Estes Park, Colorado- Gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park

Heading Northwest out of Boulder, Colorado, on foothills highway you will pass the foothills on your left and the plains dropping off to your right. In the distance you see Boulder Reservoir. Pay attention, this is a very popular biking road. Up the road a piece, you come to Lyons where you head more west and into the mountains along the St. Vrain river. Keep your eyes peeled. The drive to Estes Park is often punctuated with Mule Deer, Rocky Mountain Elk, and Bighorn Sheep. Often they are right beside the road. Welcome to the Colorado Mountains.

You will drop down a hill and roll around corner before the forest gives up its first view of Lake Estes and Estes Park. The lake is pretty good size by mountain standards though nothing like the flatland reservoirs stretching out in the plains. As you cross the lake, you will probably see fisherman trying to pull in the rainbows that inhabit the lake. If you went down below the spillway where the water pours into the Cache la Poudre River, you have a pretty good shot at some nice brown trout also.

To our left ,as we crossed the lake, are the grounds where the annual Scottish Festival is held. Today it was empty. Beyond that, the beautiful setting of the 18 hole golf course where, when playing, you may either be dodging elk or at least dodging what they leave behind, if you know what I mean. Playing around the wooded course with rock formations and seeing the 14,000 foot peaks that surround you is breathtaking. The year I played a tournament there (duffer's, believe me), we finished up as the sun set and a huge full moon came up over the mountains.

But we weren't here to fish or play golf. I brought my extended family to enjoy the hospitality of Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. We started out by stopping at The Egg and I for a nice breakfast. We parked in the public parking area at the library and headed down the main street toward the park. The street is a tourist trap paradise. This day they were having their sidewalk sale so many stores had T-Shirts and sweatshirts at ridiculously low prices. Some of the shops you will pass include a quilt shop (for sale last time we were there)and hat shops where you can get anything from cowboy hats to Aussie outback leather hats and, of course, you very own Indiana Jones Fedora.

If your hungry for a meal, or a snack, both are peppered between the shops. Hamburgers and Pizza abound. Salt water taffy is made on site, along with cookies of all kinds (get the snickerdoodles) and the sweets of the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (turtles are best). Can't miss there. Of coarse, if you have read my other hubs, you know we couldn't walk past the rock shop with its fossils and vugs. As a matter of fact, this is where we got the information to go to Kemmerer, Wyoming to collect our own fossil fish.(See Gone Fishin hub) When you reach the end of the main street shops on the west, there is a great candle shop and stained glass shop in the last building. Beyond that is a small park with a water wheel and a flowing stream; very picturesque.

Crossing the street, you will enter a kind of tourist general store with jewelry and knick knacks downstairs and Native American art upstairs. Here they carry the art of Donald Vann, a Cherokee artist who is one of our favorites. You can continue down the street where you can have your own "wanted poster" made or create a front page headline about your visit to Estes Park. Are you getting the idea that this is just fun? It is! I would be remiss if I didn't mention our favorite stop of the trip. You'll find two award winning "old time photo " establishments in Estes Park. We stopped and had our picture done and get many comments about it.

It became very obvious, as we dropped down into Estes Park, why the national park that adjoins it on the west is called Rocky Mountain National Park. Huge granite monoliths and domes appear everywhere. A couple of miles after leaving Estes Park, you will come to the pay station for the park. As I remember, you pay by the carload (or busload, motorcycle, whatever). You can get a map of the park so that you may explore wherever you want. Hiking and fishing are very popular. Our first time in the park was in the winter when we explored Bear Lake. The ice was 18 inches thick and covered with about 12 inches of light powdery snow. It could easily be walked on. As we explored it, we came upon a church group on an innertubing trip. They would come down the mountainside and hit the ice of the frozen lake and take off like a shot. That looked like a lot of fun and brought back memories or my college days tubing near Cloudcroft, New Mexico.

Anyway, I degress. Once inside the park we decided to take the loop drive to see other parts of the park. This would take us to through the park, to the visitor center (for lunch) and back to Estes Park. You can also take the high road, literally, over Trail Ridge road. They try to open it by Memorial Day every year; sometimes yes, sometimes no. It may also close at any time during the summer if they get a snow storm. Trail Ridge Road is the highest continuous highway in the US reaching an elevation of over 12,000 feet. This puts you above tree line with the ability to see forever. At the top is the headwaters of the Colorado River, you know, that little river that carved the Grand Canyon. Stop at the Alpine Center if you make the drive. It is well worth it. If you continue, you will end up in North Park and Lake Granby. Great ice fishing there but that's another hub.

As we made the loop we were able to see a few distant elk and deer. Thinking this wouldn't be my lucky picture day, we rounded a curve and there, under a tree, was a Mule Deer doe and buck in velvet. They were very cooperative and let us get pictures without bothering them.

Back in Estes, we decided to head up to the Stanley Hotel. Oops, on the way we have to stop and let a group of elk cross the road. Many mornings they are grazing the lawn at the Stanley. The Hotel stands grandious on a hill overlooking Estes Park with a panoramic view of the town and Rocky Mountain National Park. As a matter of fact, on the front lawn is a sundial type of device that you can turn to point at any peak you see and it will identify it on the bronze map attached to the dial. That's pretty cool.

The Stanley first opened in 1909. It has seen many important guests through the years.It has been featured on the Most Haunted Places in America series and has been the scene of movie makers. After crossing the long porch with rockers and wicker for guests to enjoy the view, you will reach the lobby. To your left is a Stanley Steamer. No this is not a carpet cleaner. If is an old steam powered car produced by the Stanley Motor Carriage Company starting in 1897. Even the elevator is the old original, close the cage type. Everything about the hotel boasts its original grandeur.

If you haven't picked it up yet, it's time for me to reveal one of the most popular draws for the hotel;  the Historic Ghost Tours. The cost is $10 per person for this tour of the haunted hotel including the famous Room 217 from Stephen King's book The Shining. The movie, with Jack Nicholson, was not filmed here but the made for television movie with Steven Weber and Rebecca DeMornay was. Reservations are a must! When my wife and I stayed, we heard the ghost tour going down our hallway. I was so tempted to slowly open, then slam my door after they passed. I probably would have been sued for causing a coronary though, so I behaved.

 So it is, beautiful and fun Estes Park. Whether visiting for the Scottish festival, playing a round of golf, or just checking out the town, this is a fun day trip for the family. I hope that you find this helpful in your visit and it becomes part of your Treasured Pasts.

Stuart