By: Elizabeth Wilding
Colorado is an inexpensive trip with endless things to do and places to explore. No matter where you are in Colorado, the scenery is going to be breathtaking. My friends and I spent 6 days immersing ourselves directly into God's creation - the earth. Nature has a natural way of recentering yourself and gives you space to think about what is really important to you in life. We hiked the Rocky Mountains, adventured through the red rocks, took a train through the Royal Gorge, and even went on a spontaneous day trip to Wyoming. Buckle up, we're going on a road trip!
Day 1
Landed at the Denver airport around 7 PM, just in time to pick up our rental car (we booked through Hertz because our friend has a connection to an employee discount) and hit the open road! We booked a cabin in Estes Park, which is an hour and a half drive from Denver. Rocky Mountain State Park is located in Estes Park, which is a great central location to stay in Colorado.
We drove about an hour until we hit Boulder (listening to Closer by the Chainsmokers of course!) and stopped to have dinner. We ate at Mountain Sun Pub, then drove to a local grocery store to pick up groceries for the week. Travel tip: for a budget friendly trip, it is essential to buy groceries, especially if you plan to be doing outdoor activities. We ended up packing a lot of snacks, pasta salad, and PB&Js for picnics!
When we got to the cabin, we unpacked the van and got straight in the hot tub! What a great start to an amazing trip.
Day 2
After driving through the Rocky Mountains from the airport, we woke up ready to go hiking! We first stopped at a local convenience store (that ended up doubling a souvenir shop where we picked up a few postcards) to get gaterade and water bottles. Rocky Mountain State Park requires a pass to enter the park, which can be purchased onsite for the day or week. There are a ton of different hikes throughout the park to choose from; we just drove around admiring the view until we found a path that suited our fancy!
We had a speaker playing Zach Bryan and the Lumineers going during our hike and never hesitated to stop, soak up the scenery, and take cute pictures! Travel tip: do not forget bug spray, sunscreen and water bottles (we all found ticks crawling on us during our hike, eek!). Our trip was the first week of May, which ended up being gorgeous weather - not too hot but warm enough to be outside in a tank top and shorts during the day and a light sweater/jacket at night!
After our hike we headed back to the cabin to relax and regroup. My friend Jessa and I went to the downtown in search of new pants (the zipper broke on her only pair of jeans!) and we ended up souvenir shopping and grabbing iced coffees. The rest of the group stayed back to watch the Shining, because we had a sunset tour at the Stanley Hotel!
You see, I was conned into going here. I am not a scary movie lover, however, I was told the Shining was filmed at the Stanley hotel, so I agreed to go. However, the original shining was indeed NOT filmed at this location. The Stanley Hotel, located in Estes Park, is the location where Stephen King WROTE the Shining (although Stephen King hated the first Shining movie and later made a second movie filmed here!). The Stanley Hotel is known to be incredibly haunted and the tour we went on doubled as a paranormal tour (pictured below is my reaction finding out we would be diving into a haunted hotel).
The property is beautiful and the tour was great, but I definitely left a little spooked!
Day 3
On day 3, we took our first day trip around the state! We packed PB&J's and lots of snacks and headed towards Colorado Springs! Garden of the Gods, located in Colorado Springs, is about 2 1/2 hours from Estes Park. Garden of the Gods is a public park (completely free!) containing 21 miles of gorgeous Red Rock hikes, ranging from all different lengths and skill levels. Be conscious of what day/time you arrive to the park due to the large amounts of guided tours and school groups!
Garden of the Gods is a must see while in Colorado, and it works out perfectly in combination with the next activity! The Royal Gorge, located in Cayon City, Colorado (about an hour from Garden of the Gods and 3 1/2 hours from Estes Park), is known for their train that takes you through the gorge in comfort and style. We prebought tickets for the Royal Gorge Route Railroad (we were took nervous they would be sold out if we waited until we got there!), and they are a bit pricey, but the splurge was 1000% worth it.
The train takes you through breathtaking terrain (we saw a variety of wildlife, including longhorn sheep), with the option to stand outside and fully soak up the view! While on the train, we learned that the nearby city Florence contains the prison that El Chapo is currently held in, and the route takes you by another prison that is responsible for producing license plates for multiple different states. You are able to purchase food and drinks on the train; since we packed PB&Js, we weren't hungry on the train, so instead we opted for a bottle of champagne to complete the vibes.
After the train, we headed back to the cabin! The drive is 3 1/2 hours back to Estes Park. If you want to break up the drive, the GPS should take you through Denver, which would be a great place to stop for dinner. Otherwise, don't be scared of the long drive home! The drive takes you through the Rocky Mountains, and it feels like you're in a whole other world!
Day 4
In the morning, we decided to explore more of Estes Park. We had planned to go back to Rocky Mountain State Park, but it was on and off raining, so we opted for a smaller hike near our air bnb.
As the rain continued, we spontaneously decided to take a road trip to Cheyanne, Wyoming to cross another state off of our bucket lists. Cheyanne is only an 1 hour and 40 minutes from Estes Park, and the drive was absolutely stunning. I had never seen open plains and plateaus in real life, and we were at such a loss of words that we pulled over off to the side of the road to take pictures!
As we continued the drive, we were on the hunt for the famous Wyoming state sign, which is located quickly off the side of the expressway. If you want good pictures in front of the sign, you will have to pull over and walk to get the sign. A new core memory for me was running on the side of the expressway as cars whizzed by in the pouring rain with my best friends just to get a picture! We were all dying laughing and soaked by the time we got back to the car, but we were so excited to be in Wyoming that nothing else in the world mattered.
In Cheyanne, we grabbed coffee at Paramount Cafe and walked around the state capital. Afterwards, we went to Curt Gowdy State Park, where we went on a short hike (thankfully the rain cleared up!). The view was incredible!
On the way back to the cabin, we picked up El Mex-Kal Family Mexican to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. We wanted a chill final night in Estes Park!
Day 5
When you book a trip, you think every decision is a good idea because you just want to travel. However, we thought that booking a return flight for 2 AM was an incredible idea to save money on not just the flight, but one less night on the cabin. We thought we would just sleep on the flight and be fine (I knew good and well that I never sleep on flights! I will convince my friends of anything to get them to book the trip).
We packed up the cabin and set out on our all day adventure in the van! Our first stop was Boulder. We ate dinner in Boulder on day 1, but we did not get to explore the downtown area, which is gorgeous!! Downtown Boulder is lively with street performers on every corner, cute shops, cafes, restaurants, and depending on the day, farmers markets. We decided to sit outside at OZO Coffee Company and journal. Afterwards, we took our time window shopping and buying last minute postcards.
Next, we drove 40 minutes to see the Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Unfortunately, we did not have time to see a concert, but we heard that you can still go tour the theater deep in the red rocks! When we got there, we discovered the parking lot to be packed with people dressed head to toe in neon, fish nets, and leotards. Confused, we asked a few girls in the bathroom what everyone was here for, and they said that they were pregaming for a rave that was later happening. A lot of the theater was blocked off because of this, but we were able to see the theater from afar!
After doing some people watching, we moved to our last destination before heading to the airport - exploring Denver! Downtown Denver was hosting a huge Cinco de Mayo event, which was free entry into the festival. There were performances from traditional Mexican dancers, a stage with a DJ where we danced our hearts out, incredible food trucks (I had the best birria tacos!), and free tequila samples.
We explored the streets of Denver until dark and all the shops were closed, so we decided to head to the airport. UNO was a lifesaver while waiting to board the plane! The flight home was rough and we were so exhausted the following day, but I wouldn't trade sleep for the memories we made.
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