What's the best (easyish) trail around Estes Park?

Hey guys - I'm headed to RMNP for a week next month (driving from MO). Staying about 10 mins outside downtown Estes Park in a cabin. We're thinking about driving Trail Ridge Road but is there a nice trail or road we should hit that might be as scenic but a little less traveled? I'll have the wife with me so I'm looking more for those scenic, well-kept trails vs. crawling and adding pinstripes. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

 

Pole Hill is right on top of the mountain before heading down into Estes.
http://www.traildamage.com/trails/index.php?id=188

 

Look up Fall River Road. I've never done it, the road has never been open when we have been there. It is a dirt road, not recommended for cars, but shouldn't be too bad in a truck or SUV with decent ground clearance. I believe it is one way only from just outside Estes Park to near the summit of Trail Ridge Road. You could drive on over the mountain on pavement to Grand Lake and then back to Estes Park over Trail Ridge Road. You DON"T want to miss Trail Ridge Road.

We've been there 3 times early in June each time and the road had not been opened. In fact we had to delay crossing Trail Ridge Road 2 out of 3 times by one day for snowfall to be cleared in June. The only time we didn't have to wait was in 2011 and the road had only been opened for the season 2-3 days before we got there. The visitors center on the top was still buried under about 20' of snow and was being dug out with front end loaders when we were there.

I'd also highly recommend driving up Pikes Peak if you've never done it. Not too far out of the way on the way out or back.

The drive between Ouray and Durango is pretty darn good and there are dozens of off road trails in that area that will range from mild to wild. That is in the southern part of the state and may be too far out of the way. We've been to Colorado 5-6 times over the years and sorta do a loop staying in one place only 1-2 days before moving along.

 

I took Fall River Road all the way to the top a few weeks ago. Had a rental Camry and it handled the one-way dirt road just fine, even with a decent thunderstorm.

Great road with tons of scenic lookouts.

 

Fall River Rd looks perfect - 11 miles of dirt up through some awesome views. Thanks guys! Post up any other ideas.

 

There's some confusing/incorrect information there, so just to clarify: Old Fall River Road is a graded, maintained, dirt road within RMNP. There is no recommendation against or problem for passenger cars. It is one way from the Endovalley campground up to the Alpine Visitor Center, so you must start on the east side and go up - it's a narrow shelf road in many places but there's only a couple of steep/higher grade sections and none of them should come close to causing even a little wheelspin. It's also heavily traveled and a main attraction in the park (particularly for the tourists who don't get out of a car or go more than 1/2 mile from the roads and parking areas). TRR aka Highway 34 is paved all the way across from Estes to Grand Lake. Expect the Estes to Grand Lake (or return) drive on TRR to take anywhere from one to two hours without stops depending on traffic.

Early on there are two pullout/parking areas for a waterfall (Chasm) and you can walk from one to the upper though it requires climbing some uneven/rocky terrain. After that it's lookout points at pullouts and switchbacks until you get above treeline unless you want a couple of specific trailheads. Shortly after you hit treeline there's a curve back to the right you can't see around and a tremendous view off to the left and up ahead where you'll see the visitor center on the ridge. From here you can often see elk herds in the summer. Shortly after that there's a small parking area on the right and a trail running up to Marmot Point. This will be slightly lower than but significantly less crowded than the trail going up to a similar point over at the Alpine Visitor Center. It's short, but very steep. I was up there a week ago and while there were a dozen or so parties on that trail, the one from the visitor center was literally a conga line all the way up and down the trail from what I could see. Also be aware that the Bear Lake parking lot was full by 8am - it's the busy season in the park. If you need/want hike suggestions in the park I'd be happy to give some.

I've never been on the trail teamhypoxia mentions, though I note Trail Damage lists it as a 4/5. Everybody's definition of easy is a little different, but that's at the ceiling based on other trails I've seen with that rating from TD. I don't know many trails up in the Estes area, but the TD site has a trailhead map and each trail description has a link near the top to other nearby trail descriptions.

