Looking for ways to spend 2 days and 2 nights in Rocky Mountain National Park

I'm looking to go hiking - and with no kids, it can be a 4 hour hike there- hang out for a bit - then 4 hours back kind of trip. I have done Half Dome, Angels Landing, Delicate Arch, etc.. would love the Colorado version of that -

I booked a 7 day pass to RMNP and also Bear Lake Road Corridor from 4-6 pm on both Saturday and Sunday... so just need to figure out what to do from Saturday at 2:00 until Monday morning

I checked AirBNB and VRBO - not as many options a I would have expected so if anyone knows of a simple place to stay near the park, even Motel 6 I guess...

(edited for updates as I have confirmed some details)

Really not a lot to go off of here.....

What do you enjoy doing? Do you want to be outside and hiking, golfing, fishing, etc.? Or would you rather stay in the city and do breweries, a baseball game, food, etc.?

thank you - edited the OP with this


I'm looking to go hiking - and with no kids, it can be a 4 hour hike there- hang out for a bit - then 4 hours back kind of trip. I have done Half Dome, Angels Landing, Delicate Arch, etc.. would love the Colorado version of that - within a 1-2 hour drive from Denver would be ideal

Rocky Mountain National Park. Check to see if you need a reservation.

Drive up to Rocky Mountain National Park, hike for the day, try and find a place to stay up there. Hit up a few breweries in town and try to see some Elk around sunset.

Do another hike maybe on Sunday AM, drive back to Denver, catch a Rockies game at Coors field. Maybe drive out to Golden or go play a round of mountain golf.

ChoppinDs40 said:

---

Drive up to Rocky Mountain National Park, hike for the day, try and find a place to stay up there. Hit up a few breweries in town and try to see some Elk around sunset.

Do another hike maybe on Sunday AM, drive back to Denver, catch a Rockies game at Coors field. Maybe drive out to Golden or go play a round of mountain golf.

---

love the first part of your plan - will start research RMNP - I've heard it's good there - feeling like now is the time - best hike or two? best brewery? best place to go for sunset? oh yes.. this is what I am looking for on both days

no baseball or golf for me though

nosoupforyou said:

---

ChoppinDs40 said:

---

Drive up to Rocky Mountain National Park, hike for the day, try and find a place to stay up there. Hit up a few breweries in town and try to see some Elk around sunset.

Do another hike maybe on Sunday AM, drive back to Denver, catch a Rockies game at Coors field. Maybe drive out to Golden or go play a round of mountain golf.

---

love the first part of your plan - will start research RMNP - I've heard it's good there - feeling like now is the time - best hike or two? best brewery? best place to go for sunset? oh yes.. this is what I am looking for on both days

no baseball or golf for me though

---

A lot of it may still be snow covered. Not sure if trail ridge road (road that goes through the entire park to the other side) is cleared/open yet. If it is, I might even suggest staying in Grand Lake (town in the mountains on the other side of the park).

Admittedly, I don't have any "favorite hikes". It's been quite some time since I've laced em up out there. Google is your friend.

The town in the front range, Estes Park, is fairly touristy and will have multiple breweries. Last one I went to was "Estes Park Brewing". Not even sure if it's still there.

Going up to the visitor center at the top of the park has some spectacular views. The open meadows usually have a huge Elk herd up there. Again, this is still early in the year - could be snow.

Trail Ridge Road is open.

Look up trails on the All Trails app. You'll be able to find a trail that suits your conditioning. RMNP requires reservations unless you enter before a certain time (I believe 6 am).

If RMNP is booked during your times, we also really enjoy Brainard Lake.

You've got to have an entrance reservation to get into RMNP right now - until sometime in Oct. There are two types of reservations....one that includes the Bear Lake area of the park and one that does not. Bear Lake is the most highly trafficked area with a number of big trailheads.

There are a ton of excellent hikes outside of Bear Lake so don't fret....and even if you can't get a reservation at all, there are a number of great hikes outside the park in the area. There are legitimately hundreds of miles of great trails in that general area.

They reservations are available on recreation.gov but for an early time slot they're probably all gone by now. They open some more up the day prior, I think at 5pm - but you'll want to look that up to confirm. I hear those go faster than the original release does.

You'll want to be down below treeline shortly after lunch as that's when the afternoon rain comes nearly every day that time of year.

This is my favorite website for hike info: http://www.rockymountainhikingtrails.com/

And there is a YouTuber named Nick Sangetta who has a video for what seems like nearly every trail in the area.

