Seeking recommendations for a town/city to visit within 90 min of Denver (Boulder: live in, restaurants)

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by HokieFan

Thanks for your questions!

We chose Denver because we had some travel funds with Southwest from a pandemic cancelled flight and Southwest flies direct from Dulles to Denver coupled with wanting to travel out west for a while now. Since the flight was paid for more than a year ago, I consider this kinda of a "freebie" flight.

I am intrigued by the mountain views. Being super familiar with the Blue Ridge Mountains in VA, I am excited to see a different "kind" of mountainscape. Colorado has a beauty that's so very different than VA's beauty and I'm just looking forward to experiencing it.

We do like to explore small towns and small cities. We like visiting breweries and eating good food. Spending time in downtown-like areas.

We are not outdoorsy-athletic. We do like to walk but we're not in for strenuous hikes or climbing. We like to sight-see whether it's manmade sights (monuments, museums, botanical gardens) or natural sights. We enjoy historical landmarks/sights but also modern day. We just don't want to wander too far off the beaten path.

We land in Denver on the morning of Saturday, October 9th and return home on Friday, October 15th. We booked lodging in Denver starting on Monday, October 11th. My husband would prefer to stay the entire time in Denver and visit surrounding areas (like Boulder, Aurora, etc.) as he's not too keen on spending a significant time in the car while I would like to branch out a little and explore other areas. Thus we compromised on two nights somewhere within a 90 minute drive.

So we're searching for someplace to stay and explore Saturday, October 9th and Sunday, October 10th. Or we could break it into one night in two different places.

You're coming at a time that is both good and bad. Good because tourist season is mostly wrapped up by Labor Day so everything won't be as crowded. Bad because it's shoulder season and a lot of the summer tourist areas are closed, and the ski areas aren't quite ramped up yet.

Mount Evans will be closed. The road typically closes on Labor Day weekend.

Pikes Peak, OTOH, is open year-round depending on the weather so you could drive or take the Cog Railway to the top if you want to experience a 14er.

Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National Park will also likely be closed. You can still see the east and west sides of the park, but from Denver the latter requires a fair bit of driving.

Denver itself is on the plains with good views of the mountains to the west and south. To the east is all high plains. I love Aurora, but unless you're scoping out the area for a possible relo (or looking for ethnic enclaves), you can skip it. The city has no real downtown, and it's just a run-of-the-mill suburb that happens to be pretty diverse.

I would check out Roxborough State Park or Golden Gate Canyon State Park. Both are close to Denver.

Roxborough's geology is similar to Garden of the Gods and Red Rocks.

Golden Gate Canyon is in the foothills and has decent but distant views of the Northern and Central Front Range. If you go to Golden Gate Canyon, stop at Panorama Point.

Idaho Springs is "ok" for a mountain town. It's got a lot of touristy areas, but it's also somewhat sketch. Georgetown is smaller but better IMNSHO.

[Mike from back east]

Does the Coors brewery in Golden still do tours? Enjoyed it when we visited, and then there's Lookout Mountain right there in Golden from which one may look east and see Kansas waaaaaay off in the distance.

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Does the Coors brewery in Golden still do tours? Enjoyed it when we visited, and then there's Lookout Mountain right there in Golden from which one may look east and see Kansas waaaaaay off in the distance.

I checked the website. The tour info is all dated 2020, and it appears the tours and gift shop are still closed.

Speaking of Lookout Mountain - the Mother Cabrini Shrine and Buffalo Bill's Gravesite are up there as well.

[emm74]

Colorado Springs is definitely a necessity, whether that is for an overnight visit or a day trip. But there is too much to see there to skip it.

But as far as one specific place for an overnight, my vote is for Estes Park, with a visit into Rocky Mountain National Park. How far you can go in will depend on weather conditions but even a little bit of a visit is worth it. And I love the rest of the town, it's a bit touristy but still so cute and fun.

[zenith32]

Kinda surprised nobody has mentioned Blackhawk/Central City. They're a short distance from Denver but tucked into the canyons off the beaten path of I-70 and in my experience not nearly as well known to people not from the Front Range, so if you want a mountain experience that's maybe a bit less touristy than places like Aspen or Glendale you might wanna consider going to Blackhawk. Plus, there's no sight quite like seeing a 30+ floor skyscraper jutting out of a mountain.

[cowboyxjon]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Does the Coors brewery in Golden still do tours? Enjoyed it when we visited, and then there's Lookout Mountain right there in Golden from which one may look east and see Kansas waaaaaay off in the distance.

