Epic 9-Day Road Trip Through Colorado's Best Mountain Towns & Rocky Mountain National Park

welcome to Colorado in this video, we will be taking a

road

trip

through the great state of Colorado for the next 9 days, we will traverse the Rocky Mountains by vehicle, train, gondola, horse and zip line, everything is high in Colorado, we will visit the la highest city in the country Drive the highest

road

in the country and play in the highest theme

park

in the country. We will see several large

mountain

towns

, fairytale

towns

and ghost towns, and speaking of ghosts, we will even see a haunted hotel. Hello. We're Matt and Cheryl and we write travel guides for the West.

Thanks for joining us. If you like this road

trip

, stay until the end and we'll show you how you can take this trip for yourself. Our first stop is Glenwood. Springs Colorado Glenwood is located in a spectacular valley at the confluence of the famous Colorado River and the less famous Roaring Fork River. The Roaring Fork leads to Aspen, which we will visit after Glenwood Springs. Aspen is much more famous than Glenwood, but Glenwood is much more fun. In addition to Aspen, we stayed in a small Swiss-inspired hotel, one of several similar styles in this charming little town of about 10,000 people.

The city is full of flowers and we enjoyed walking along the river and hanging out downtown. First, it's what Glennwood Springs is. Most famous for the Glenwood Hot Springs Pool, it is actually the largest hot springs pool in the world. American prospectors arrived during the gold rush era. Mining turned out to be Fool's Gold, but one of the early prospectors found something that turned out to be Hot Springs much more profitable earlier. People with modern medical illnesses sought any treatment they could and hot springs became a great source of treatment and the turn of the century is known as the Golden Age of mineral spas.

Glenwood Springs took advantage of the trend and built today's Rocky Mountain spa. Its fame is that it is the largest hot spring pool in the world. The large pool is 400 feet long and 100 feet wide and is ideal for swimmers and divers and we were happy to see that they have since installed a new tubing area. Last time we visited next was the cool Glenwood Springs Cavern. Check out this crazy

mountain

top theme

park

. These are Glenwood Caverns, which are located at an elevation of 7,100 feet. It is relatively new and only opened in 2003. Its motto is America's. The only Mountaintop theme park.

What I like about Glenwood Springs Caverns is that you get a lot of fun experiences in Colorado with one ticket, you can ride the gondola, you can ride the roller coaster, you can go to a cave, so that's cool. I have to do all three things. I only pay for one thing. This fantastic amusement park started with just one cave that they were giving tours through and expanded to add many roller coasters. In fact, it is the highest amusement park in the world. That's crazy. The ride was my favorite. It's called Defiance, which was originally the name of the city.

The town was later named Glenwood Springs for a man who was from Glenwood Iowa. This is an alpine coaster, meaning it is hooked to rails unlike alpine slides which are death traps. It was the first alpine coaster in the United States and descends 30,400 feet of the mountain with incredible views before towing you back to the top, how was that so much fun? It was long, this park is truly one of the coolest parks. Have we ever been? There's something for everyone, from the fun trolls to the silly little Easter eggs you'll find while walking through the park, this crazy gadget to get kids playing nice, hello, hello, here and the reason why This park, the caverns, was established.

There are two cave tours here and they are truly impressive. It's called King's Row because the formations look like chest pieces that also glow in the dark, a cool phenomenon, but the highlight of this park is the giant canyon swing. This ride was rated by USA Today, as the 9th

best

thrill ride in the country, it reaches speeds of up to 50 mph and travels over the canyon where you can look down 1300 feet, oh man, how intense, this park is one of the reasons why Glenwood Springs was once named the most fun city, we once spent a whole week vacationing here, walking, biking and rafting, if you like to play outside, this is such a family vacation spot well as it seems, yes, we are one of our favorite things to do in Glenwood Springs, is the vaudeville show.

I absolutely adore this show, which is the brainchild of the show's passionate owner, John Goss. He has brought back this once-popular form of entertainment that used to feature stars like May West and Charlie Chaplain. The evening begins with dinner with several delicious dishes prepared by different local restaurants. The show remains faithful to Vaudeville, which has always been a variety show. The old saying was that if you don't like what you're seeing, wait five minutes until the next ACT. The Ville Vaudeville was once the most popular form of entertainment in America but it was replaced by radio and television today thanks to gos it has been thriving in glwood springs for the last 14 years okay now let's go to Maroon Bells park here at a ski resort called Aspen Highlands, hop on that ferry and we'll take us. to Maroon Bells Maroon Bells is a beautiful mountain range and a perfect name for these purple peaks that look like Bells.