Have fun....it's one of my favorite places to hike in the country.

THANK YOU!!

I just booked a 7 day pass at RMNP.
Then I booked Option 1: Park Access + Bear Lake Road Corridor for both Saturday and Sunday. However - they only had 4-6pm times which I got for both days.

However - I saw you can arrive before 5:00 am - which I could do on Sunday.

How could you see this working? I could be at the park by noon Saturday.

Also - any suggestions on lodging Sat and Sun pm? Do they have any thing simple in the park?

Grateful for the advice!!

There isnt a lodge inside the park....but there are several campgrounds if you want to see if you can land a site in one of those.

We like to stay at Tiny Town cabins in Estes Park....they're "reasonably" priced and give that old rustic mountain cabin feel.

If you can get in before 5am, I would say to hike up to Loch Vale/Glass Lake/Sky Pond from Bear Lake or do the hike up to Mills/Jewel/Black/Frozen Lakes from Glacier Gorge

Don't forget you're going to be at elevation and on a short trip you're not going to have time to fully acclimate so hikes like those allow you to kind of go lake by lake and if you're feeling gassed you can cut it short but still have hit some sights.

I really love that idea for Sunday - I can definitely get there before 5 am and plan my whole day out there on that - awesome !

I'm dying to get back up there!

Same field two days before (Sheep Lakes) covered in snow. It all disappeared over the next day.

Soup - you can drive in at 3:00 Saturday afternoon with your entry permit. Timing permits do not matter after 3:00 unless you are going to Bear Lake. Drive in the North entrance, past Sheep Lakes, turn right to Endovalley, stop and visit Alluvial Fan and then drive up Old Fall River Road. At the top, you can them head back down after visiting the shop up there.

The elk currently have thick velvet on their antlers, but I would expect them to be scratching that off pretty soon.

We just stayed at River Stone Condos along Fall River last week.

mike073 said:

---

Soup - you can drive in at 3:00 Saturday afternoon with your entry permit. Timing permits do not matter after 3:00 unless you are going to Bear Lake. Drive in the North entrance, past Sheep Lakes, turn right to Endovalley, stop and visit Alluvial Fan and then drive up Old Fall River Road. At the top, you can them head back down after visiting the shop up there.

The elk currently have thick velvet on their antlers, but I would expect them to be scratching that off pretty soon.

We just stayed at River Stone Condos along Fall River last week.

---

Yes!! That's exactly what I will do on Saturday when I arrive

Then I'll plan to arrive at 4:30 am on Sunday to get in before the 5:00 am start of day.

Can you share a detailed plan like above (where to park and go) that I can do as I spend the entire day out there? I have the Bear Lake pass but it's for 4:00 pm, but I guess that won't matter if I arrive at 4:30 am

Going in before 5:00 AM, I would park in the Bear Lake Lot and hike around the lake and then up the hill to Emerald lake past Dream and Nymph. This is the most popular hike in the park and getting there early is good.

If you want to see Bierstadt lake, it is better to access it off the Bear Lake trail and come down to the Beirstadt parking area - easier because of the elevation change.

The hike to Alberta Falls is spectacular.

There is shuttle between Bear Lake, Beirstadt and the Alberta Falls parking areas to help get around.

Then move your car to Sprague Lake in the late afternoon for an easy walk and an excellent chance to see moose.

The most animals are seen at dawn and dusk so be on the lookout.

mike073 said:

---

Soup - you can drive in at 3:00 Saturday afternoon with your entry permit. Timing permits do not matter after 3:00 unless you are going to Bear Lake. Drive in the North entrance, past Sheep Lakes, turn right to Endovalley, stop and visit Alluvial Fan and then drive up Old Fall River Road. At the top, you can them head back down after visiting the shop up there.

The elk currently have thick velvet on their antlers, but I would expect them to be scratching that off pretty soon.

We just stayed at River Stone Condos along Fall River last week.

---

updated below

updated below

Old Falls River Rd is a one way, windy, gravel road....it is beautiful but there is no turning back once you're on it. You can't miss the visitor center shop at the top - the road leads you right to the parking lot. From there you have to take Trail Ridge Rd back down.

Odessa Lake is one of my favorite lakes ever - but - I haven't been there since the East Troublesome fire a couple years ago....I think that area got hit really hard by that fire so you may want to check around to see if it is just a bunch of burnout now.

