Visiting CO 3rd week of June with extended family. 7 adults and 3 teens. Landing in the afternoon and leaving 6 days later in the evening.
Flying in and out of Denver. Looking to visit the most scenic places where there are rivers/lakes/mountains.
Thinking of Estes Park, Aspen and Boulder but open to suggestions. Want to do hikes but nothing too extreme, swimming in lakes and visiting town of Aspen.
Thank you!
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27 helpful votes RMNP is requiring reservations this year. If you don’t already have one, you’re probably out of luck for going to the Bear Lake Corridor. You can enter other areas of the park prior to 9:00 am without a reservation. https://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/timed-entry-permit-system.htm
Maroon Bells near Aspen is also requiring reservations. You might also already be too late for getting those but you can check. A few other of the most popular places are also requiring reservations.
People don’t really swim in lakes here. The water is way too cold, especially in June. There will still be snow on any higher elevation hiking trails that time of year.
Maybe look at the Salida/Buena Vista area.
After you Arrive at DIA, drive to Boulder. Check out Pearl Street Mall. Plan to spend a day In Boulder to help get yourself adjusted to the altitude.
Drive to Estes Park, and spend a day or two here.
Take Trail Ridge Road through RMNP to Grand Lake. Lots of good hikes here and 3 beautiful lakes. East Inlet Trail, North Inlet Trail and Adam’s Falls are all good choices. You can rent a boat on any of the lakes. I recommend Beacon Landing Marina in Lake Granby and taking a pontoon boat into Columbine Bay, where the Colorado River comes into the lake.
Also fun to walk around Grand Lake. You can also take an amphicar tour of Lake. After spending a couple days in this area, take Hwy 40 to Hwy 9 to I-70. Get off at the Copper Mountain exit and take Independence Pass to visit Aspen. It’s one of the prettiest drives in CO. You can then stay in Aspen until you’re ready to return to Denver for your trip home.
Edited: 2 years agoThe above route would work. But with a group that size and no reservations you may need to adjust to find a suitable room situation. Have you checked rental car availability and pricing yet? There is a shortage. I would do an overview search to check car and rooms. You are reserving really late for a big group in what looks like a really busy year.
Another loop would be denver to salida/Buena vista for hot springs rafting hiking then over independence pass to aspen/carbondale/Glenwood springs. 2 or 3 nights in each spot. Also hot springs in Glenwood . Dont look for lakes to swim in too cold. Alltrails is a good research tool for current trail conditions as in june snow at elevation could be an issue.
Edited: 2 years agoIs RMNP a must for you? The Rocky Mountains in Colorado include multiple mountain ranges once you travel west of I-25. With the limitations of the timed entry permit system in RMNP and you being way late to book those permits, I would limit your time there (if at all) to driving and exploring the many overlooks and short trails along Trail Ridge Road. From Boulder, you are about an hour from the RMNP Fall River Entrance. You could leave early from Boulder and get to the Fall River Entrance before 9 am when a timed entry permit is not needed. Drive and explore Trail Ridge Road on your way to your next destination. It would be too much driving time to make it all the way from Boulder over Trail Ridge Road (with time to explore) to Aspen, but Vail and possibly Glenwood Springs would be doable. See this map.
https://goo.gl/maps/2DmoHvYtZV69JiK6A
The western side of RMNP (Grand Lake side) incurred extensive fire damage from the East Troublesome wildfire in October 2020. There are still areas of the park that remain closed. The North Inlet Trail (mentioned in reply #2) is currently closed as explained at this link.
https://www.nps.gov/romo/learn/fire-information-and-regulations.htm
The downtown area of Grand Lake was spared. You can see the fire perimeter and containment lines on a map here.
https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/map/7242/0/111067
I am not sure of your exact timing for the third week of June. Be aware that the FIBArk Festival is in Salida June 17-20 and another poster commented that lodging during that time was heavily booked in Buena Vista and Salida already.
Thank you all for you extremely valuable advice. We have moved our trip to August so as to get better bookings for everything. Your itinerary suggestions are very helpful.
The North Inlet trail to Cascade Falls IS open.
East Shore Trail (do just a portion, rather than the whole thing) and Monarch Lake Loop are both good trails that are away from any fire damage.
The North Inlet Trail is currently closed! From the official RMNP link (updated May 19) that I posted in reply #4 - "The North Inlet Trail has closed at the trailhead (it was open to Cascade Falls this winter) due to rock fall and potential additional hazards from snowmelt."
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