There's only one thing that comes immediately to mind based on what you're asking for, but it's about an hour drive (on a scenic highway) south of Estes. You'd take 7 out of Estes (which goes to Long's Peak TH and the Wild Basin area) and on down to 72, then turn off on that and head to/through Nederland to Rollinsville. Turn off there and head up Rollins Pass which is very scenic follows an old railbed up, goes past a couple of alpine lakes, and ends a short way before a closed tunnel you can hike up to. It's mostly dirt road (very washboarded usually) but even if crowded much less so than RMNP will be. We were just discussing this trail in the BS thread a week or two ago. There's also an optional side trail, Jenny Creek, if you want a bit more wheeling. And just past the turnoff to go up Rollins the road turns into a parking lot at the Moffat Tunnel, where the rail line heads under the mountain and over to Winter Park. I think there's another easy trail on the south side of the valley, but I haven't explored them.

 

More good info, thanks! I spent some time today downloading birdseye data from Garmin to my GPS, marking trail turnoffs and spots I want to hit up. I'm thinking we'll do OFRR up to the Alpine Visitor's center and then either go on a little farther west on TRR (my buddy says all the moose are on the west side) or just take TRR back east into Estes. I don't think that will fill more than half a day so I'll check out the other trails as well. Doing a day of guided fly fishing while I'm out there, and some horseback riding. Should be a good trip.

 

Yes, most moose are on the west side. I've only seen a couple actually in the park though, ever. You'd actually have to go way down into the valley to have a shot, and it would best be earlier in the morning or later evening. Unfortunately the best place I know of to see moose is near the far north side of the park, requiring either a longish hike or driving all the way around and up 14 to access (about three hours one way from where you're staying). But I've seen moose there at least 80% of the times I've been in the area.

I'd go west at least to Farview curve if you don't want to go all the way down into the valley. Otherwise having dinner in Grand Lake around 5 and then heading back over would put you along the valley floor during the start of more active time for moose, plus if it isn't cloudy the sky/sunset from TRR and points along can be phenomenal. I'm sure you'll enjoy the trip whatever you do.

 

acidchylde, Will be heading up to Rollins Pass this week! Thank you for the advice.

Sorry to piggyback on this thread, but if you have any more recommendations for anything west of Fort Collins, I would love to see as much as possible. Ghost towns, lakes, peaks, hikes, anything you feel like suggesting. Thanks!

 

What kind of timeframe? There's a lot of most of that stuff in this area. Not so much the ghost towns (though I'm somewhat picky about what I call a ghost town) or mines, particularly compared to areas further south or west, but we have plenty of lakes and hiking. Traildamage lists a lot of the trails here in the county for 4x4. If you've got a day to kill or want to go camping there's the North Sand Hills outside of Walden. There's a ton of stuff to do in RMNP. Lots up the Poudre Canyon as well, though my two favorites are Greyrock (with the meadow loop which I usually do first/on the way up, but watch the poison ivy) and the Big South trail which you can start right off 14 but I also like going back Long Draw to the Corral Creek TH and going downstream until you get to the missing bridge/crossing.

 

Did Rollins pass on Tuesday. Had a great time! We hit a place called Alpine resort which boasts to have one of the longest luge courses. Then less than a mile from there is the trail to the pass.

As far as a timeframe, just probably within the next month or so. Thanks for more recommendations!

 

Thanks for the recommendations guys. The wife and I drove up Old Fall River Road and down Trail Ridge Road today. Was just looking for a close and easy scenic drive and this was perfect. Was pretty busy, but I wouldn't say crowded or so busy it was a pain in the ass to get around. Saw a couple of herds of elk, a couple of big horn sheep, and just some beautiful views. This will be our go to "show off" drive for visitors.

 

Here's a few pics from the trip.

 

We were up there on Tuesday. Took OFRR up and TRR back down. Great clear views after a cloudy/hazy Monday. Glad we waited. Thanks to everyone who chimed in - CO was a great trip. Got some great fly fishing in as well.

 

Man, I gotta move to Colorado. Good scenery, good people...

 

By the way - 2400 miles round trip, including 8 hours of 100 degree heat at 75 mph from Denver through Kansas yesterday and not a grunt of complaint from the truck. Ran like a champ - up OFRR and down TRR, up the washed-out road to Glen Haven, up and down the switchbacks btw Glen Haven and Estes Park 20 times, all with ease. Love my truck.