These peaks are over 14,000 feet high called 14ers. Here in Colorado there are 58 such peaks in the state and all of them are targets. For hikers and climbers trying to tick them all off, if possible, there is a memorial here for the people who died trying to climb the Bell. He's saying Death Bells because it's misleading and I assume there are many even expert climbers. climbers who fall to their deaths up there it's the same flaky shale that gives them their purple color that also makes them so dangerous to climb this valley it's so heavenly look how clear this water is oh man that's pure water right there it says nothing Mountains Colorado rockies like Maroon Bells okay, now we go to a place where the beer flows like wine and the women instinctively flock like Capistrano salmon a little place called Aspen Aspen is like a little mountain Utopia is probably the cleanest, most green and The richest place we've ever visited Aspen has more super-rich people per capita than any other city in the United States.

The average home here costs around $20 million. There is a place on the outskirts of town called Billonaire Mountain where people with names like Walton and Bezos live. There are two names you should know when visiting Aspen. The first is Jerome Wheeler, an early investor who basically built the city. This was his house. This is the Wheeler opera house he built. This was his hotel. The Jerome Hotel and its history parallels Aspen. It was built during the early days of the mining boom but almost went bankrupt during the town's quiet phase, but after the ski industry took hold here the town and hotel began to flourish again, the Jerome Hotel was renovated and now It costs over $2,000 a night to stay here $2,000 a night, you've got to be kidding me, of course that's too rich for our blood, but we treated ourselves to a slightly higher experience.

We went to their little cafe and tried some of their delicious and elegant pastries. getting ready to close and throw their cakes in the trash, so they gave them to us for free. Hey, if rich people want to give us free stuff, we'll take it and honestly, this chocolate pistachio thing was incredibly good during WWII on the 10th. The mountain division was training near Aspen, on the other side of the mountain, actually in a place called Camp Hill, they trained there for World War II to go fight in the Alps. When they got home, they liked the area so much that they came back here and started setting the stage.

There are some ski areas, so it's actually quite interesting that Aspen has its skiing roots in World War II. Something else we know about Aspen is that it is a posh dog town, you don't see stray dogs around here, these are like expensive purebred dogs and you are very welcome everywhere, like in Maroon Bells, dogs are fine in the path. You see dogs at the Jerome hotel in Louis Vuitton. Dogs are welcome everywhere, there are small dog bowls and it is a stylish place. Elegant dogs. The other name you should know here is John. Denver, so John Denver lived here in Aspen, of course, he's famous for Rocky Mountain High, all his love for the Rocky Mountains and all his country music and all he died in the '90s in a plane crash and the city from Aspen.

They got together and said we had to do something to commemorate them, so they created this John Denver shrine and it's beautiful, it's just this outdoor park with a bunch of rocks and wildflowers, there's also a lot of rocks here with text. Whether it be from his quotes or lyrics from his songs, I don't think I've seen a weed in the gardens, I don't think I've seen a piece of trash, I don't think I've seen an unhappy person, etc. We feel like we have invaded this perfect little utopia they have here in Aspen Colorado. We don't really feel like exactly Aspen material, but I have to say, being an upscale town, the people have been super friendly.

So Matt and I joked that we were Aspen's charity cases today and we are so grateful for the hospitality and kindness of the Aspen people. Well, now it's time to get to Rocky Mountain High by taking a scenic drive over a mountain pass. that's over 12,000 feet high, it's called Independence Pass, it's also known as the Top of the Rock Ro Scenic Byway. This trail is about 32 miles long and takes about an hour and a half with some interesting stops like this beautiful waterfall. This is Roaring Fork. River the same river we saw flowing through Aspen and Glenwood Springs the first gold discovered in the Roaring Fork Valley was here on July 4, 1879 a new town was formed during the gold rush they called Independence in honor of the day gold was found later.