Still closed according to: https://www.coorsbrewerytour.com

Also want to add that there appears to be a massive renovation/construction project on brewery property that borders Ford St, so the tour parking area and other parts of the property that border Ford St are currently torn up. I'm interested to see how it will look when the project is complete!

Other thought -- why not visit Boulder? There are some great (easy) hikes in Boulder Canyon, not far from downtown Boulder and there is paved trail that goes into the canyon, so it's not really "off the beaten path" but the scenery is pretty. You can also hang out along Boulder Creek if the weather is nice. Might be a good option because you would spend less time traveling to Boulder and have more time to eat, visit museums, walk along the creek, and do the types of things you mentioned that you enjoy.

[mkwensky]

Originally Posted by emm74

Colorado Springs is definitely a necessity, whether that is for an overnight visit or a day trip. But there is too much to see there to skip it.

But as far as one specific place for an overnight, my vote is for Estes Park, with a visit into Rocky Mountain National Park. How far you can go in will depend on weather conditions but even a little bit of a visit is worth it. And I love the rest of the town, it's a bit touristy but still so cute and fun.

Not sure if I would agree that CoS is a must see. Garden of the Gods is overrated IMHO and the kind of hiking accessible near town aren't that different from what you can get in Denver. The city itself is pretty meh and kind of slow and boring for its size.

[TCHP]

A lot of the cities around the Denver metro are pretty uninspiring and just extended suburbs that I wouldn't recommend for exploring. I certainly would not recommend you spend your limited time in places like Aurora or many others in the metro, although our Denver crew could provide suggestions that might be worth it. Maybe downtown Littleton, Morrison, Golden, Boulder for a slightly different flavor of the Denver metro.

Obviously as a large city, Denver has a lot of different things to do as far as museum and local culture, cafes, breweries, sports, etc go. The Natural History and History Colorado are interesting as they are very good and very locally flavored. If you want to head up in to the mountains, Georgetown might be a nice overnight stop. If there is a performer you like at the time of your visit, Red Rocks is worth an evening.

Similarly, Colorado Springs is just another city. Unlike Denver, it is pressed right up against the base of Pikes Peak. It also has 150 years of tourism under its belt so there are a lot of things to see. The Pikes Peak highway is open year round, weather permitting and has a brand new summit house, provided you aren't afraid of driving on near shelf roads. Manitou Springs is a Victorian town with a real penny arcade, some natural attractions and tourist shops galore. Its similar to Georgetown without a railroad and drive into the mountains. Oct 15 might be too early to catch the coffin races and see all the local goth talent come out into the daylight. The Olympic Training Center and Museum as well as the Air Force Academy are also all popular with visitors.

Altitude maybe a concern. Keep that in mind when coming here from near sea level. If you aren't feeling 80-90% in Denver, you may want to avoid higher altitude things like driving to the top of a 14,000' mountain.

Some sites to browse before your trip
https://www.denver.org/
https://georgetown-colorado.org/
https://www.visitcos.com/
https://www.bouldercoloradousa.com/
https://www.redrocksonline.com/

[emm74]

Originally Posted by mkwensky

Not sure if I would agree that CoS is a must see. Garden of the Gods is overrated IMHO and the kind of hiking accessible near town aren't that different from what you can get in Denver. The city itself is pretty meh and kind of slow and boring for its size.

I didn't mean the city itself, but unlike you, I do think Garden of the Gods is worth seeing, along with Pike's Peak and there are several other things to see in the area depending on interest, such as Cave of the Winds, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, The Broadmoor, the Air Force Academy, the Figure Skating Museum.

To me, it's worth a day trip at the least, possibly one over night, although it's not the same as visiting and staying over in a cute mountain town.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by emm74

I didn't mean the city itself, but unlike you, I do think Garden of the Gods is worth seeing, along with Pike's Peak and there are several other things to see in the area depending on interest, such as Cave of the Winds, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, The Broadmoor, the Air Force Academy, the Figure Skating Museum.

To me, it's worth a day trip at the least, possibly one over night, although it's not the same as visiting and staying over in a cute mountain town.

The Broadmoor is the only 5-star rated AAA resort in COLO and their Sunday Brunch is a legend. The Sunday Brunch is currently not being held but their webpage says it may return "in the Fall" so check back nearer your visit. It's also convenient to Garden of the Gods, Pioneer Museum, Manitou, Cog Railway, The Incline (a very rigorous hike) and other attractions like the area of west side of COLO SPGS known as Old Colorado City (OCC).

Things I like in downtown Denver are the Oxford Hotel with its art deco Cruise Room bar and the Tattered Cover bookstore which is huge. If you could get tickets to a Bronco's game that would be real fun, or something at the Pepsi Center.