Colorado Vacation Destinations - Not Quite So Crowded, But Still Cool

[Carl Spackler 3,479]

47 minutes ago, Spur08 said:

Heading Colorado Springs in a few weeks for a little summer trip with the family (2 & 7 year old). Any must dos? Recs for places to eat?

Garden of the Gods is pretty obligatory.  Tour the Air Force Academy.  Do the drive up Pikes Peak.  Royal Gorge is an easy drive from the Springs.  Day trip to the Cripple Creek/Victor area.  The Broadmoor's grounds are worth a stop, IMO.

Edited June 5 by Carl Spackler

[mbtex 683]

12 hours ago, Spur08 said:

Heading Colorado Springs in a few weeks for a little summer trip with the family (2 & 7 year old). Any must dos? Recs for places to eat?

Kings Chef or Denver Biscuit for Breakfast. Skirted Heifer has a good Burger. Fat Sully's and Slice 420 have good Pizza. Ton's of Breweries. 

Things to do Manitou Springs, Garden of the Gods, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Pikes Peak, Seven Falls. 4th ID Museum at Fort Carson, Royal Gorge, and Skyline Drive are close by. 

Edited June 5 by mbtex

[6th Street 6,389]

The Olympic Museum is supposed to be pretty cool but I've never been 

Cheyenne Zoo is underrated - my kids love hand feeding the giraffes lettuce

[crash_davis 23,094]

13 hours ago, Carl Spackler said:

Garden of the Gods is pretty obligatory.  Tour the Air Force Academy.  Do the drive up Pikes Peak.  Royal Gorge is an easy drive from the Springs.  Day trip to the Cripple Creek/Victor area.  The Broadmoor's grounds are worth a stop, IMO.

+1 on Garden of the Gods, Pikes Peak drive

Take the train which runs along Arkansas River through the Royal Gorge. It starts and ends in Canon City. Your kids will enjoy it. https://www.royalgorgeroute.com/ Canon City is kinda dumpy and not much to do.

Then drive to the top of the bridge and see the gorge from that perspective. https://royalgorgebridge.com/

When driving back, take a small 5-20 min detour to Skyline drive. https://maps.app.goo.gl/byK6sxjTBXDC5j5d8

Manitou Springs is a nice little town to walk around. https://www.visitcos.com/areas/manitou-springs/

Seven Falls is an easy, beautiful hike/climb. You can do this when you visit the Broadmoor. https://www.sevenfalls.com/

 

We took our kids twice to Colorado Springs when they were 4 and 6, and again at 6 and 8. Both times they loved everything that we did on the list.

 

Edit: Warning, all these things will be touristy and crowded. Your kids won't care or remember the crowds. They'll remember the experience.

 

Edited June 5 by crash_davis

[Dignan 355]

My family and I (wife, now 17 yr old son, 8 yr old girl) have enjoyed spending a couple of Christmases in the Woodland Park/Cripple Creek area. My wife (from Brazil, NO pics) has always wanted to spend a "Christmas with snow in the mountains". Something that doesn't happen much in East Texas. So, a few years ago we got an Airbnb in the middle of nowhere (address said Cripple Creek). It was really magical. Just us four in a small cabin with as much snow as we could ever want. We could see Pike's Peak in the distance and spent a lot of time playing games, watching movies, and playing in the snow.

On our first trip about 4 years ago, we drove to Colorado Springs to go ice skating and some shopping. We also went to Santa's North Pole Amusement Park (about a 35-40 min drive from where we were) at the base of Pike's Peak two days before Christmas. It was a fun little amusement park with great views and is home to the "highest elevated ferris wheel in the US". Uh, we rode it and I was not a fan. Looked like I was going to fall off the side of the mountain. We spent Christmas Eve/Day enjoying the peace and quiet and a nice fire .

We went back two years ago and took my in-laws with us. We stayed in a different place not too far from where we originally stayed a couple years before. This trip we spent some more time in Colorado Springs, visited the Garden of the Gods, and drove to Breckenridge to check out the town and do some tubing. It was a blast. I WILL SAY: If you go during the Winter, drive a vehicle with AWD or 4x4. We drove a front-wheel drive minivan (to fit everyone) and had to use chains several times, including driving through Hoosier Pass. It was hectic. 

If we go to this area again, which I hope to do, we will look at finding a place in Woodland Park, west of Colorado Springs. Not as secluded as what we did before, but definitely more convenient. While we did drive through Cripple Creek on both visits, we did not do any gambling. 

[Reagan1k 3,024]

Colorado Springs -

Zoo would be great.  

Up in Divide which is about 45-50min drive, there was/is a wolf and wildlife rescue facility that I recall had a great tour.  Its been years since I went but everyone enjoyed it and they seemed to be doing work worth supporting.

Not suitable for the 2yr old, and not sure if you can register without being a guest, but the beginner falconry experience at the Boadmoor is incredible.  Amazing birds and they do some cool exhibitions.

Have done Pike's Peak both by car and Cog Railway.  Value in both.

I'm not a big fan of heights (more accurate to say I'm scared of falling from heights).  That said, adventurous folks love Royal Gorge and that f'ing slingshot skycoaster thing.

There's more than enough to do in that area to keep you occupied.  Ditto basically everything said above.

[Chewbacca 7,765]

Negatory. I have full comp and collision on mine, and liability of 300/500/100, and a two million dollar umbrella. I've got multi-millionaire CEOs on my deer lease, no way I get myself into a situation where I don't have coverage comparative to my net worth. If I were Colorado, I would make the people that bring side by sides show proof of full coverage, and attach a visible sticker that shows their insurance coverage was checked and provides full coverage, if not, leave the bitch at home, or on the trailer.
We have contemplated doing an August trip to Ouray and taking the side by side over Imogene to Telluride, then back on Black Bear. Sit in the hot springs for a few days, visit my old freshman roommate that lives in Telluride.
CHIEF

They aren't street legal here with the exception of a couple places, so nobody registers or insures them.

[Chewbacca 7,765]

Go ahead and pack some Acetazolamide.

Yeah, yeah. I was in Pagosa two days ago. Had breakfast at Ruperts in Durango and then fucked off to Ouray. In Telluride now.

[CHIEF 5,075]

45 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

On 6/3/2024 at 10:27 PM, CHIEF said:

Negatory. I have full comp and collision on mine, and liability of 300/500/100, and a two million dollar umbrella. I've got multi-millionaire CEOs on my deer lease, no way I get myself into a situation where I don't have coverage comparative to my net worth. If I were Colorado, I would make the people that bring side by sides show proof of full coverage, and attach a visible sticker that shows their insurance coverage was checked and provides full coverage, if not, leave the bitch at home, or on the trailer.
We have contemplated doing an August trip to Ouray and taking the side by side over Imogene to Telluride, then back on Black Bear. Sit in the hot springs for a few days, visit my old freshman roommate that lives in Telluride.
CHIEF

They aren't street legal here with the exception of a couple places, so nobody registers or insures them.

They are not legal here either. But you can get the same coverage as you get on your street vehicles. The premiums are high, but UTVs are inherently much more dangerous than a road vehicle. Had an acquaintance killed last year elk hunting in Colorado when his UTV rolled over. No seatbelt, so it threw him out and rolled over the top of him. Driving one without at least liability is foolish.

I called CHIEF Jr. and his buddies and asked them what they were up to. They were eating pizza, drinking beer, and watching He-Man reruns. Helluva bachelor party. There are only three of them there until Friday, one is married, one is the future groom, and the truly only single guy is CHIEF Jr. They have three other single guys driving out from Denver on Friday.

CHIEF

[Dbeasy 15,039]

Any recommendations on altitude acclimation quickly? In the past we bought some oxygen bottles and that seemed to work pretty well. 

[Chewbacca 7,765]

They are not legal here either. But you can get the same coverage as you get on your street vehicles. The premiums are high, but UTVs are inherently much more dangerous than a road vehicle. Had an acquaintance killed last year elk hunting in Colorado when his UTV rolled over. No seatbelt, so it threw him out and rolled over the top of him. Driving one without at least liability is foolish.
I called CHIEF Jr. and his buddies and asked them what they were up to. They were eating pizza, drinking beer, and watching He-Man reruns. Helluva bachelor party. There are only three of them there until Friday, one is married, one is the future groom, and the truly only single guy is CHIEF Jr. They have three other single guys driving out from Denver on Friday.
CHIEF

Sure, you can get the coverage, but most folks I know do not. The demographic that loves side by sides is not the financially responsible one in my experience.

Any recommendations on altitude acclimation quickly? In the past we bought some oxygen bottles and that seemed to work pretty well. 

Tell your body to make hemoglobin faster?

[6th Street 6,389]

2 hours ago, Dbeasy said:

Any recommendations on altitude acclimation quickly? In the past we bought some oxygen bottles and that seemed to work pretty well. 

I recommend Vagisil

[CHIEF 5,075]

1 hour ago, Chewbacca said:

 

 

Sure, you can get the coverage, but most folks I know do not. The demographic that loves side by sides is not the financially responsible one in my experience. Tell your body to make hemoglobin faster?

 

I'm pretty sure that if they have a lender, on the UTV, that it is required. Most of these are $25k-35k vehicles, and that demographic doesn't care how much it cost, just how much is it per month. Just part of being financially irresponsible. The lenders do not want to get back a fucked up vehicle that they can't recover their cost if it is totaled. I financed mine at 0.99%, so why not. But I paid cash for all of the upgrades. The 10 year old single cab Ranger that a farmer paid $7500 for, probably not. But they are still idiots for not having liability. I had one of those, but still carried liability. Let's be honest, most of what you see on the trails are $40-50k rigs that still have a $45k note, and people with shitty driving records. My lender required it, I was going to do it anyway, so the financing made sense.

CHIEF

Edited June 7 by CHIEF
required

[CHIEF 5,075]

And Chewy, I'm not trying to be obstinate. I've seen what gets driven on the trails in Colorado. I'm guessing at least 75% of the UTVs have to have full coverage because of the liens on them.

CHIEF

[Chewbacca 7,765]

I'm pretty sure that if they have a lender, on the UTV, that it is required. Most of these are $25k-35k vehicles, and that demographic doesn't care how much it cost, just how much is it per month. Just part of being financially irresponsible. The lenders do not want to get back a fucked up vehicle that they can't recover their cost if it is totaled. I financed mine at 0.99%, so why not. But I paid cash for all of the upgrades. The 10 year old single cab Ranger that a farmer paid $7500 for, probably not. But they are still idiots for not having liability. I had one of those, but still carried liability. Let's be honest, most of what you see on the trails are $40-50k rigs that still have a $45k note, and people with shitty driving records. My lender required it, I was going to do it anyway, so the financing made sense.
CHIEF

Lenders don't give a fuck about liability, they only care that their collateral is insured. But car insurance is required, too. Look at how many assholes are out there driving around uninsured.

[CHIEF 5,075]

I was an insurance agent in a former life. If someone doesn't have liability and looses a lawsuit, the lender isn't getting paid. I don't know of many agents that will cover a vehicle if there isn't liability coverage from somewhere. Farmers get it from their Farm & Ranch policy, it is extended to their tractors, UTVs, and other implements via the policy. Those are available through Farm Bureau and Germania , insurers that specifically have policies set up for farmers and ranchers.

CHIEF

[Chewbacca 7,765]

I was an insurance agent in a former life. If someone doesn't have liability and looses a lawsuit, the lender isn't getting paid. I don't know of many agents that will cover a vehicle if there isn't liability coverage from somewhere. Farmers get it from their Farm & Ranch policy, it is extended to their tractors, UTVs, and other implements via the policy. Those are available through Farm Bureau and Germania , insurers that specifically have policies set up for farmers and ranchers.
CHIEF

Your claim that the majority of side by sides are carrying auto insurance levels of liability coverage when they are not required to by any law is woefully uninformed.

I think it's great you do and I think everyone should. But they just don't.

[crash_davis 23,094]

16 hours ago, Dbeasy said:

Any recommendations on altitude acclimation quickly? In the past we bought some oxygen bottles and that seemed to work pretty well. 

MoJames said it post 147. Acetazolamide

https://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/2020/0415/p505.html

Acetazolamide aids in acclimatization and should be strongly considered for high-altitude travelers at moderate to high risk of AMS. The recommended prophylactic dosage for adults is 125 mg every 12 hours; the dosage for children is 2.5 mg per kg (maximum: 125 mg) every 12 hours. Acetazolamide should be started the day before ascent and continued for two to four days after arrival at the target altitude. However, it still has beneficial effects if started the day of ascent. Although acetazolamide is a sulfonamide, it is extremely unlikely to cause an allergic reaction; a supervised trial can be considered before traveling

[Spur08 382]

Anyone know if it's best suited that we buy tickets for the zoo beforehand or can we just show up?

[mbtex 683]

11 hours ago, Spur08 said:

Anyone know if it's best suited that we buy tickets for the zoo beforehand or can we just show up?

I believe best to buy in advance.

[mchookem 16,318]

we have been to probably 12-15 zoos in this country, including San Diego and Cincinnati...Cheyenne Mountain is by far our favorite. do not miss! 😊

[Dbeasy 15,039]

We are finishing up our time in Winter Park. It’s been a good trip and I’ll post more about it when we get back. I did want to mention one thing. 

Never in my life have I run into more unhappy service workers who do a terrible job. I am always nice and polite with workers. But, virtually everyone we’ve dealt with at any place has been unfriendly. And the number of issues we’ve run into has been unbelievable. The hotel has been a disaster. I’ll post on that later because it’s just plain bizarre.  

As we thought about what’s happening, one thing we’ve noticed is that a lot of these workers seem stoned. Maybe that’s it. Maybe it’s just typical vacation destination fatigue? After all many vacationers are shitheads these days. Maybe workers are just sick of vacationers.
 

But if that’s the case wouldn’t be bad everywhere? This seems to be Winter Park specific. Weird.  

[6th Street 6,389]

You have the B team in the summers unfortunately. The offseason has a lot of disgruntled locals. Ski season on the other hand brings out a bunch of seasonal ski bum workers that are generally happy since they get in 75+ ski days.

[Chewbacca 7,765]

We are finishing up our time in Winter Park. It’s been a good trip and I’ll post more about it when we get back. I did want to mention one thing. 
Never in my life have I run into more unhappy service workers who do a terrible job. I am always nice and polite with workers. But, virtually everyone we’ve dealt with at any place has been unfriendly. And the number of issues we’ve run into has been unbelievable. The hotel has been a disaster. I’ll post on that later because it’s just plain bizarre.  
As we thought about what’s happening, one thing we’ve noticed is that a lot of these workers seem stoned. Maybe that’s it. Maybe it’s just typical vacation destination fatigue? After all many vacationers are shitheads these days. Maybe workers are just sick of vacationers.
 
But if that’s the case wouldn’t be bad everywhere? This seems to be Winter Park specific. Weird.  

I've seen plenty of drug use by employees, not gonna lie. I've also seen lots of slow mountain service. Have never seen unhappy service workers in WP, though. Where did you run into that?

Sorry that happened.

[Chewbacca 7,765]

You have the B team in the summers unfortunately. The offseason has a lot of disgruntled locals. Ski season on the other hand brings out a bunch of seasonal ski bum workers that are generally happy since they get in 75+ ski days.

Can't say I agree with this take.

[Wiler77 1,566]

We're in Crested Butte for a month. Have some friends passing through the area and we were excited to show then around. Went to one of our favorite restaurants last night and it was a disaster.  I've been a waiter, so i generally give a lot of latitude, and we showed up with a party of 10, so my patience was set to 10. 

But this was ridiculous. 20 minutes for anyone to even greet us after being seated. Food took at least 30 minutes to come out. Half the food was stone cold, like it sat out for 25 minutes while they made the other plates. The kids chicken tenders were almost black because they cooked them so long. My wife's salad didn't contain half the ingredients it listed on the menu. The 2 specials were sold out by 7pm. Also sold out of brussel sprouts which are on the menu.  And when our friend asked when the food was delivered if she needed to order the creme brulee early so we wouldn't have to wait long for it, the waitress said "oh, the cook didn't have time to prep that today". It's a menu item. And that was the last time we saw the waitress.

My wife asked me if she could go talk to the manager, because she knows I forgive a LOT when it comes to eating out, but I told her to have at it.  She was very polite and said if she was a manager she'd like to know if this type of stuff was happening.

Waitress comes over afterward and says "I heard you wanted the check" and drops it off.  The chef's kiss was the $15 charge for the Brussel spouts they didn't serve us and the extra kids drink that wasn't ordered.  Wife says "don't touch that check". Two minutes later manager drops off new check with all food comped and 25% off all drinks. Waitress is totally pissed and after running our cards drops them on the table without saying a word. Weird thing is my wife didn't even complain about her.

I don't know if this was the B team, but it was definitely a team that wasn't firing on all cylinders yet, from the kitchen to the wait staff. Shit gets real next week for July 4th. They better get it figured out.

[SmokeyTheBear 5,562]

First week in Fraser and here until the end of July.  Damn do I miss this place.  

[Chewbacca 7,765]

First week in Fraser and here until the end of July.  Damn do I miss this place.  

I can't fucking wait until my house is done. Not being up there much has been killing me this summer.

You over in Moose Run again?

[Chewbacca 7,765]

We're in Crested Butte for a month. Have some friends passing through the area and we were excited to show then around. Went to one of our favorite restaurants last night and it was a disaster.  I've been a waiter, so i generally give a lot of latitude, and we showed up with a party of 10, so my patience was set to 10. 
But this was ridiculous. 20 minutes for anyone to even greet us after being seated. Food took at least 30 minutes to come out. Half the food was stone cold, like it sat out for 25 minutes while they made the other plates. The kids chicken tenders were almost black because they cooked them so long. My wife's salad didn't contain half the ingredients it listed on the menu. The 2 specials were sold out by 7pm. Also sold out of brussel sprouts which are on the menu.  And when our friend asked when the food was delivered if she needed to order the creme brulee early so we wouldn't have to wait long for it, the waitress said "oh, the cook didn't have time to prep that today". It's a menu item. And that was the last time we saw the waitress.
My wife asked me if she could go talk to the manager, because she knows I forgive a LOT when it comes to eating out, but I told her to have at it.  She was very polite and said if she was a manager she'd like to know if this type of stuff was happening.
Waitress comes over afterward and says "I heard you wanted the check" and drops it off.  The chef's kiss was the $15 charge for the Brussel spouts they didn't serve us and the extra kids drink that wasn't ordered.  Wife says "don't touch that check". Two minutes later manager drops off new check with all food comped and 25% off all drinks. Waitress is totally pissed and after running our cards drops them on the table without saying a word. Weird thing is my wife didn't even complain about her.
I don't know if this was the B team, but it was definitely a team that wasn't firing on all cylinders yet, from the kitchen to the wait staff. Shit gets real next week for July 4th. They better get it figured out.

Mountain service can sometimes be more miuntain-y than others.

[SmokeyTheBear 5,562]

2 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

I can't fucking wait until my house is done. Not being up there much has been killing me this summer.

You over in Moose Run again?

Yep,  this will be the last time we rent here cause the owner is going to yearly rentals after we leave.  I don't think we can find a better spot moving forward but we are looking to buy eventually.  

[Chewbacca 7,765]

Yep,  this will be the last time we rent here cause the owner is going to yearly rentals after we leave.  I don't think we can find a better spot moving forward but we are looking to buy eventually.  

Good for him. The valley badly needs long term rentals. If you're looking to buy, I'd look sooner than later. Things aren't getting cheaper.

[Frank Drebin 5,665]

On 6/29/2024 at 11:21 PM, Wiler77 said:

We're in Crested Butte for a month. Have some friends passing through the area and we were excited to show then around. Went to one of our favorite restaurants last night and it was a disaster.  I've been a waiter, so i generally give a lot of latitude, and we showed up with a party of 10, so my patience was set to 10. 

But this was ridiculous. 20 minutes for anyone to even greet us after being seated. Food took at least 30 minutes to come out. Half the food was stone cold, like it sat out for 25 minutes while they made the other plates. The kids chicken tenders were almost black because they cooked them so long. My wife's salad didn't contain half the ingredients it listed on the menu. The 2 specials were sold out by 7pm. Also sold out of brussel sprouts which are on the menu.  And when our friend asked when the food was delivered if she needed to order the creme brulee early so we wouldn't have to wait long for it, the waitress said "oh, the cook didn't have time to prep that today". It's a menu item. And that was the last time we saw the waitress.

My wife asked me if she could go talk to the manager, because she knows I forgive a LOT when it comes to eating out, but I told her to have at it.  She was very polite and said if she was a manager she'd like to know if this type of stuff was happening.

Waitress comes over afterward and says "I heard you wanted the check" and drops it off.  The chef's kiss was the $15 charge for the Brussel spouts they didn't serve us and the extra kids drink that wasn't ordered.  Wife says "don't touch that check". Two minutes later manager drops off new check with all food comped and 25% off all drinks. Waitress is totally pissed and after running our cards drops them on the table without saying a word. Weird thing is my wife didn't even complain about her.

I don't know if this was the B team, but it was definitely a team that wasn't firing on all cylinders yet, from the kitchen to the wait staff. Shit gets real next week for July 4th. They better get it figured out.

We cook and entertain a lot when in the mountains.  I just try and go with flow on poor/stoned service.  Usually, I try and get a table outside and just enjoy the mountain air regardless of how long it takes.  These towns have a massive shortage of places for workers to live.  That has consequences.

Getting a late start (usually do June through August), but going to leave Wednesday.  Griswolding it because we bought a house in Whitefish, so driving the truck and pulling a trailer.  Have a lot of stuff to take, mainly a lot of outdoors gear.  Going to spend one night in Aspen on way and do 4th stuff there.  Then a night in Park City, because I have never been.  Then 4 weeks in Whitefish and one week in Aspen on the way back to meet up with friends.

This will be our first summer in Whitefish.  Cannot wait to explore best hikes and fly fishing spots.

[Dbeasy 15,039]

Ok, here are the highlights and lowlights from our week in Winter Park, Colorado. Overall, we had a great time. Great weather, nice little town (and towns nearby - Grandby, Fraser, Grand). Thank you Chewbacca and the others who offered up advice and opinions. You were all spot-on in your recommendations.

We did a lot of hikes. Went to Rocky Mountain National Park and that was great, primarily because we didn't have to fight Estes Park crowds. It was a very short timed entry wait, and lots of open space once in the park. Visited a few hiking spots and the Alpine Visitor Center which was cool.  Could have gone back and spent a whole second day doing long hikes, but had too many kids and elderlies with us.

Went trout fly fishing on the Upper Colorado outside Kremmling. Went in expecting weak fishing given the water levels, but it turned out pretty good. Landed several trout, and missed several others including a few monsters. Thank you to Surly for the guide recommendation. He was fantastic.

Played golf at Pole Creek golf course. Tough course. Beautiful. A lotta fun, but played terrible. Nevertheless, would recommend.

Went whitewater rafting Class 4 and that was great for those that went.

Did some mountain biking at Tressle Bike park and e-bikes around paved trails.  All were great. Tressle is really cool.  

Now a bit of the downside.  Workers throughout Winter Park were not happy people. The workers at the Resort, McDonalds, hotel, breweries, everywhere in Fraser and Winter Park were unfriendly and in many cases just uncompetant, either because they didn't care or, they didn't care. And just to note, we had no Karen's with us. There isn't one in the entire group.

Our hotel experience, the Wnter Park Mountain Lodge, was ridiculous, almost comical. We started off great.  They were able to let us check-in early for several of our rooms.  However, that quickly declined as several rooms spent several DAYS, trying to get soap, towels, and hot water in the shower.  Each room probably requested 3-5 times for these items, making for about 10-20 requests to fix these problems and the manager on duty just simply nodded and blew everyone off.  A few of the moments along the way: the people cleaning the rooms weren't carrying soap or towels on their carts!

We surmised maybe there was a soap shortage in the hotel. When I finally found a competent worker, he looked at me incredulously. He said they have piles of soap in the back.  Same for towels.  When I told him several rooms have been trying to get hot water for several days, he said, "That's weird. I've been here the last few days and I'm the head maintenance man and no one has asked our maintenance staff for anything." As we exited the hotel on our last sad morning, I whisked past a British dude hurriedly rushing down the hall with towels and soap in hand, mumbling something about "fucking Americans". As we reached the front desk, two groups were wondering why they had no soap or towels in their rooms. It had been 8 days since our first complaints.  I could go on about the restaurant service and other issues, but needless to say don't stay at this hotel.

But overall, great trip.

 

[Chewbacca 7,765]

10 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

Ok, here are the highlights and lowlights from our week in Winter Park, Colorado. Overall, we had a great time. Great weather, nice little town (and towns nearby - Grandby, Fraser, Grand). Thank you Chewbacca and the others who offered up advice and opinions. You were all spot-on in your recommendations.