When the mines began to fade, the town was reduced to about 100 people one winter, the town had a particularly bad snowstorm and the people were snowed in. That's when they tore side boards off their cabin, tied them to their feet, and skied out of this valley. We headed down to Aspen never to return again, we stopped at this cool little ghost town of Ghost Town Independence that sits in an amazing beautiful valley. It's always a good rule of thumb here to stop at ghost towns really because of the landscape they're in. places it is so scenic so beautiful and so remote the independent pass goes up to over 12,000 feet several of the peaks you see here are 14ers this includes mount elbert, the highest peak in

colorado

and the second highest in the lower 48 states , this area is literally the top of the Rocky Mountains from here we can see the tree line below us indicating we are in tundra territory.

We headed east toward Leadville Colorado, but originally the miners went west from Leadville looking for gold once they found it in that little ghost town of Independence. He created a path over this mountain pass that we can enjoy today. The descent passes through more beautiful scenery, as well as the small town of Twin Lakes Colorado, named for the two beautiful lakes nearby. We will end our trip in the highest city in the United States. States Leadville Colorado We just finished the amazing Independence Drive from Aspen to Leadville and it was fantastic, we are hungry and so excited to have found this little local place that our hotel recommended, it's called Tennessee Pass and look at this amazing salad I just received.

Excited Leadville sits more than 10,000 feet above sea level, making it the highest city in the United States. I'm used to high altitudes and I still feel the thin air just walking around the city. Leadville Main Street is a remnant of its heyday when it was the richest town in Colorado it is a collection of old buildings from the old west it was once visited by some famous western characters such as Doc Holiday poker Alice and The Unsinkable Molly Brown the Silver Dollar Saloon is Established in 1879 and is the second oldest bar in Colorado. It's really cool.

The inner west was once the scene of some really rowdy behavior, like when Doc Holiday shot someone across the street. If only these walls could talk, the Taber Opera is a testament to how much money mining brought to this community in the early days. Most of the other Colorado towns were visiting on this trip, the mines eventually ran out and the town declined. Many of Colorado's other mining towns later became ski towns. Leadville never made that transition and has struggled to maintain its residency over the years. today is tryingsurvive by attracting tourists to learn about its mining past, which I learned at the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum.

They also offer mining tours, as well as a wonderful bike trail that leads to several mining shafts with interpretive exhibits, but we've opted for a different, cool adventure instead. Right behind me is the top of the Rocky Mountain Zipline Course. I am very excited. Oh, this is an amazing journey. Now we are going to ride several of these zip lines through the canyon. I can not wait. Awesome, this is an amazing tour, the truck took us to the top and we will spend the next 2 hours going down the mountain via six zip lines interspersed with short hikes.

Each line has a name and each one offers wonderful views of the mountains, gorges and rivers hey girl hey hey 11 11 charl what is grandma's house why Over the river and through the forest Over the river and through the forest well done sir , there you are, this is the next honeymoon, okay, final race here going down the steepest one yet, we just finished it and it was so much fun. I was surprised at how long these zip lines are and it was really fun because many of them are double zip lines so you can have a partner and go at the same time. and the race I felt like the guides were wonderful, they were fun, they were super professional, we finished our third day in the most unique mountain town in Colorado.

Veil, unlike the other towns in this video, Veil skipped the mining phase and was created as a ski town from scratch in the 1960s, it was the vision of a few. from those World War II veterans in the 10th Ski Mountaineering Division and was an instant hit. Its fairy-tale appearance was taken from the Bavarian villages in the Alps, where soldiers had fought, as well as from Disneyland. It is simply a pleasure to walk through the Charming Village. I enjoyed seeing the monument to the 10th Mountain Division skiers. The free transportation system makes it easy to get around here.

There is something a little strange. President Gerald Ford and First Lady Betty Ford had a home in Vil and were a big part of the community. Betty loved gardening. and the community loved Betty so much that they created the Betty Ford Alpine Garden in her honor. Its size is impressive and its beauty unmatched. We made a little stop here at the Betty Ford Gardens here in Veil Colorado and OMG this is absolutely amazing. This is my new favorite Botanical Garden. I've decided we have mountain towns in Colorado, all wrong. I used to think of these towns as rich, snobby places, but they are actually amazing places that anyone can go to because there are so many of them. lots of free things to do here Veil is located right on I70, the only highway that runs through the Colorado Rocky Mountains.

