom. Awesome! I agree that is a nice drive, and short. Then you can explore Boulder. Just stay on Broadway and keep going north. You will know when you have reached the university. The Boulder Bolder is on Memorial Day.

[DenverAztec]

When you say Rockies in four days, these trips might eat up that time easily. However, if you plan to drive the whole time with periodic stops for meals and hiking, then most of these can be done in a day or a day and a half. A night stay in some of the small towns is affordable. More then a day: McClure pass, Denver to Aspen (hot springs in Glenwood, check out Red Stone and their castle, some small cabins to stay in in Red Stone. also the quarries in Marble), Black Cayon of the Gunnison, Steamboat Springs/Mount Harris/Oak Creek area, Rabbit Ears Pass and Fish Creek Falls. One Day Trips from Denver: Boulder Cayon to Nederland (Boulder Falls), Fish Creek Falls, Rabbit Ears Pass, Trail Ridge Road, Mount Evans, Colorado Springs (Garden of the Gods, Air Force Academy, Pikes Peak, Cave of the Winds, Seven Falls), Manitou Springs.

[Mike78613]

When I was there back in 06, I took a stroll down I-70 and I enjoyed this view:



Also if you got time, head down South on I25 to Colo Spgs and check out Garden of the Gods:

[Mikieo415]

Originally Posted by DenverAztec

One Day Trips from Denver: Boulder Cayon to Nederland (Boulder Falls), Fish Creek Falls, Rabbit Ears Pass, Trail Ridge Road, Mount Evans, Colorado Springs (Garden of the Gods, Air Force Academy, Pikes Peak, Cave of the Winds, Seven Falls), Manitou Springs.

What is there to see and do at rabbit ears pass? I have visions in my head of buggs bunny on a mountain top! What's up doc?

[ab14asos]

I was looking at a map trying to decide which scenic drives we might take while we are there. What does anyone know about driving Highway 285 past Conifer to Fairplay and then jumping down to Highway 24 and taking it East into Colorado Springs? If we take this route we are thinking about maybe stopping at Eleven Mile Canyon/Reservoir and Crystal Creek Reservoir near Woodlawn Park. Then will probably stop by the Garden of the Gods before heading back North to Denver. Does anyone know anything about this drive? Would it be worth checking out?

[DenverAztec]

Originally Posted by Mikieo415

What is there to see and do at rabbit ears pass? I have visions in my head of buggs bunny on a mountain top! What's up doc?

LOL, it is the rock structures. They look like rabbit ears at one point. Wikipedia actually has a picture, but not a very good one. It is more of the surrounding area that is great to see, Continental Divide and Steamboat Springs.

Rabbit Ears Pass - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia