Any travel advise for summer in Colorado?

[Disneycrazymom]

I am thinking this might be a good family trip this summer. I know there is a lot to see but don't have a good idea of how far the "big" sites are from one to another. Thinking of Durango- Silverton Train, Pikes Peak, Royal Gorge.

Has anyone did a week trip? Did you fly into Denver and rent a car? Or did you fly into one city and then back out of another? The only time I have been there we spent the whole week in the National park. So very pretty! All suggestions are appreciated! Thanks

 

[foolishmortal]

Well with what you mentioned I would fly into Colorado Springs as Pikes peak and Royal Gorge are minutes from there, where as DIA is over an hour away.

Umm if you come to Denver itself there is the Denver Mint (tour the mint and see how money is made), Denver Zoo, Colorado Rockies baseball. Short drive away you can go to the Coors factory and take a tour to see how beer is made, and afterwards get free samples, same with Budwieser. Six Flags, Water World....tons of stuff


If you are staying near Colorado Springs like you mentioned there is also cave of the winds, North Pole (a santa themed amusement park), Seven Falls, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Garden of the Gods, umm lets see what else???? Indian Ruins, Air Force Academy. Lots of stuff to do here in Colorado.

PM me if you want any specifics or anything answered.

 

[Sandy V.]

If you're going down by Durango, Mesa Verde is another neat site to see. If you have any questions about Colorado Springs and the surrounding area, just drop me a line and I can give you some suggestions regarding restaurants, etc.

 

[chyam]

The Durango area is beautiful as well as Silverton and the surrounding areas, If I recall the Royal Gorge and Black Canyon of the Gunnison is "a drive" but a beautiful drive. If you head to Durango make sure to do Mesa Verde Nat. Park and try to do park of the San Juan Skyway drive. Actually you cannot go wrong with anything in Colorado. Although if you want to do more of the "natural thing" as to doing museums in Denver etc. you have chosen a great area to explore. I guess it depends on how much driving you really want to do. I love the Durango area and also Ouray which is not to far from Silverton, also going that way you also are near Telluride etc.

 

[MerryPoppins]

I love the things you have mentioned, but I also love Rocky Mountain National Park. You might want to think about that.

 

[Wish I lived in Fl]

We had a great week staying at Circle K ranch outside Durango. Inexpensive ranch with meals offered(which Mom loved). DS was 5 so old enough for trail rides, not just corral rides. Dh loved the fishing including a 4 hr horseback ride and fishing trip. Side visits to Telluride(with Gondola) , an old mine, Mesa Verde. We flew into Durango and out of Albuquerque(SP?).

http://www.ckranch.com/

 

[perdidobay]

I have done Durango- Silverton area and then headed over to Colorado Springs in a one week trip, but that doesn't give you alot of time in any single place. Flew into ABQ for that trip. I have also flown into Denver and done RMNP, then drove to Durango...but that is a longgggg days drive. No matter where you go, you will love it!

 

[monsterkitty]

Well with what you mentioned I would fly into Colorado Springs as Pikes peak and Royal Gorge are minutes from there, where as DIA is over an hour away.

Umm if you come to Denver itself there is the Denver Mint (tour the mint and see how money is made), Denver Zoo, Colorado Rockies baseball. Short drive away you can go to the Coors factory and take a tour to see how beer is made, and afterwards get free samples, same with Budwieser. Six Flags, Water World....tons of stuff


If you are staying near Colorado Springs like you mentioned there is also cave of the winds, North Pole (a santa themed amusement park), Seven Falls, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Garden of the Gods, umm lets see what else???? Indian Ruins, Air Force Academy. Lots of stuff to do here in Colorado.

PM me if you want any specifics or anything answered.

I agree with all of these suggestions!

My favorite place, next to WDW that is, is Durango and the Four Corners area. Mesa Verde is amazing. Teluride is gorgeous. And you can't forget about the Great Snad Dunes outside of Alamosa.

I too would fly into the Springs airport. It will take several hours to drive to Durango from both Denver and Colorado Springs. In fact, I would count on a day to drive to Durango and a day to drive back. Mesa Verde is at least a two day adventure itself.

There is so much to do here that you could spend weeks exploring just Colorado Springs and Denver.

BTW, make sure you bring strong sunscreen and plenty of it as you will burn faster at our altitude than the lower states.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

I love the things you have mentioned, but I also love Rocky Mountain National Park. You might want to think about that.

I love Rocky Mountain National Park. Estes Park at the base is a wonderful, touristy town with lots to do. Also, you can see the Continental Divide. Not much to see but its definitely something that the kids will learn about in school!! Coming from the east coast, the views are absolutely breathtaking!

 

[Jessd]

Hi!

I live in Colorado, the Pueblo area. I think everyone has great suggestions. I would definitely fly into Colorado Springs instead of Denver. It is a smaller airport and extremely easy to get around.

I just wanted to let you know, if you want to tour the Denver Mint, you will have to arrange it through your Congressman. We went 2 years ago, and we had to arrange it 2-3 months ahead of time. When you go, they have a list of people who are approved to tour for the day. They made us show identification when we showed up.

Another tip, on Ebay, Colorado Springs auctions sells passes for Cave of the Winds, Dinosaur Research Center and some restaurants. I got a 4 pack of passes for the Dinosaur Research Center for $10 and got 2 Cave of the Winds passes for 6.00! It is usually 16.00 per person to get in.

PM me if you have any questions.

 

[NancyIL]

My DH has a conference in Colorado Springs the first week of August, so my son and I will tag along. I figured we'd see the CoSprings sights on the weekends, and my son and I will go on a little roadtrip during the week. As of right now we're planning a day to explore Denver, a drive through Rocky Mountain National Park from Estes Park to Grand Lake along Trail Ridge Road, a driving through Summit County, and maybe a rafting and rail trip through the Royal Gorge. I am aware that we will be lodging elsewhere for at least two of the nights!

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Thanks everyone!

I got the guide book and I can tell already that we will have to choose wisely as we only have 1 week. I will check on a flight from STL to Colorado Springs. Isn't Focus on the Family, and the ice skating training center there too?

About 4 years ago we took our camper and stayed at Spruce Lake in Estes Park. We just loved it there! We had planned to leave mid week and drive over to do Pikes Peak but couldn't get ourselves to leave! We spent the whole week enjoying the trails and the National Park.

I would like to do that again but we are trying to make sure the kids see other things this trip. We have been pretty bad about wanting to only go to places we know (like Disney every year). A friend was saying the other day how they hope to take their kids to as many states as possible and I started to feel bad as we seem to only go to the lake, the beach, Disney and that 1 trip to Estes Park.

Thanks again and I am sure I will be asking for maore help as I go along!