The Nymph/Dream/Emerald hike is probably the most popular in the park....if you tack on Haiyaha that's when you'll see the crowds thin a bit. I did that a few years ago and it came out to 7.32 miles and took me about 4.5 hours.



20 miles is a BIG day at those elevations and with some of those elevation gains unless you're really in good hiking shape

The other thing I would recommend is to be prepared for rain the afternoon....in the summer you'll get thunderstorms after lunch.

Incredible - that's IT!! Exactly what I want to do!!!

soup - Not sure when you are going. Old Fall River Road probably will not open until near July 4. If it is not open you can drive to the Alpine Visitor center up Trail Ridge Road. It is worth looking North toward Utah just past the center. One of the most beautiful walks is around Lake Irene a little past the Visitor Center. Right now there is quite a bit of flooding from the Colorado River on the West side of the top and several trail heard further along are closed. Check on that before you arrive and decide. If you have time, park at the Rock Cut lot and hike up to that summit. Gorgeous views and you are near 12,000 ft. Notice the "piano keys" on the backside of Longs Peak. At least that is what the locals call it. At the visitor center itself there is a hike to the high point there.

As far as Bear Lake Road, there is a guard shack just off the main road that checks the permit time you have. They start enforcing at 5 AM.

The main guard shack entry points get manned up around 7 each day.

Here are the rest of your questions: Sheep Lakes has no hikes, but rather, animal views. Keep your binoculars handy.

Aluvial fan was formed by the Lawn Lake dam bursting back in the early 80's. Flooded downtown Estes. It was expanded several years ago with another hard rain. You can climb up the West side of the falls for a while but to get to Lawn Lake you need to use that trailhead.

Endovalley is where the old Fall River Road starts. The road makes a full circle if you stay on it - not much hiking back there. A moose family lives along that road and are seen almost every day.

One of my favorite hikes is Gem Lake but it is from a very different location - over by the Twin Owl trail head north of town. My favorite loop is off the Cub Lake Trailhead, but it is at the end of Moraine Park past the Bear Creek entry shack.

The shuttle near Bear Lake is a four stop bus trip starting at the auxiliary Bear Lake parking lot and stopping at Bierstadt, Alberta Falls and Bear Lake. Runs every 15 minutes or so. No cost.

Lots of really good options.

Thank you! Great ideas and details

June 25

updated below

see above - appreciate any additional clarity you can provide

Your Saturday looks great except you probably cannot get past the guard until 4:00 if that is the time on your pass.

You will understand why this area of the park is so popular when you see it. Another "tourist attraction" there is to spot the attempt to make a cell tower look like a tree.

Sunday: I would be thru the entry portal on Bear Lake road by 4:30 AM - it for some reason the line backs up they will not let you in. I think by that time you should be able to park in one of the trailhead lots. If for some reason the lots are full you will lose time driving back. Check how late the shuttle runs to help decide. You may want some crampons along just in case some higher elevations need them. If you have a few extra minutes the drive the back of Moraine Park off Bear Lake Road may offer more animal views.

Along Trail Ridge Road, on the downhill side, past Lake Irene, if the Colorado trail head is open it is worth a stop to see the headwaters of that great river - makes a great memory. Not sure if the flooding will have subsided by then.

On the Trail Ridge Road there are only a few stopping points, but the only one we have not talked about looks West over the valley. I think it is called Forest Canyon.

Between Many Parks Curve and Rainbow Curve you will see the two mile elevation sign.

You may see many critters and may start your own Moose, bighorn or elk jam along the way. Keep your eyes open even in town.

Do you have a choice of which road you will use to get to Estes? Hwy 34 is much more spectacular than 36, both come off I-25 and that can be done on either end of the trip.

Report how this trip turns out.

Finally, some trip at some point should be to see the far North End of the Park and Continental Divide and the Lake the Colorado river flows from (six hour round trip from Estes):






o

I don't know your physical condition or how quickly you acclimate to altitude but that Saturday slate is more ambitious than I could hike in 5 hours.

By combining the two you'll definitely cut down on some of the milage compared to doing both seperately - but I did the Nymph, Emerald, Dream, Hayaha loop in just over 4 hours. I was 38 and hike quite a bit, but not at elevation so I know that slowed me down some.

My recommendation would be to set your expectation of completing one of those two circuits....and if you're still feeling great, and have time, to then do the second. I'm pretty conservative on something like this but I don't ever want to push myself and get into trouble, particularly as I approach night fall. And definitely bring a headlamp just in case.

