hello hello hello, it seems like travel posts are my favorite to write these days. Last week Brendan and I made a quick trip out to Colorado for my birthday. We hiked at Rocky Mountain National Park, hung out with friends, went to a concert at Red Rocks and ate delicious food. We weren’t out there very long (arrived late Tuesday night and left Saturday afternoon), but we packed plenty into our few days. Read on for National Park info, hiking recs, and where we stayed + ate.
Visiting Rocky Mountain National Park
This was my first time back in RMNP since 1998…so it’s been a hot second. Currently the National Parks are using a reservation system for entering the park during the day. But, after 5/6pm anyone can enter without a reservation. On Wednesday we opted to go in that evening, but then at 5pm (MST) I was online to make a reservation for us for the following day, Thursday, July 22. If you’re traveling to a National Park soon, or want to be – check out that park’s website and there should be clear instructions for you for reservations. The cost of a reservation was $2 online, but then you either need a park pass, or to pay the day fee at the gate. We always opt for a park pass, and our local REI had them in store. Just a heads up 🙂
Wednesday, July 21st Highlights:
my day of birth
The French Press for breakfast + coffee
Colorado Cherry Company detour
Walking around Estes Park
Lunch at Ed’s Cantina (I LOVED my food)
Hiking to Emerald Lake (Rocky Mountain National Park)
Birthday dinner at Dunhaven
Since we flew in late Tuesday we woke up in Denver at our friend Beau’s, went to breakfast with him, and took a little time before getting on the road. The drive from Denver to Estes Park (where we stayed) is about an hour and a half. We stopped somewhere along the way at Colorado Cherry Company for snacks + beverages.
It was raining when we arrived in Estes Park so we started with lunch at Ed’s Cantina (delish), then checked in our hotel, Rocky Mountain Hotel & Conference center. I did little to no research before booking as we threw this trip together less than 10 days in advance so the hotel wasn’t stellar. (Location was great though!) It was very much fine, as we were there one night. But the water in the shower never got hot and the door wouldn’t stay shut so the whole lukewarm shower while holding the door closed with your foot thing wasn’t my favorite.
Anyway, we had lunch, checked in, scoped out a map and secured our National Park reservations for the next day – then headed into the park for the evening. We ended up starting at Bear Lake, and doing a 4 mile round trip hike from there to Emerald Lake, passing both Nymph and Dream lake along the way. It was beautiful, overcast and only about 70 degrees, so the hike was great. A nice 4 miles up to 10,000ish feet elevation to ease us in haha.
By the time we left the park most restaurants were closing for the evening so we quickly read some reviews + ended up at Dunraven at The Estes Park Resort. We sat outside on the patio, which overlooks Lake Estes. It was dark but still beautiful so I can imagine it’s lovely during the day. We had a nice meal, a drink + then took the chocolate cake to go. Which I 100% ate in bed because it was my birthday. Scroll for some photos from our hike to Emerald Lake
Thursday, July 22nd Highlights:
Mountain Home Cafe for breakfast
Stumbling across the Estes Park Farmer’s Market
Hiking up to Sky Pond (hitting Alberta Falls, The Loch, Timberline Falls and Lake of Glass along the way)
The reservation I was able to get for park entry on Thursday was from 11am-1pm, so we didn’t have to rush that morning. Started out with breakfast and Mountain Home Cafe, then conveniently noticed the weekly Estes Park Farmer’s Market across the street, so we stopped by to get hike snacks.
We entered the park near the Beaver Meadows visitor center and headed toward Glacier Gorge and Bear Lake (this is a specific pass you have to reserve with Bear Lake access). The hike we set out to do was Sky Pond via Glacier Gorge, but the Glacier Gorge parking was full, so we parked at Bear Lake instead. You can access the hike this way still, but it does add a half mile to your journey on each end. Here’s the link to the hike on AllTrails as well.
The hike is labeled as “hard” and I would say that’s mostly accurate. It is long, and there are definitely good chunks of incline. We saw plenty of other people throughout the hike but once we reached The Loch, they started to drop off, and we finished up to Sky Pond with few other humans.
The one dicey part of the hike is scrambling up Timberline Falls – my recommendation would be to make sure you have something solid to hold onto and to not rely on your feet. It’s not a long distance, but I was definitely on all fours and being very careful as we went up it. And I walked away with a few shin bruises haha. After getting up Timberline Falls you’ll keep going toward Lake of Glass. ITS STUNNING! It can be tempting to stop here and call it good, but Sky Pond isn’t that much further, I promise. Once you hit Sky Pond it will be beautiful, peaceful and above the tree line (10,900 ft elevation). See some photos from our hike below!
After hiking we were starving, and had dinner at Cafe de Pho-Thai in Estes Park before driving back down to our friends in Denver. I finished the day with 30,000+ steps and was tirreeedddd haha.
Friday, July 23rd Highlights:
-friends we haven’t seen since pre-COVID
-first CONCERT IN FOREVER at Red Rocks
-Denver Botanical Gardens
-Denver Biscuit Company
Friday we had the whole day in Denver, so we started out strong with Brendan’s favorite…Denver Biscuit Co. After that we walked around Cheesman Park, and randomly decided to visit the Denver Botanical Gardens (it’s beautiful). Some other friends came into town (which was lovely!) and then we all got together to go to see Sound Tribe at Red Rocks Ampitheathre. If you’ve never been to a show there, I highly recommend it 🙂
Overall we packed a lot into a short trip but I’m so happy we made it happen. If you’re heading to the Denver area soon and want to hike make sure to save this post for later! Scroll down for more Denver photos.
Thanks for following along. Have a great weekend!
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