It was so difficult to build a highway through these mountains that this was one of the last stretches of interstate in the entire country to be completed. Sections of I70 from Baltimore Maryland to Utah I've actually been to both ends of this highway. This is an incredible section through Utah's Red Rock. The Colorado Mountain section is just as scenic and was the most difficult section to build. It is considered an engineering marvel. These are the The Eisenhower Tunnels are more than a mile long and are named for Dwight D. Eisenhower, who spearheaded the creation of the U.S.

Interstate system before moving on to more mountain towns, train rides and tours. panoramic, let's pause to honor a movie that was filmed in this area Dumb and Dumber I was hoping the Rocky Mountains would be a little rockier than this. The road trip we're on is basically a Dumb and Dumber road trip. We live in Utah, close to where the airport scene, the big drink scene, and the mut cut jump are located. When the scene was filmed, we stopped in Aspen, where they went in the movie to return Mary Swanson's briefcase. Samsonite. It was very far away and where Jim Carrey uttered the line yes, we are in the Rocky Mountains, yet none of the movie was filmed in Aspen.

We're releasing the tongue scene and the

epic

snowball scene were filmed near Frisco, which is a beautiful area. We stayed here on our trip and went kayaking on the lake and loved it. We will also visit the location of the hotel scenes, something I can't wait for. I'll show you, there you go, but first we will visit the town that replaced Aspen in the movie Breen Ridge, starting at the Visitor Center in Breck, as it is often called, we learned about the town's mining history, the nugget of Largest gold in Colorado history was found here known as Tom's Baby, it weighed 11 pounds and we also learned how Pion's early years lived.

This quick little showcase is something that I think is really interesting. It's what the insulation and exterior of the house looked like. they used for jingling, dobbing, they had newspaper for insulation, this is the inside of the walls of an old school, of course, there is a section dedicated to its conversion into a ski town, as well as a monument to the 10th mountain division, the Riverwalk. a really nice and beautiful place to hang out. One of the

best

things about Breen Ridge is that it has a robust, free tram system that will take you anywhere in the city you want to go.

Let's go see Breen's most famous attraction now that it's so big. The tree troll's name is Isaac Harstone. It is the creation of Thomas Dambo, who builds trolls with recycled material around the world. Dambo is from the Netherlands and was once a rapper, but he shifted his creative energy to focus on making public art out of trash. He hopes to help people see that trash doesn't have to be thrown away. We visited another troll in Jackson Hole and they are just fun creations blending into nature. Each of these towns has its own vibe for us. Breen Ridge was the least.

Interesting and we found his catchphrase to be a bit pompous, but I admit we didn't give it that much time and hope to return. Georgetown is much smaller but more charming, located in a cozy little valley with a lake and a great view. and several pretty Victorian homes dating back to their heyday each summer, offer a historic home tour event. Downtown is only a block away, but it's nice to easily walk to some of the shops. The biggest draw for visiting Georgetown is the Georgetown Loop Railway. We're in line for the train right now these are the tickets you need to have to get on the train we got them in advance but we picked them up on the call just a minute ago I'm excited and a little scared because we've been on a train that derailed before and as we were watching the train come in, it stopped on the bridge and I was a little worried, you would think this would be a recreation of an old mining train, but no.

The train was a tourist train from the beginning and was one of Colorado's first visitor attractions. It was built in 1884 to allow visitors to Denver to easily glimpse the Rocky Mountains. It closed during World War II and was demolished, but with the help of donors, the Colorado Historical Society, they brought it back in the 1980s and even rebuilt the famous Devil's Gate Bridge. The train travels along I70, but most of the trip is under the highway, making it feel like an old-fashioned train ride through remote and beautiful landscapes, as well as some recreated historical relics. until the end of the line we finally see the cars.

It makes a 15 minute stop at the end of the line where we can see some rather uninteresting exhibits as well as some souvenirs. While we're doing this, the train engine moves back and forth so it can pull us back the same way down the that we came This makes the loop in the name a bit misleading about the loop it does, it's actually just a way to climb the Steep Canyon. On the way back you have the option to get off and go on a mining tour, but we skipped that option. The total trip only takes about an hour.

It's a short but very pleasant trip with the Breezy Mountain Air in our faces. All that remains is the final crossing of the bridge in the hope that it does not stop or derail. I really can't believe how many cool things we've done on this road trip and the next one might top them all. We are driving on the highest highway in the north. United States, this road reaches the top of a mountain that when we drove was called Mount Evans, a few months later it was renamed Mount Sky Blue. A reservation and entrance fee are required to drive it.

The path leads along a ridge with a gradual slope. Incline for a significant portion of the trail, this provides panoramic views and tundra scenery. Summit Lake is a wonderful stop along the way. It costs a few dollars to park here, but it's worth it. The hike to the lake between the Ts is hard to describe, but it feels so cool to be in this field on top of a mountain. I can't put into words how fascinating this area is. I wasn't expecting to see a glacier up here and it's just fascinating to see all the snow and ice and how beautiful! and a unique landscape.

I love it. Another short hike provides a view of more beautiful lakes. From here the ride becomes more intense as the final climb up Mount Blue Sky is made through several tight switchbacks. OMG I love this trip so much! Fantastic and now we just found mountain goats. Well, look at these cool kids just hanging out with us. What's up, guys? How are they? We reached the top where we found a strange little building known as the Castle in the Sky. restaurant but it burned down in the 1970s the castle is now ruled by mountain goats from here we can see the ridge we drove on which is really cool to see in perspective we can also see Denver in the distance the sign in the parking lot says We are at the summit, but the summit itself is a short uphill hike that Cheryl took with our older children.

The altitude affects a lot of people here. I was surprised that when I tried to film Cheryl she was a little off. I can't speak Matt, we live at 4500 feet and this is still three times higher. It's crazy how when you're that high up everything below, including the mountains, looks a little flat, oh my gosh, I'm pretty sure I'll never see anything. Like that again I hope you enjoyed watching it. We will end our day by driving to Rocky Mountain National Park. The drive takes us through some really cool little mountain towns like Blackhawk and Central.

It also passes through a town called Netherland which we loved stopping at. the dutch carousel of happiness this carousel is a true treasure the skeleton of the carousel was purchased by a vet in vietnam with a vision: he spent the next 26 years carving the animals for the carousel that he had never carved before but found solace in doing so afterwards The war was inaugurated in 2010 with a monument to recognize the service of fallen veterans The animals are a collection of intricately carved creatures The fine details are a testament that they are a labor of love This isn't just any cool old carousel stuff It's A that guy had a documentary made about him and his story and everything that's there on that carousel again handmade by this guy and tons of little creations everywhere.

Really quite a remarkable creation and a really cool story in this small town in Holland. Right next to the Carousel of Happiness is this cute little train car restaurant that makes these delicious mini donuts. We have the cinnamon sugar type, but they had others. They also have some food for lunch, but we thought we'd have a little snack before we left. at Estus Park, those are good before we end our day in this park, we will do a short hike that will whet our appetite through Rocky Mountain National Park as you drive through the color, you will see things called Coline, you will see flower symbols and what they are talking about is this beautiful Colorado Bine cabbage.

I noticed them on our walks last week and they really are a beautiful flower. I can see why they pay so much homage to this flower on many of their signage in Colorado, we are looking forward to exploring the park more starting tomorrow, but first let's give a little introduction to ess Park, which is our base of operations for the next few days . Ess Park was created before the

national

park by Estus residents. turning their backyard into a

national

park that they wanted to call Estus National Park, so this city has had a long and proud connection with Rocky Mountain National Park.

We will hit the tram downtown to shop and eat. We're on elkorn avenue right now. This is the main shopping center or district of Est's Park, so there are many t-shirt shops, restaurants, ice cream shops, it's the original Taffy store. This place has been in business for over 80 years and they still use the original Taffy's pooling method, which even SiIf you don't like Taffy, you should stop and watch it, it's fascinating, but Matt and I went in and bought a few different types of Taffy, we got Salted Caramel, Raspberry Lemonade, Blueberries, and Cotton Candy, and I have to say this.

