NCEP: Denver and nearby mountain town questions

[Vespasia]

I'm posting this here rather than on Travel since I know we have several local posters. As usual, this got much longer than I planned. 

MH and I are flying into Denver in mid-August and staying for 9 nights. He lived there briefly but that was over 20 years ago and I've never been. 

The first 5 nights we'll be in Denver, either near the 16th Street Mall or Lower Highlands. Would be curious to hear which neighborhood you think would be better. I have Marriott points and want to take advantage of the 5th night free, which is why we're staying so long. We'll likely go to Boulder one day and plan to go to a Rockies game. We like beer and food, wandering neighborhoods, and may do a bike tour. Any recommendations for things to do and restaurants/breweries is appreciated. 

The other 4 nights is where I'm struggling. We'd originally planned to spend 3-4 nights in Estes Park to visit RMNP. I'm second guessing this for a few reasons. First, we tend to travel on a budget and hotels are ridiculous. The only places moderately affordable are unexciting and not walkable to restaurants, etc. I'm also worried about it being packed since it's summer and our ability to get reservations for RMNP. 

Now I'm looking at Breckenridge, which I had previously written off as more of a resort area. It looks like we could get a walkable condo with a balcony and nice views for the same price as a motel in Estes Park. However, I am not as familiar with this area in terms of the outdoors opportunities.  

If we did Breckenridge we could also do 1 night in Colorado Spring to visit Pikes Peak and/or Garden of the Gods on our way back towards Denver. Or we could do 2 nights in each if that seems to make more sense. Our flight home is in the evening so we have at least half a day to do stuff then. 

Is there another area we should consider?

We're looking to do some light hiking but really just want to spend time outdoors appreciating the view. I'd like to go horseback riding and we're very interested in stargazing (planned dates around the new moon). MH is big into cycling but I'm not if great shape and too uncoordinated for any real mountain biking. We are good with a fair amount of downtime on vacation and don't need to feel like we're constantly moving. 

[thedutchgirl]

We did Denver and Breck in August 2019 and had a great time in Breck. We stayed at Grand Colorado on Peak 8 (we paid a little extra to skip the timeshare presentation), and it was great. It was still really reasonable per night, and it was a condo-type, so we had a mini-kitchen for some food, and there are pools, hot tubs, a sauna and steam, and cool plunge pools. It was really awesome

We did have a car because we'd driven from Denver, but we used the public transportation the entire time. We took the gondola into town, and as I recall there is a trolley in town that you can hop on and off. In terms of outdoor activities, in the summer there's Epic Discovery, which is on Peak 8, and has an alpine coaster and super slide, mountain biking, mini golf, and you can take the lift up and hike further up the mountain. It was gorgeous. We were there three nights, so we didn't explore beyond town and Peak 8, but I know there's more. We also stopped at a gorgeous lake along the drive home and hung out there for a while as well

[calmcosmo]

Breckenridge is one of my very favorite towns in Colorado. We lived in Colorado Springs for 3 years and spent a ton of time there. We rented a big house one summer with my husband's brothers and their families and it was a blast. There is a TON to do - we rented a boat and SUPs on Lake Dillon, hiked, did the adventure park at Breck Ski, walked the town, ate our faces off, etc. Our dog is actually named Breckenridge ... so yea, we love it . Now that we live on the east coast we go back often - most recently in February - because it is also one of my kids' favorite places on earth. We are big skiers, but even if you aren't, Breck is super charming and has tons to do.

If you want something a little lower key and possibly cheaper, check out Ouray, CO. Also, Mount Princeton has amazing hot springs.

[neverfstop]

I love Breck....it's such a fun town, there's so many restaurants, hiking trails, fun activities, festivals, and more. To me, it's a bit different than the other ski areas in that it's actually a proper city, with some personality. There's always activities, art shows, music, etc. Last summer, we flew in to CS, but stayed in Manitou (There are tons of reasonable B&B or AirBNB there) It's another fun walkable town with a river flowing through it & mineral springs all over town. We did Pike's Peak, Cave of the Winds, and wanted to Garden of the Gods but missed the timing. From there we drove from there up to Breck & stopped at hot springs on the way.

[jinkies]

If you really want to see RMNP, I wouldn't worry too much about seeing the town of Estes Park. You could do two nights in Breck, two nights in Grand Lake (west side) and do some light hiking and a horse back ride. This is a wildly unpopular opinion based on the many CO trip planning groups I consulted, but I did not enjoy the town of Estes Park itself, and I honestly do not think that you need to do the hikes along Bear Lake corridor in order to enjoy the park. I also wouldn't worry too much about the timed passes. We had no trouble getting them last August. The Bear Lake corridor was the hardest to coordinate, but there is so much to see outside of that corridor that I don't think it's necessary. If you are OK skipping it, then you can enter the park without a reservation before 9 am or after 2 pm any day.

We really enjoyed Colorado Springs-- we did Garden of the Gods and the train up Pikes Peak. We also did the tour of the Air Force Academy which I thought was interesting. If you are driving there from Breckenridge, you could also stop at the Florissent Fossil Beds, which is along the way.

[muffin0]

I adore Breck, we only go during winter to ski/snowboard, but I really really really want check it out during the summer.

[isabel]

Apr 24, 2023 15:12:44 GMT -5 muffin0 said:

I adore Breck, we only go during winter to ski/snowboard, but I really really really want check it out during the summer.

We spend all our winter time in Grand County, but go to Breck at the end of the summer every year for a full week. It’s wonderful. Absolutely a trip I look forward to every year.

[Wallflower]

Apr 24, 2023 11:41:24 GMT -5 jinkies said:

If you really want to see RMNP, I wouldn't worry too much about seeing the town of Estes Park. You could do two nights in Breck, two nights in Grand Lake (west side) and do some light hiking and a horse back ride. This is a wildly unpopular opinion based on the many CO trip planning groups I consulted, but I did not enjoy the town of Estes Park itself, and I honestly do not think that you need to do the hikes along Bear Lake corridor in order to enjoy the park. I also wouldn't worry too much about the timed passes. We had no trouble getting them last August. The Bear Lake corridor was the hardest to coordinate, but there is so much to see outside of that corridor that I don't think it's necessary. If you are OK skipping it, then you can enter the park without a reservation before 9 am or after 2 pm any day.

We really enjoyed Colorado Springs-- we did Garden of the Gods and the train up Pikes Peak. We also did the tour of the Air Force Academy which I thought was interesting. If you are driving there from Breckenridge, you could also stop at the Florissent Fossil Beds, which is along the way.

Estes used to be this cute little town, with lots of little independent, artsy shops. It's been several years of slow conversion to much more touristy crap, though. Sadly.  I think coming in from the west side is a nice idea. 

Garden of the Gods is lovely, as is the cog up to Pikes Peak. A heads-up on the Air Force Academy - the chapel (a very popular part of touring the campus) is undergoing a multi-year renovation and has been closed off for a while. I think it's still a year or so away from completion.

[pixy0stix]

Just echoing that you won't miss much if you don't do Estes Park. RMNP holds a special place in my heart, but I never go anymore because it's so crowded.

[pixy0stix]

And a very Colorado mountain specific head's up - never start a hike in the afternoon. If you have a hike planned do it the very first thing in the day. Thunderstorms form in the mountains in the afternoon, and lightning strikes are no joke.

[bkseller13]

Apr 24, 2023 11:41:24 GMT -5 jinkies said:

If you really want to see RMNP, I wouldn't worry too much about seeing the town of Estes Park. You could do two nights in Breck, two nights in Grand Lake (west side) and do some light hiking and a horse back ride. This is a wildly unpopular opinion based on the many CO trip planning groups I consulted, but I did not enjoy the town of Estes Park itself, and I honestly do not think that you need to do the hikes along Bear Lake corridor in order to enjoy the park. I also wouldn't worry too much about the timed passes. We had no trouble getting them last August. The Bear Lake corridor was the hardest to coordinate, but there is so much to see outside of that corridor that I don't think it's necessary. If you are OK skipping it, then you can enter the park without a reservation before 9 am or after 2 pm any day.

We really enjoyed Colorado Springs-- we did Garden of the Gods and the train up Pikes Peak. We also did the tour of the Air Force Academy which I thought was interesting. If you are driving there from Breckenridge, you could also stop at the Florissent Fossil Beds, which is along the way.

The Florissant Fossil Beds are neat, and along the same road (Teller 1) is the Adeline Hornbeck homestead - where she raised 4 kids on her own - that you can tour, and the Pikes Peak Historical Society Museum (open on weekends - free to the public) with two of the largest smoky quartz crystals I've ever seen.  My parents docent at the museum occasionally.    Cripple Creek is in the area, and while it has gambling, it's done a much better job of keeping its old time charm than the other Colorado gambling towns.  The Cripple Creek train is a fun thing to do.

If you want to say closer to the Denver metro area, head up I-70 and you can hit Idaho Springs and Georgetown.  They also have a railway you can ride.  If you're up for a drive, the Great Sand Dunes are amazing.  Also, for RMNP, you could stay in Lyons, on the way (about 40 minutes outside of RMNP), and they have a tiny house community rental.  

[wawa]

Apr 25, 2023 9:12:36 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

And a very Colorado mountain specific head's up - never start a hike in the afternoon. If you have a hike planned do it the very first thing in the day. Thunderstorms form in the mountains in the afternoon, and lightning strikes are no joke.

this is also just good relaxing vacation sense, because otherwise when are you going to take a post lunch vacation nap?

[eddy]

We chose Breck for our main stay during our trip in July. The prices were reasonable with tons of VRBO options. I liked the option after a long day of walking to main street for dinner. 

We are skipping RMNP and I know that is controversal. The whole ticket system and crowds was just a turn off. We are from the midwest so pretty much any hike or view is going to look amazing to us lol. 

[puppylove64]

Following! We are staying in Breck a week in July. We are hoping to go to the Royal gorge railway, RMNP and who knows!

[lynn07]

I would 100% do Breck over Estes. Breck has a lot more going for it as far as restaurants and activities go, imo. There’s still lots of great hikes, too (Rainbow Lake is a good one for someone looking for something not super strenuous).

For hotels near downtown, it sort of depends on where in those areas you would be staying. 16th street is long and has different areas, but the main part of 16th isn’t super exciting anymore due to construction/a lot of businesses closing. But the area around Union Station is nice, with tons of restaurants and shops to walk to, as well as super close to Coors Field. Rino also has some cool places to stay.

ETA: LoHi is also a pretty large area, but right off 32nd is great.

[Vespasia]

Thanks for all the feedback! We decided to book 4 nights in Breckenridge and I'm now much more excited about this trip than I was before.

[waverly]

Last I went was 2008 or early 2009. We also went to Boulder. It was slightly off season, so RNP wasn't crowded at that time. But yeah, I didn't think that Estes was the greatest town ever or anything like that. I'm sure it has changed since we were there also.

[neverfstop]

There are so many amazing hikes near breck for every age/ability/distance.
gobreck.com/trip-ideas/hiking/moderate-hiking-trails-in-breckenridge