Colorado Vacation Ideas

[bbaldwin237]

We're taking a vacation to Colorado in August for an event and are looking for some other things to do. This will be a non-Jeep trip as we're flying there. We'll be in the Loveland area for the event (Strongest Man on Earth if there's any strongman fans here) for 2.5-3 days but plan to make a week or so out of it. It will be me, my wife, and our (by then) 3.5 year old.

We love the outdoors, sights, and interesting things. Not into urban stuff, but seeing certain popular urban things on vacation is ok for brief periods. We also love good food! We will have a car so traveling short distances is fine. We're also open to staying somewhere else for a few days and then going to stay in Loveland for the event.

I'd love to get some input on must-see, must-do things or good places to eat!

 

[tdrudd]

If you're interested in seeing Rocky Mountain National Park, would highly recommend staying on the west side of the park in Grand Lake. Cool little village without the packed tourist trap feel of Estes Park.

We did a VRBO in town and could basically walk the entire place for breakfast, dinner, etc. would definitely go back to Blue Water Bakery, Worlds End pub, and the Rapids for a nicer dinner.

Once you're on that side, it was a really good home base for the park, and exploring further West. We had 3 days there and it was great.

 

[bbaldwin237]

If you're interested in seeing Rocky Mountain National Park, would highly recommend staying on the west side of the park in Grand Lake. Cool little village without the packed tourist trap feel of Estes Park.

We did a VRBO in town and could basically walk the entire place for breakfast, dinner, etc. would definitely go back to Blue Water Bakery, Worlds End pub, and the Rapids for a nicer dinner.

Once you're on that side, it was a really good home base for the park, and exploring further West. We had 3 days there and it was great.

Thanks, I'll check out Grand Lake. This event actually was held in Estes Park before it moved to Loveland so I had previously looked at some of the stuff up there. We definitely want to see RMNP.

 

[g.hayduke]

Drive to the top of Pikes Peak. Visit Garden of the Gods. Hike the Flat Irons near Boulder. Endless options.

 

[bbaldwin237]

Drive to the top of Pikes Peak. Visit Garden of the Gods. Hike the Flat Irons near Boulder. Endless options.

Thank you, I'll add these to our list!

 

[Shank]

If you’re into hiking lake Haiyaha was amazing in RMNP

 

[bbaldwin237]

View attachment 587738
If you’re into hiking lake Haiyaha was amazing in RMNP

Thanks, we do, I'll take a look! We'll have a 3.5 year old though so it can't be anything too crazy.

 

[NDSpeed]

Don't forget August is still prime time. You'll have to get timed slip for entry into RMNP

 

[bbaldwin237]

Don't forget August is still prime time. You'll have to get timed slip for entry into RMNP

Noted!

 

[bbaldwin237]

I wanted to bump this one again to see if there was any other input. We fly out Tuesday and are staying in Loveland. The things already mentioned here are on a list, we'll probably try to put a rough plan together this weekend.

Also, I've looked at the weather which looks nice. Does it cool down a lot in the evenings there? Where we are, even if it's 90 during the day, when the sun starts going down it's nice to have a sweatshirt or light jacket. Is that going to be the case there, or will it stay pretty warm until night?

 

[Apparition]

Granby isn't far from Grand Lake you can drive where the Killdozer drove.

Other than that depends on if you want to drive down to the Pikes Peak area the Royal Gorge is only a couple hours from that.

 

[bbaldwin237]

Granby isn't far from Grand Lake you can drive where the Killdozer drove.

Other than that depends on if you want to drive down to the Pikes Peak area the Royal Gorge is only a couple hours from that.

My brother was just in the Colorado Springs area recently doing the Warrior Games and went to Pikes Peak. He said it was amazing. I'd like to get there for sure. We'll have some days where we need to stay close and then some days where we're good to venture further away.

 

[tworley]

Also, I've looked at the weather which looks nice. Does it cool down a lot in the evenings there? Where we are, even if it's 90 during the day, when the sun starts going down it's nice to have a sweatshirt or light jacket. Is that going to be the case there, or will it stay pretty warm until night?

It'll be warm, a long sleeved shirt might be nice. This morning at 5 it was 67°. I'd expect overnight lows to be not much lower.

RMNP is worth the drive since you're right there.
If you're into breakfast burritos--Bonfire Burritos in either Arvada or Golden are damn good.
Blackhawk/Central City if you're into gambling
Granby side of RMNP is cool--very small towns - Granby, Fraser, Tabernash, WinterPark. But not much to do other than take in the sites and do some shopping
Some (if not all?) the ski resorts offer mountain biking if you're into that.
Steamboat Springs has the Strawberry Hot Springs that could be worth the drive if you want to soak.

 

[bbaldwin237]

It'll be warm, a long sleeved shirt might be nice. This morning at 5 it was 67°. I'd expect overnight lows to be not much lower.

RMNP is worth the drive since you're right there.
If you're into breakfast burritos--Bonfire Burritos in either Arvada or Golden are damn good.
Blackhawk/Central City if you're into gambling
Granby side of RMNP is cool--very small towns - Granby, Fraser, Tabernash, WinterPark. But not much to do other than take in the sites and do some shopping
Some (if not all?) the ski resorts offer mountain biking if you're into that.
Steamboat Springs has the Strawberry Hot Springs that could be worth the drive if you want to soak.

Thank you! That's all great input, especially the food, we love to try new restaurants when we trave.

Mountain biking at a ski resort sounds fun, especially if they have some trails and maybe a little trailer to haul the kid.

We're also planning to do the SxS rental. I gave my son the option of renting a Jeep for the day or a SxS and he chose the latter. It's about the same price for 8 hours in a Jeep or 4 hours in a SxS. I guess he's never done the SxS and we have a Jeep. Although if we do that, he's going to want one, and if we do the Jeep we might want the luxury of a JL! I've tried to talk my wife into one for her. Maybe eventually when we need to replace her Grand Cherokee I can convince her to get whatever the current Wrangler is.