It's not the disgusting Taffy they throw at you at a parade, this is a legitimate, delicious product and has been owned by two families for the last 80 years. These cute brothers were there selling it. I highly recommend visiting the Taffy shop where they stop. traffic in all directions so people can cross the street only when this is legal, so we will do it even if we don't need to cross the street diagonally, what do you have? What's the name of Matt Big Daddy OR burger with onion ring? Wait this YouTube channel has really hurt my diet so let's see if we can eat this oh man that's pretty awesome.

Rocky Mountain National Park is one of the most visited national parks in the country, it is easily accessible from a major city, Denver. and although it doesn't have the highest peaks in Colorado, it has something more magical. The Rocky Mountains truly are every hiker's dream. There are scenic drives and many easy hikes for non-hikers. Estus Park, this is Morine Park, this is Horseshoe Park. The term comes from the early French fur trappers and I love that it stuck to these large U-shaped valleys, which is evidence that they were carved by glaciers, just like the jagged and imposing Hallet Peak.

We were lucky enough to see some wonderful places this year like the national parks of Utah, Yellowstone, and the Canadian Rockies, and these views here are among my most treasured memories. This is Rocky Mountain National Park. How this L reflects the mountain, as if it seems ready to feel a little tingle up your spine. You can visit the real Stanley. Hotel, this is where Stephen King came up with the idea for The Shining and although I'm not a horror movie fan and I don't really believe in the Paranormal, this hotel is now creepy for about 10 bucks, you can park here and Walk around the lobby a bit, but we paid for a tour and they actually offer a few different types of tours.

They have a brilliant journey. They have a night tour. They even have a seance reader, so if you really want to get scared. You can come see the Stanley Hotel, it was a good time, so Stephen King stayed in room 217 and that's where you can go take a photo right outside his room and people can actually stay in the room 217 and she told us. some interesting stories about room 217 on the tour. Did we see ghosts? On that tour we saw pictures of ghosts and she told us to look in the mirrors because they like to appear in mirrors.

The real star of the show is actually Dumb and Dumber. I mean, none of the movie The Shining was filmed here at the Stanley Hotel. Dumb and Dumber was filmed here. This is great, so there's a lot. passing right now these are the stairs they stop at in their ridiculous expensive suits in the movie, they're supposed to be in Aspen Colorado, but they're actually here in the park, they stop here and start handing out the money like crazy now, today they have blocked the driveway here and created a hedge maze that has to do with The Shining because everyone, when they come, wants to know about the hedge maze that we are now inside the Stanley Hotel and It's really cool here , it's a beautiful hotel, these are the stairs where Jim Carrey makes Mary go up the stairs, of course she falls and grabs her ankles in the movie, the interior here is much wider and she said the hotel was white here , but Then Stephen King pitched a long story, but he didn't really like the movie, so when he got the rights to his own story and movie, he came here to make a miniseries and said no, we have to paint them dark to let them be seen.

In fact, I've painted all the wood here dark since it was filmed d d this is the bar where Jim Carrey says and I don't care here behind me and then here's the sign the man walks on the moon no way and then he leaves running the bar here we landed on the moon okay now let's go back to the national park before this was a national park a dam was built in this valley within the current park boundaries the 95 foot high dam held up well for 79 years but in 1982 it broke. Water from the reservoir crashed into this valley, where it turned Fall River into a roaring river that crashed into and through Estus Park, causing millions of dollars in damage and the loss of several lives.

Today we can see the 500 ton wide alluvial fan that was created from the flood now we are entering Old Fall River Road, a scenic drive that will take us to the top of the mountains, the narrow dirt road is one manner. I loved it because it rises gently through this valley, providing a variety of different views. The stop looks back at a beautiful meadow before actually beginning the climb. Some sections pass through the forest and others offer views of the canyon walls with towering waterfalls. Welcome to Old Fall River Road. This was the original road that took tourists to the top of Rocky.

Mountain National Park Road suffered a lot of damage in the 1950s and they thought about finishing it completely. It was inactive for about 15 years. There was enough demand to bring this road back because it is such a beautiful scenic drive. I loved driving Fall River Road. but honestly, this next experience was probably my favorite in Rocky Mountain National Park. I'm standing here at the National Park's Gateway Stables. They are located right on the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park on the recommendation of one of our viewers, the old ranger. I took my son. for a horseback ride, the truth is that I have the goal of riding horses in all the national parks I can.

