Road trip to estes park CO

Ah, so you're not going straight to Estes, but rather Denver. Especially with running a half, good that you're giving yourself a day to acclimate (though altitude hits people differently, some are fine day one, some take two or three days). Maybe check out Bear Creek park for a warmup, or Red Rocks a little further west (both of these are on the far west side of town around where 470 and 285 meet). Wander around LoDo / the 16th Street Mall for a while.

As already suggested, in RMNP take Old Fall River Road up to the alpine vistor center. Be sure to stop at Chasm Falls, and shortly after you come out of treeline there's a hard uphill curve to the right and some parking (you'll almost be at the top by this point) which is a good place to just stop and sit for a while and look out over the valley or there's a short trail you can take up to a high point. You can continue on down west from there if you like (maybe down to Grand Lake, check out main street and grab lunch before heading back over to Estes), but most likely you'll want to turn left/east and head up Trail Ridge road, and there's several overlooks to stop at, some with short walks/hikes. If they're not gone yet, some of the best fall colors are if you go back Moraine Park to the Fern Lake trailhead (big stand of aspen along that road). You can hike back to the Pool from there, or make a loop out of that and going up to Cub Lake (though I usually go the other way, Cub first to Pool and out).

I highly recommend hiking to Emerald Lake from Bear Lake as sort of the quintessential RMNP hike experience, or The Loch (far end of, and beyond if you like) from Glacier Gorge. You can also make a spurred loop out of both, starting at either Bear or Glacier and going to the Loch, coming back down to a trail junction that goes to Lake Haiyaha, which then comes down at Emerald, then down to Bear - be warned the other way gives you a mile of uphill from Glacier to Bear at the end. Those are listed in increasing order of length and endurance btw, so Emerald easy, Loch moderate, loop a good solid day depending on fitness. Also be aware Bear Lake is at the end of a spur road, and the parking both at Glacier Gorge and Bear Lake fill up quick in the mornings - get there early or you may need to take a (free) shuttle from a lower parking lot.

You'll easily fill three days in Estes/RMNP if you do more than just drive and look. You'll likely go up 36 to get to Estes from Denver. You might consider taking 34 down to Loveland to pick up I25 (I personally think it's more scenic) though it is sort of out of the way - might be as fast or faster than going through Boulder though, if you're not taking 66 straight out from Lyons.

 

As what was suggested in the msg above, take US-36 to get to EP & come back down via the newly re-routed US-34 after the 2013 flood.

You can tick several boxes in one trip if you take Rampart Range Road from the north to the south. It's an easy gravel & dirt road but the views are spectacular. On your way down to I-40 from Denver, get off at the US HWY 85 exit in Castle Rock on the southern edge of metro Denver. Here's the route on Google maps. It was built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. It's about 75 miles from the beginning to the end, has fantastic views of Pikes Peak & it drops you off in the middle of Garden of the Gods by Balanced Rock. When you get done with that drive, I can recommend a local favorite place called Rudy's Country Store Bar-B-Q. They have gas too, although it's probably cheaper closer to I-25.

If you have a need for ANYTHING Southwestern/Pueblo Indian/Desert decor & souvenirs for dirt cheap, check out a place called Jackalope in Santa Fe, NM. They have another location right off I-25 in Albuquerque, but the one in Santa Fe is several times larger. I bought a 4' chile pepper Ristra for about a 1/3 of the asking price in the Historic Old Town Square.



Here is that steak house & brewery in Amarillo, TX with the 72 oz steak & an almost disturbing video of the current record holder getting her steak dinner for free. If that doesn't make you ill, you can watch an even more disturbing video of her get 2 steak dinners for free.

 

cock and ball doughnut from voo doo is a must.

 

maybe i did it wrong, but i was very underwhelmed by garden of the gods.

i do love the front range along denver and boulder. tons of great day hikes in that area. you really can't go wrong with any of them.

 

Huh, I did not realize that road went all the way down there. I guess I've always bailed out further north, either to Woodland Park or out by the Air Force Academy, if I wasn't just going down to Devil's Head (a short hike with a spectacular view that OP should consider if he takes this option) and then back out north. I'm probably missing the best parts then huh.

I'm originally from IN, and we took a family vacation/road trip out here when I was like... seven or something. We hit a lot of places, from Rushmore to Yellowstone/Tetons to RMNP to the Springs. That was the one and only time I've been to GotG, and I don't remember it other than as a place we went and one of many things on the whole trip that decided I would move out here when I grew up. It may have just been eclipsed in my memory by other, better versions of the same type of thing (Moab area for example), but it still has the advantage of being 'close' and it's a nice place. The one thing that does stick in my memory and influence my opinions even to this day though, is that the Springs (and area) is basically beautiful places turned into tourist traps. I don't remember if GotG was always public or free, but Cave of the Winds, Seven Falls, the Royal Gorge (yes I know that's farther away), Pike's Peak... there's a really high concentration right there of privately owned 'natural wonders', and that's part of why I've only visited them once or twice compared to their more public counterparts elsewhere in the state (like Evans, Black Canyon, etc.).