Will be in Denver Labor Day weekend, is 3 days enough time to visit many places? (Colorado Springs: fit in)

[jkman1]

Hello,

I will be in Denver for Labor Day weekend which will give me a full 3 days to visit many great places for some spectacular views. I know my time will be short at each one but I want to get a good glimpse of them.

Will I have enough time to visit the following places in 3 days?

Sand Dunes National Park ( this may the odd one out since furthest away)
Pikes Peak
Garden of the Gods
Estes Park
Rocky Mountain National Park

Plus visit some Denver sites too:
LoDo
Downtown Denver
A park or two in the city
16th street mall etc...

Thanks,

[80skeys]

Originally Posted by jkman1

Hello,

I will be in Denver for Labor Day weekend which will give me a full 3 days to visit many great places for some spectacular views. I know my time will be short at each one but I want to get a good glimpse of them.

Will I have enough time to visit the following places in 3 days?

Sand Dunes National Park ( this may the odd one out since furthest away)
Pikes Peak
Garden of the Gods
Estes Park
Rocky Mountain National Park

Plus visit some Denver sites too:
LoDo
Downtown Denver
A park or two in the city
16th street mall etc...

Thanks,

yes, Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods are the same trip; Estes Park and RMNP are the same trip, downtown Denver = 16th street mall = same afternoon

plenty of time

[jkman1]

Thanks

Is there any way to fit Sand Dunes Nat Park in there in the same day as Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods? I have heard seeing the 14K peaks rising up behind the sand dunes is a sight to see.

Also, would you recommend changing this trip on sept 16-19 when there are potentially more fall colors?

[80skeys]

Originally Posted by jkman1

Thanks

Is there any way to fit Sand Dunes Nat Park in there in the same day as Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods? I have heard seeing the 14K peaks rising up behind the sand dunes is a sight to see.

It'd be a tight fit. The Dunes is a couple a couple hours from Co-springs, so four hours driving total - that's half your day.

Also, would you recommend changing this trip on sept 16-19 when there are potentially more fall colors?

Sure!

[vegaspilgrim]

Originally Posted by jkman1

Thanks

Is there any way to fit Sand Dunes Nat Park in there in the same day as Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods? I have heard seeing the 14K peaks rising up behind the sand dunes is a sight to see.

Also, would you recommend changing this trip on sept 16-19 when there are potentially more fall colors?

Logistically, it could be done, but you'd be spending the whole day driving and spending barely any time seeing things outside the car.

I did a crazy day trip a year ago where I drove to the Great Sand Dunes (and back) from Denver in one day. I think the driving part (not counting stops) was about 3.5 hours each way, going down I-25 and then Hwy 160 into the San Luis Valley. So from Colorado Springs that would be about 2.5 hours each way.

Just going up to see Pike's Peak and coming back will probably take a whole morning or most of an afternoon right there. After seeing Pike's Peak, you might be interested in venturing over to Cripple Creek too.

Alternatively, you could skip the sand dunes altogether-- and spend a whole day seeing Pikes Peak & Colorado Springs and maybe add a shorter excursion to see the Royal Gorge if you're up for it.

Hard to gauge exactly when there will be fall colors. Some years there aren't any.

[Katarina Witt]

Historically, the peak of fall colors in the northern mountains is the third week in September. However, this is not entirely foolproof. And as vegas said, some years there isn't much color at all.

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by jkman1

Hello,

I will be in Denver for Labor Day weekend which will give me a full 3 days to visit many great places for some spectacular views. I know my time will be short at each one but I want to get a good glimpse of them.

Will I have enough time to visit the following places in 3 days?

Sand Dunes National Park ( this may the odd one out since furthest away)
Pikes Peak
Garden of the Gods
Estes Park
Rocky Mountain National Park

Plus visit some Denver sites too:
LoDo
Downtown Denver
A park or two in the city
16th street mall etc...

Thanks,

I think that would be very difficult to accomplish all of that in three days. On the good side. If I was going to be in Denver on Labor Day weekend, I would spend pretty much the entire weekend in Downtown Denver. Because thats the weekend for the Taste of Colorado. Which is probably about the biggest event in Denver, and well worth attending. I'm pretty sure you wont regret it if you go.

A Taste of Colorado - Community Festival, Free Admission, Labor Day Weekend, Downtown Denver, Civic Center Park

[jkman1]

Thanks for your all of you advice.

I will definitely check out taste of colorado.

Would it be possible to fit in the Royal Gorge suspension bridge in the same day as Pike Peak?

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by jkman1

Thanks for your all of you advice.

I will definitely check out taste of colorado.

Would it be possible to fit in the Royal Gorge suspension bridge in the same day as Pike Peak?

Yes, you can do Pikes Peak and the Royal Gorge Theme Park (my pix) in one day. Start early.

Taking the train up Pikes Peak (my pix) is better than driving up/down as the train ride is narrated.

You can walk across the bridge and also take the incline down to river level, about 700 feet below the bridge.

If you start early enough, you can drive through Garden of the Gods (my pix) as part of the trip to Pikes Peak. GOTG is a free park in the city that you can drive around in 20 minutes, or stop and hike for a few minutes. From there you easily zip over to the cog train.