Went trout fly fishing on the Upper Colorado outside Kremmling. Went in expecting weak fishing given the water levels, but it turned out pretty good. Landed several trout, and missed several others including a few monsters. Thank you to Surly for the guide recommendation. He was fantastic.

Played golf at Pole Creek golf course. Tough course. Beautiful. A lotta fun, but played terrible. Nevertheless, would recommend.

Went whitewater rafting Class 4 and that was great for those that went.

Did some mountain biking at Tressle Bike park and e-bikes around paved trails.  All were great. Tressle is really cool.  

Now a bit of the downside.  Workers throughout Winter Park were not happy people. The workers at the Resort, McDonalds, hotel, breweries, everywhere in Fraser and Winter Park were unfriendly and in many cases just uncompetant, either because they didn't care or, they didn't care. And just to note, we had no Karen's with us. There isn't one in the entire group.

Our hotel experience, the Wnter Park Mountain Lodge, was ridiculous, almost comical. We started off great.  They were able to let us check-in early for several of our rooms.  However, that quickly declined as several rooms spent several DAYS, trying to get soap, towels, and hot water in the shower.  Each room probably requested 3-5 times for these items, making for about 10-20 requests to fix these problems and the manager on duty just simply nodded and blew everyone off.  A few of the moments along the way: the people cleaning the rooms weren't carrying soap or towels on their carts!

We surmised maybe there was a soap shortage in the hotel. When I finally found a competent worker, he looked at me incredulously. He said they have piles of soap in the back.  Same for towels.  When I told him several rooms have been trying to get hot water for several days, he said, "That's weird. I've been here the last few days and I'm the head maintenance man and no one has asked our maintenance staff for anything." As we exited the hotel on our last sad morning, I whisked past a British dude hurriedly rushing down the hall with towels and soap in hand, mumbling something about "fucking Americans". As we reached the front desk, two groups were wondering why they had no soap or towels in their rooms. It had been 8 days since our first complaints.  I could go on about the restaurant service and other issues, but needless to say don't stay at this hotel.

But overall, great trip.

 

Who did you fish with?  WP Flyfisher?

The staff thing is a much deeper issue, unfortunately.  Housing is terribly expensive so everyone is short staffed and many businesses can't even be open all the hours they want to be open.  And many of those people living and working in the valley have to work 2 jobs to afford to live up there.  So they're burned out.  Doesn't excuse shitty attitudes or workers who are clearly high, but that's why businesses put up with it.  If they didn't, they'd have no staff.  So we get what I call mountain service.  It can be good, and it can be terrible, or anywhere in between.  You just have to roll with it. Glad to hear you had a good trip.

Where did you eat?

[CooterBrown 18,001]

21 hours ago, Frank Drebin said:

These towns have a massive shortage of places for workers to live.  That has consequences.

Some friends that own a brewery built a dorm for seasonal workers.  They had already owned two rental houses for their employees to live in. 

[6th Street 6,389]

Just wrapped up the family camping trip right outside the Dillon Reservoir. Great spot. Secluded but also only 15 mins to Breck and Keystone.

 

 

[LCHorn 2,612]

On 7/1/2024 at 1:15 PM, Dbeasy said:

Overall, we had a great time. Great weather, nice little town (and towns nearby - Grandby, Fraser, Grand)

This is so long ago to be almost irrelevant, but I spent a summer working on a dude ranch in Granby and bounced around all the nearby towns running chores or going out to eat/drink.  Everyone is just grouchy there compared to Texas.  
 

Summer resort season tends to be a bunch of teenagers running things, anyway, but the locals are weird.  

[Paco 1,934]

This is so long ago to be almost irrelevant, but I spent a summer working on a dude ranch in Granby and bounced around all the nearby towns running chores or going out to eat/drink.  Everyone is just grouchy there compared to Texas.  
 
Summer resort season tends to be a bunch of teenagers running things, anyway, but the locals are weird.  

Grouchy people in Granby?

[4th&Five 41,506]

Hertz in Denver was absolutely fucked this morning. I70 was FUBAR as well. Four hours from landing to get to Dillon. Happy and drinking in the mountains now though. 

[txduck87 985]

Hertz in Denver was absolutely fucked this morning. I70 was FUBAR as well. Four hours from landing to get to Dillon. Happy and drinking in the mountains now though. 

