Colorado...where to go?

[HeatherC]

I am planning a trip to Colorado this summer as part of a road trip. We are planning to see Denver, Boulder area because we will be coming from Kansas, thenwork our way towards Bryce in Utah.

Are there places you would recommend? Is Rocky Mountain National Park a must see?

Would love to hear any suggestions!

 

[mom2rtk]

When are you going? I highly recommend a drive to the top of Rocky Mountain National Park if Trail Ridge Road is open when you go. I think it generally opens in late May/early June so hopefully you can do it. Even just driving through looking for wildlife is fun.

Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs is pretty cool too. And of course Pike's Peak is there too.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Mesa Verde, Gunnison, Colorado national monument. RMNP is great but can be extremely crowded due to proximity to Denver. I would skip in favor of less crowded areas.

 

[Klayfish]

The Denver area is absolutely gorgeous. I spent about a month total out there between roughly 2009-2013. We were asked to move there by my job during that time. If it weren't for the fact that the winters are insanely unpredictable, we would have gone. But I just can't live in a place where it's 70 degrees one day and literally the next day it's a blizzard. I never went into the city itself, I'm not a big city person anymore. My office was in the Littleton area. A very beautiful place in its' own right. I took several drives out to Golden, which I loved. Then headed west on Rt. 6, which is a stunning gorgeous drive out toward Idaho Springs. Then headed to Mt. Evans and drove to the top. Just wow!

 

[FINFAN]

I will add the Royal Gorge and river-rafting of you get the chance. You can drive there as a day trip from CO Springs area. You can also hit Manitou Springs if you do Garden of The God's/Pike's Peak stuff, hip little throw-back. Heading to Bryce tho, you can prob skip GOTG but there are hotels literally 5 minutes from there and it is pretty neat.I agree with Mom2rtk on Trail Ridge Road and Estes Park is worth seeing. If you have the time, Telluride (take the time to hit the Gondola) and Durango are sweet to see as well. The drives are so beautiful it is half the fun. Off road vehicle? If you are REALLY adventurous you can try and hit Black Bear Pass(youtube it) but it may not be open until August~ some gnarly parts but when get get back to Telluride and look back at what you drove through...fantastic.

Look up festival's, bike marathons etc for the time you will be traveling ~ so you are prepared . Some smaller towns that host can fill up quickly and streets can be closed impacting your travel plans.

 

[AndreaDM]

My brother & family live near Fort Collins, a great artsy place to visit. We also LOVE Estes Park, always seen a ton of elk there.

 

[mmouse37]

We saw a baseball game at Coors Field in Denver, toured the brewery in Golden, drove up to the Stanley Hotel (where Stephen King stayed and was the inspiration for the shining), toured Hammond's Chocolate factory, visited Red Rocks then we drove over to the Basalt/Aspen area. We only had 2 or 3 days in the Denver area before we drove over to Basalt (was staying at friends ranch). The drive over Independence Pass and amazing (a bit terrifying but amazing).

MJ

 

[Darcy03231]

Denver Museum of Natural History
Garden of the Gods
Air Force Academy
Cave of the Winds

 

[monsterkitty]

I am planning a trip to Colorado this summer as part of a road trip. We are planning to see Denver, Boulder area because we will be coming from Kansas, thenwork our way towards Bryce in Utah.

Are there places you would recommend? Is Rocky Mountain National Park a must see?

Would love to hear any suggestions!

In the Denver area: the US Mint in downtown Denver; the zoo is amazing; WaterWorld is one of the largest water parks in the country (it's in Federal Heights which is about 20 min north of Denver); skip Elitch Gardens and the Aquarium as both are lame;

Boulder: Pearl Street Mall can be very interesting and entertaining; Chautauqua Park for hiking

Colorado Springs Area (an 1 -1.5 hours south of Denver depending on traffic): Garden of the Gods; Cave of the Winds; Pikes Peak; Cheyenne Mountain zoo; Air Force Academy

As you are driving west on I-70 towards Utah, I would spend a day in Glenwood Springs and at least a half a day at the pool. You can also visit Aspen, Vail, or any of the other ski towns along the way.

