Estes Park CO tips

you should def whitewater raft. The rivers may be low this time of year, but it's still worth it, esp if you have kids. If you're staying in Estes, you may need to drive to fort collins for the whitewater raft.
I'm not a horse person but my kids are and there's a horseback riding company at one of the entrances of RMNP. It's a scenic, easy ride.

The great thing about Estes is that your so close to RMNP. Hit the park in the early morning and late afternoon to beat some of the crowds. pick out a few hikes and definitely drive trail ridge road.

Lake Estes is nice and you can rent canoes, paddleboats,etc.

I can't speak to Boulder but I'm going at the end of August. Denver is a nice big city but I'd spend most of your time in the outdoors over Denver. just my 2 cents.

White water rafting is fun and worth it. The rivers have been really high recently so maybe call ahead to see if they are still doing tours. I live in denver, I would just skip denver and stay in the mountains longer. Blue pan pizza or hops and pie are good places to eat if you like pizza. New Belgium brewery would be a good place for a brewery tour.

I was there for 4 days in June before sliding to Winter Park.

The food and beer was average everywhere

The best brewery we went to was Black Project.

We did two rafting trips and both were great. Closest to Estes is in Ft Collins (Wanderlust).

We stayed in the park mostly during the day.

I don't think there are any must eat spots anywhere here.

All brewery tours are the same, go to Avery in Boulder.

Rafting is great this year, you should go.

I would go to the mountains instead of being in Denver or Boulder.

Blackhawk is casinos, do you want to go to a casino?

Download the Just Ahead app and buy the guide for Rocky Mountain National Park.

Avery is in a brand new brewery as of like 2 years ago. They aren’t behind the car wash anymore

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We went back into the park every evening at 6:30, and I can't recommend enough

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Can't say this enough. Went there in '91. The RMNP made such a huge impression on. Although it wasn't planned this way, it turned out to be a spiritual journey. Hard to explain but you'll see.

How can you go to Estes and not go to the Rocky Mountain National Park?

(1) approach Estes from Denver by going through Golden then up through Nederland. Scenic drive!

(2) Do the Bear Lake, Nymph, Dream, Emerald Lake hike. Don’t miss this!

(3) Drive Trail Ridge Road from Estes at least 2/3s of the way. Bring a picnic lunch and eat at an overlook. Stop where you see other cars parked and do a few little hikes into the tundra.

Go up Fall River Road stop at the pull offs and enjoy some of the waterfalls, should be going pretty good right now. Drive across to Grand Lake and have lunch before coming back over. Couple neat little restaurants there. If you have kids they have a neat little putt putt course and go kart track in Estes too. We live it there. Went on out honeymoon there 13 years ago, and have rotated between there and the beach every other year since then.

We’ve been during Thanksgiving and enjoyed it. First half of the week was kind of quiet. A lot of stuff in town is closed for the season already, but they did have an ice skating rink set up and other stuff going on. Friday afternoon is the start of Christmas festivities and they have a parade in town. It was extremely crowded. If you’re not within walking distance to town and want to go to the parade, then you should plan on driving in early if you want to find a parking place. We were staying in a condo above the shops downtown and could watch from there. The kids loved the parade

The road was closed at Many Parks Curve I believe. There is still quite a bit to do though in the lower portion. Few hiking tails left open and the Alluvial Falls to look at