My ride through Bryce Canyon's Hoodo will be very hard to beat, but this was very close. I could see this guy. Rebel, sweet, hey, hey. Rebel, what's up, what's up, he's a good guy, it was a rainy day and the company gave us the option to cancel it with a full refund, but my son and I couldn't wait for it to arrive so we brought him back on the last trip of the day hoping that the sky will clear the stables are outside the park, but the ride enters the park. We were amused by our guide, who had a very difficult horse that others in our group had never seen before and also had trouble controlling his horse.

Tip, never let your horse eat grass. What's happening? I was proud of my son and how well he did on the trip. We basically walked up the valley along Fall River before turning back around once we reached the top. It was near the top. The sun finally came out and it was exceptionally beautiful the rest of the way, just a fantastic drive through some amazing scenery along the way, it cleared up and got really beautiful, it was a fantastic experience. I rode Rebel, my son rode behind the camera. Gambler and we had a great time, the walk was really beautiful, the sun came out, it was just fantastic, we ended our day at Antonio's in Estus Park where we had the biggest pizza we have ever seen, honey, do you think a little girl like me?

Now it's time for the ultimate experience in Rocky Mountain National Park by driving Trail Ridge Road. This road was built to replace Old Fall River Road as the main route from the east side to the west side of the park and connects esus Park to Grand. The lake is over 40m long and takes 2 hours to drive plus time for stops. Our first stop is Hidden Valley. There was once a ski resort here, but it is now home to the Junior Ranger headquarters. They gave us a fun little scavenger hunt package to explore the nature trail we found the tundra and the row of trees in the mountains with the binoculars we used this to look at all the colors on a rock we felt the trees on the bark Trail Ridge Road is different from Old Fall River Road in that it climbs the mountain quickly and then climbs high along the ridge for several miles like Mount Blue Sky Road.

We are up here, among the tundra. The Rocky Mountain storms come quickly and we found ourselves in a crazy, hellish storm, so we took shelter at the Alpine Visitor Center, the highest Visitor Center in the National Park system. In fact, we traveled this road in two parts. We drove the second half after riding Old Fall Fall River Road, which explains the beautiful blue skies on the drive on the west side, where we saw the most. Pristine lakes, green valleys and wildlife. This complex also had some interesting historic cabins to wander through a remnant of the days of the old west before it was protected as a park.

Trail Ridge Road is an unforgettable drive, but one of the many scenic drives we took on this trip. Which was our favorite? I'll answer that in a moment, but first, if you want to take a road trip like this in Colorado, here are five tips to get it done first. The most common way to do it is probably from Rocky Mountain National Park to Glenwood Springs. From there you have a few options: return to Denver, continue to Las Vegas and see all five of Utah's national parks along the way. This road trip combines some of the best mountains and desert landscapes in the country.

Three, go to the nearest airport in Salt Lake City and four take a tour of southern Colorado back to Denver with more incredible mountain scenery, like the Million Dooll Highway in the San Juan Mountains, next if you're coming from a lower altitude, which means that almost everyone will notice a lack of oxygen. This is a minor inconvenience for the vast majority of visitors, but try to take it easy and stop consuming alcohol for the first few days as you acclimatize. Some people suffer from altitude sickness in the form of headaches or vomiting. Third, let's talk about when to visit and for how long try to visit between July and September at this point, not all roads are clear in June and hiking trails can be muddy.

We did this road trip in nine days not counting the travel days to get there. there and at home you can save a few days if necessary, but remember that many of the scenic drives are slow. Fourth, each mountain town has similar mountain activities, such as train rides, gondolas, mining tours, horseback riding, biking, rafting, and ATVs, making it easy. to get an amazing variety on your trip, but it's a little hard to decide which ones you should do, so fifthly, consider choosing our guides for this trip so you can visit Colorado with confidence, they are easy to follow and give you a Plan to see the best of each mountain village, including walking tours and restaurant recommendations, and scenic drives between the villages.

You can also take the same road trip we just did with a little customization for you of course we provide money saving tips and which of the Many activities to choose from to get the digital downloads visit wether rockies.com and you can have them in your email inbox in just a few minutes, so back to our question, which Scenic Drive was our favorite? For that answer you should check out our video on the five best scenic drives in Colorado thanks for watching and until next time Go West Young Traveler