If you do Rocky Mountain National Park, it does get very crowded and most sight seeing is now done on a bus and you're not allowed to drive to the different trail heads anymore. Estes Park outside of RMNP is a cute little town with the Stanley Hotel, which gave Stephen King inspiration for The Shining.

Durango and Telluride along with Mesa Verde are probably my favorite places in Colorado. However, they are several hours from Denver or the I-70 corridor traveling towards Utah so I would skip them. Instead of I-70 from Denver to Utah, you could go down to Salida and then take US 50 through Gunnison and visit the Black Canyon of Gunnison, which is very beautiful as well. Then you head west back to I-70.

I'll add more as I think about this.

 

[Micca]

Cog railway to the top of Pike's Peak!

 

[North of Mouse]

I am planning a trip to Colorado this summer as part of a road trip. We are planning to see Denver, Boulder area because we will be coming from Kansas, thenwork our way towards Bryce in Utah.

Are there places you would recommend? Is Rocky Mountain National Park a must see?

Would love to hear any suggestions!

We went to Boulder and up Trail Ridge Rd. into the Rockies from there. Was a great scenic ride - was July and there was snow on the sides of the road and we 'froze' at the rest stop about mid way - was so cold and windy! But, the views were magnificent, and well worth the trip!!

Also went to Estes Park, Durango, Mesa Verde. With one exception,didn't try any hiking as we were coming from near sea level south LA and the altitudes were hard for us Pelicans!! Hiked around the lake at the Maroon Bells - was beautiful!

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

Is Casa Bonita still around? If so, and you're in Denver, you have to stop for dinner. When we lived there, it was the place to take visitors, lol.

 

[monsterkitty]

Is Casa Bonita still around? If so, and you're in Denver, you have to stop for dinner. When we lived there, it was the place to take visitors, lol.

Still there and still the place to go. Just don't eat the food!

 

[Tigger in a kilt]

Is Casa Bonita still around? If so, and you're in Denver, you have to stop for dinner. When we lived there, it was the place to take visitors, lol.

I grew up partly in Colorado (divorced parents with a weird custody arrangement) and had completely forgotten about Casa Bonita. My friend had a birthday party there and I was so jealous!

 

[GoofyBaseballMom26]

Casa Bonita This place is awesome, the food is beyond terrible...... it is definitely an experience though.

Air Force Academy... be sure to watch the movie, I left so incredibly impressed.
Garden of the Gods... beautiful
Maroon Bells..... more beautiful
Coors Brewery
Go to a Rockies game.

There is so much to do in the Denver area. Lots of things are listed that I would love to have had time to do. I really wanted to go to the Stanley Hotel.

 

[waltonmkb]

Independence Pass and the Maroon Bells (both near Aspen) are pretty spectacular, but in my opinion the most beautiful place in all of Colorado is the Telluride area.

 

[Tigger in a kilt]

I have heard from several sources that the original old town part of Fort Collins was the inspiration for DL’s Main Street USA. I don’t know how true that is, though the Ft Collins tourist board seems to think it is. It’s about 2 hours north of Denver, almost at the Wyoming border, and is a very pretty town. I’m not sure I would go out of my way to go there, but it’s worth considering if you will be heading north.

I really like Vail. Aspen is also beautiful and well worth seeing, though when we went the road was not good at all. That may have changed though.

Edit: Red Rocks Amphitheatre is stunning.

 

[Iya]

Red Rocks
Idaho Springs
RMNP via Grand Lake was by far our favorite, though we visited in October, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. We were the last car allowed up Trail Ridge Road before they closed it for the season.

 

[beckicnm]

Cog railway to the top of Pike's Peak!

The Cog Railway isn't opening this year, or at least this spring. The Broadmoor (which owns it) says it needs extensive repairs and they don't know if they want to pay for it.

 

[HeatherC]

OMG! You guys are awesome! I am SO excited to see Colorado! Will check out all your suggestions!