We visited Estes Park in May 2016 during Big Trip #1.

We really wanted Estes Park to be a charming little mountain town. It’s the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park, and has a compact, walkable downtown area… that’s full of t-shirt shops and candy stores and tourists. Even in mid-May, the tourists were out in force, browsing the crappy souvenirs. The town has a gorgeous natural setting; for that reason alone it’s worth a visit, and we can give you a couple other recommendations…

Campground

KOA… again, it’s closest to town, and reliably well-run. Since we’re early in the season, it was pretty empty, as has been our experience for much of this trip. Internet is decent, town is just a few miles down the road, and across the street is a several-mile walking loop into town and back around the elk-frequented Lake Estes.

Eating and drinking

We had some good and some bad eating and drinking experiences. J wrote about the breweries in town here. Basically, we visited two breweries in town, one good and one bad. We HAD to go get a cocktail at the Stanley Hotel, which inspired Stephen King’s The Shining. Food-wise, we had some subpar Thai carryout, and some good picnic sandwiches. And then we gave up and ate and drank at home.

The good:

• Friendly, bright Rockcut Brewing Co
• A fancy cocktail at the old-timey Whiskey Bar at the Stanley Hotel
• Scratch Deli & Bakery sandwiches to take hiking

The bad:

• Dreary Estes Park Brewing
• Thai Kitchen carryout

Hiking

This is where Estes Park shines. We were limited in what we could do in Rocky Mountain National Park because of dog and snow, but had a scenic dog-friendly walk in RMNP and a short, tough romp in the woods to a big view in the Roosevelt National Forest.

Rocky Mountain National Park

We weren’t able to explore the National Park nearly as much as we had planned. Read about our adventures here, and look for us to return on a future Airstream trip!

Roosevelt National Forest

Needing a dog-friendly, quick hike with a rewarding view to knock out on our last morning before packing up and leaving, we chose Lily Mountain just outside of town. It’s a pretty easy two miles up to a rock scramble, at the top of which you get a 360° view of Estes Park and the Rockies beyond. It was freezing on the unprotected clifftop, but completely worth it.