The other thing to consider, and I havent been up there in two summers, but you may not get a parking spot at Bear Lake at 3pm. The crowds will have thinned by that point in the day but based on past experience, I wouldn't say it is a guarantee. If it is full, just circle back to the Park & Ride a few miles back down Bear Lake Road and take the shuttle up. In the event that happens, I would anticipate a trailhead start time closer to 4pm (but also check the shuttle times - I don't think they run as late as 8pm so getting back to the Park & Ride may require some additional logistics) Someone with more recent experience may have better info on that.

We're actually going to be up there at the tail end of June/beginning of July so if we're up there before you Ill give you an updated report.

Have fun!

nm

Good plan to get every moment occupied.

When you go in Saturday, via the south entrance, you will have two check points - the main gate and the Bear Lake Road shack. On the weekends I doubt you can get in earlier than your pass. They are only a few minutes apart but it will slow you down due to the possible long lines at both. When you get to it, the Bear Lake Ranger shack can tell you about the best time to get there Sunday early.

The North entrance is also backed up sometimes - there are web cams at both you can check.

Doubt you can get up to La Poudre Pass the same day - it is really out of the way. I have gone there twice from Denver before going to Estes.

If you like cherry pie, stop at the Colorado Pie Company along 34.

As of today, the Colorado trail head is closed due to flooding. You can get the most updated information on the Friends of RMNP on Facebook page. The Park service is slow to update sometimes.

There was a huge boulder that fell on Trail Ridge Road a little after Rainbow curve last week. One way traffic for 100 yards. Not sure if it had been removed.



Have a great time.

Late afternoon view from Forest Overlook:



Never know what you will see:

Have a blast!

If you find yourself in Boulder around mealtime, check out The Sink....it's "the" place kinda like the Chicken is at A&M.

In Estes, we really like the elk carpacio at the Hunters Chop House.

ok - thanks ALL! Final Itinerary is set.
I incorporated even more ideas here. Sadly the weather looks to be cloudy or rainy both days but I'll press on.. will share an update soon.


SATURDAY
From Denver Airport drive 1 hr 15 mins to Colorado Cherry Company in Loveland, CO and then 30 mins to Estes Park Visitor Center that allows you to drive in on beautiful Hwy 34, vs Hwy 36. Adds 20 minutes to the drive.

Arrive at Bear Lake Trailhead at 3:00 pm. If lot is full, drive back to Park & Ride and ride shuttle bus to Bear Lake Trailhead. Might not be able to get in until 4:00. Look for the Cell Tower that looks like a tree.

Hike south to Alberta Falls, Mills Lake, then back up to Haiyaha Lake and west to Nymph, Dream, and Emerald Lakes and head back to Bear Lake Trailhead 7 miles and likely 4 hours so should finish at around 7:00 or so.

Then drive out to Sprague Lake to catch evening wildlife before finding a place to park and sleep.


SUNDAY
Arrive by 4:30 am or sooner at Bear Lake Road guard shack.
Hike west to Odessa Lake, then north to Old Country Inn Backcountry Campsite, then south to Bierstadt Lake and back west to Bear Lake Trailhead. 11.9 miles 56 hour hike… so done by 10am.

Then hop in the car and drive 30 minutes north to Sheep Lakes for animal views then to Alluvial Fan. Park and climb up the west side of the falls.

Since Old Fall River Road is closed, drive 45 minutes to Alpine Visitor Center on Trail River Road. Stop off at a Hidden Valley Parking Area, then Many Parks Curve Overlook, then Forest Canyon Overlook then 15 minutes further to The Alpine Visitor Center.

When at the Visitor Center, park and hike up to the high point hike. Then drive 10 minutes down to Lake Irene and walk around it. Then drive 4 miles farther to see the Colorado River Trailhead with heavy rushing water. Then drive back 10 minutes north and stop at Continental Divide and Poudre Lake.

From there drive 10 minutes back to Alpine Visitor Center and go back onto Trail River Road to Rock Cut. Park and hike up to the summit and notice the "piano keys" on the backside of Longs Peak. Then drive 5 miles to Rainbow Curve Overlook. Then drive 14 miles while turning back south to Cub Lake just past Moraine Park for the evening before heading home.

Bring head flashlight, crampons, water, lunch, and snacks too
Estes Park Brewery is good for dinner open 11am -10pm

Good plan. After Alluvial fan circle through EndoValley before heading to Trail Ridge Road.

Have a great time. Report back.

Sprague Lake: