rocky mountain national park.
After spending three nights in Moab, Utah, we drove 7 hours to Fort Collins, Colorado. As with most of our trips, we don’t sit still or rest well. Since we flew into Denver in order to get to Moab, we decided we might as well do Rocky Mountain National Park in the same trip. And if we were doing Rocky Mountain, we also might as well experience the beer life in Fort Collins (another place we had hoped to visit on our cross country road trip in 2020 - several of the breweries were shut down so we just drove right on through).
The drive from Moab to the Denver area is beautiful and provides many places to stop and sight see or just stretch your legs. Once you get to the Denver area, the drive is not nearly as beautiful but at least you are almost there!
We were driving through Loveland and saw a sign off the highway for an In-N-Out. I made Logan stop so Tustin could experience his first double double!
After lunch (and yes, we made it all the way to Denver from Moab by lunch…we get up early to make the most of our days!), we started our brewery crawl (or drive in this case). We spent one afternoon and one night in Fort Collins. I would absolutely go back here. After our night in Fort Collins, we only had a one hour drive to Estes Park. Note: Fort Collins is not on the way to Rocky Mountain from Denver, we went about an hour out of our way to visit this area.
FORT COLLINS
WHERE WE STAYED: We stayed at an incredibly neat boutique hotel that I would highly recommend to anyone. Hotel Armstrong was right downtown and in an older building that had been redone. The rooms were extremely large and modern and equipped with a Nespresso machine (of which I fell in love with in Iceland and was reminded once again how wonderful they were. Needless to say, I’m now a proud owner).
WHERE WE ATE:
For dinner in Fort Collins, we found a taco joint just around the corner from our hotel, Uno Mas. I kid you not, I still dream about the queso and scallop taco - yes, you read that right scallop taco. I will forever be searching for a taco of this caliber.
The next morning, we allowed ourselves to semi-sleep in and have a nice breakfast at one of our west coast favorites, Snooze (if you go, get yourself a pancake flight…you’re welcome).
BREWERIES:
The first brewery near Fort Collins was Left Hand Brewery in Longmont - a pretty well known spot! The beer was good and there was a small patio we could sit and let Tustin be more mobile (we are those parents that let him crawl around outside).
From Left Hand, we drove about 40 minutes to Odell Brewery. I had never heard of Odell but a coworker had recommended it to me and apparently it’s pretty popular! The inside was nothing special but the large outdoor area was beautiful and perfect for kids! Immediately next door is the OBC Wine Project - a wine tasting room owned by Odell. This was a beautiful spot, a very modern space with again, a large outdoor area. I liked the wine better than the beer!
I know, I know, we drank a lot of beer in Fort Collins but that’s what you do! I promise we were responsible! The last brewery visited in Fort Collins was the infamous New Belgium Brewery, home to Fat Tire. The brewery was awesome, a smaller taproom inside with a giant outdoor space equipped with permanent food trucks, a stage, outdoor bar, and large green area. This was a perfect spot for kids - Tustin even made some friends.
ESTES PARK
After enjoying breakfast in Fort Collins, we drove an hour to Estes Park. During the drive, I kept thinking, there is no way there is a town up here. We were driving along a river that was curving with every bend of the mountains. I was blown away when we got to what seemed to be the top of the mountain and saw Estes Park, a much larger town than I had anticipated.
Estes had plenty of restaurants that were all fairly close together. Estes is also home to the famous Stanley Hotel. We enjoyed walking around the hotel grounds and even got a drink at the famous “Dumb and Dumber” bar (part of the movie was filmed here). This hotel has the largest whiskey collection in the country with over 1,500 difference whiskeys.
Estes Park reminded me of Gatlinburg in that the park was right next to the town. No long drives like other parks, as soon as you leave the town, you are inside of the park!
Of all the parks we have been too, no wonder why Rocky is the one of the most visited. Rocky is a short hour and a half drive from the Denver airport and surrounded by a town with all of your needs right at your finger tips.
WHERE WE STAYED: I loved our hotel in Estes. We stayed at the Estes Park Condos and had a beautiful unit right along a river. Staying in a larger space, especially with a baby, is so helpful! The condos were about 5 minutes from town and another 5 minutes from the park entrance, a perfect location.
WHERE WE ATE:
Our first evening we ate on the patio at Full Throttle Distillery and Grill. As always, we like to eat outside, especially if Tustin is with us. Full Throttle had a large patio with a casual atmosphere. They even offered free moonshine tastings in their distillery.
While in Grand Lake, we had coffee and pastries at The Hub and lunch to-go from Blue Water Bakery. There aren’t a ton of options in Grand Lake…Blue Water was very crowded and very expensive.
Our final dinner was at a cute little pizza place right along the river in downtown Estes called, Poppy’s Pizzeria.
On our way out of town, we stopped at Bird’s Next Cafe for breakfast, this is a must stop if in the area; beautiful building, delicious breakfast burritos, and great coffee!
BREWERIES:
In Estes Park, we stopped at Rock Cut Brewery. This spot had a nice patio right along the river, Tustin enjoyed meeting other kids on the patio!
Blue Moon Rino, was such a nice surprise that we stumbled upon! We had been to the Coors brewery in Golden where Blue Moon is largely produced but we did not know there was a smaller brewery just for Blue Moon. This was an awesome place for lunch with phenomenal food and a great atmosphere.
The Rino district in Denver is full of art, parks, and breweries - perfect combination! We parked our car at the Blue Moon and strolled along the sidewalks and stopped at most parks and breweries we came across. Great Divide and Mockery were notable stops!
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK
Due to the recent increase in popularity, Rocky Mountain National Park is now requiring permits to enter the park for all visitors. There are two permits you can get - a general park permit or a general park permit that includes the Bear Lake Corridor (the more popular side of the park). The reservations open one month prior to the day you are wanting to visit. We booked three days, one of which, had access to Bear Lake. Be mindful of your timed entry as the park is very strict on the time of your permit. Our Bear Lake entrance was only available from 12p - 2p, for example, so make sure to plan ahead on where you will go when.
Our first day, we entered the park from Fall River Entrance (closest to our condo) and drove the Old Fall River Road up to the Alpine Visitor Center. This road is not fully paved and has some extremely steep and narrow parts. The park ranger had suggested we make this scenic drive, but in our mini van, we were quite anxious. Once we got to the visitor center, we walked around and explored, though we found it extremely hard to breath as we encountered quite an altitude change.
The next day, we got up early and entered the park before the park rangers showed up at the station (usually you can enter for free before 7am). This time we drove the Trail Ridge Road (the highest elevated highway in the US) all the way to the Grand Lake Entrance (about a 90 minute drive). On our way to Grand Lake, just past the Fall River entrance, we saw a moose not too far off the main road. This was our first time encountering a moose! Once we got to the Alpine visitor center, we saw dozens of elk grazing and even two elk fighting, it was an incredible moment to witness.
We left the park and drove to the town of Grand Lake, a quaint little town on a lake right outside of the park. We enjoyed a restful morning along the water and even found a park for Tustin to play at.
Keep in mind, in order to re-enter the park, we needed a reservation now that the ranger stations were open. We waited until our timed entry and headed back to the park. We had to get from Grand Lake all the way to Bear Lake corridor (about a 2 hour drive).
Once we got to Bear Lake, we parked our car and hopped on a shuttle that would drive us about 15-minutes towards the main hiking areas. NOTE: no cars are allowed past the parking area. Shuttles come and go very regularly so you will not find yourself waiting long at all.
We hiked the Bear Lake trail that takes you to four different lakes (we made it to three). Round trip, we hiked nearly 4 miles and we saw Bear Lake, Nymph Lake, and Dream Lake. From our experience, the lakes got better the farther back you got, I can only imagine what the final lake, Emerald, looked like. Dream lake was definitely our favorite, we stopped and had snacks here and Logan even went for a swim! On our hike, we came across several elk that were very close to the trail. This was a very special experience but also, a bit frightening!
Lakes Left to Right: Bear Lake, Nymph Lake, Dream Lake
Rocky Mountain is a stunning national park that is extremely drivable. You really do not need to hike much at all to see the beauty. I would assume this is why the park can get so crowded as it’s extremely family friendly and accessible.
Best Times to Visit: Summer, early fall