Isolated incident or just normal weekend shitshow from Denver? Heading to breck tomorrow. Flying into Denver but may go southern route if I70 is nuts.

[4th&Five 41,506]

Most seemed to be construction but signs all said delays M-F. Probably a combo of weekend traffic and construction. 

Edited July 12 by 4th&Five

[Chewbacca 7,765]

1 hour ago, 4th&Five said:

Hertz in Denver was absolutely fucked this morning. I70 was FUBAR as well. Four hours from landing to get to Dillon. Happy and drinking in the mountains now though. 

Yeah, Friday afternoons on I-70 in the summer are a shit show. Combine that with the Floyd Hill construction and good luck.

18 minutes ago, txduck87 said:

Isolated incident or just normal weekend shitshow from Denver? Heading to breck tomorrow. Flying into Denver but may go southern route if I70 is nuts.

What time you driving up tomorrow?  I'd check Waze before you pick a route but 70 will likely be your best bet.  Saturdays aren't as bad as Fridays but they can still be busy.

[6th Street 6,389]

1 hour ago, txduck87 said:

Isolated incident or just normal weekend shitshow from Denver? Heading to breck tomorrow. Flying into Denver but may go southern route if I70 is nuts.

Saturday will be fine. Friday afternoons out of DIA are awful. And as the other posted mentioned, heavy traffic all the way out to Silverthorne off I-70 as everyone is heading to the mountains. 

[hookem2010 2,623]

On 6/12/2024 at 3:37 PM, mchookem said:

we have been to probably 12-15 zoos in this country, including San Diego and Cincinnati...Cheyenne Mountain is by far our favorite. do not miss! 😊

I've got to check that one off then. My wife is from there so we've gone back to visit family probably 10 times, yet I haven't been. Now that we have kids, I guess I can use that as an excuse to go next time.

[txduck87 985]

What time you driving up tomorrow?  I'd check Waze before you pick a route but 70 will likely be your best bet.  Saturdays aren't as bad as Fridays but they can still be busy.

Landing at 11. Airbnb check in at 4. After this week in Houston, I’m not gonna complain about a bit of traffic but sounds like we will be fine.

[Chewbacca 7,765]

Landing at 11. Airbnb check in at 4. After this week in Houston, I’m not gonna complain about a bit of traffic but sounds like we will be fine.

Yeah, you should be fine.

[mchookem 16,318]

so i live here but now i need suggestions 😁

family coming in next month and we have an awesome cabin in Grand Lake for a few days. one day on the lake/renting a boat, one day in RMNP/Estes... but still have one day to fill with whatever. we can travel nearby easy...Fraser, WP, etc. biking or trails would be awesome, but really any summer activity in the area...any specific suggestions? @Chewbacca @6th Street or anybody else? 😊

[6th Street 6,389]

I hear good things about Trestle Bike Park in Winter Park. Mainly from my enthusiast neighbors who won't shut the f about it lol. But supposedly good for all skill levels 

[Chewbacca 7,765]

14 hours ago, 6th Street said:

I hear good things about Trestle Bike Park in Winter Park. Mainly from my enthusiast neighbors who won't shut the f about it lol. But supposedly good for all skill levels 

Downhill mountain biking is not for the faint of heart.  Lots of folks get seriously injured doing that. But to each his own.

16 hours ago, mchookem said:

so i live here but now i need suggestions 😁

family coming in next month and we have an awesome cabin in Grand Lake for a few days. one day on the lake/renting a boat, one day in RMNP/Estes... but still have one day to fill with whatever. we can travel nearby easy...Fraser, WP, etc. biking or trails would be awesome, but really any summer activity in the area...any specific suggestions? @Chewbacca @6th Street or anybody else? 😊

What is the fitness/activity level for the group?  That will determine a lot of suggestions.

[mchookem 16,318]

28 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

Downhill mountain biking is not for the faint of heart.  Lots of folks get seriously injured doing that. But to each his own.

What is the fitness/activity level for the group?  That will determine a lot of suggestions.

2 over 70, me (GenX 😁)...and our young, fit French foreign exchange friend 😄

seriously... nothing crazy, but we do bike all over Denver and area parks, and dad easily rode a segway for the first time in France last month. downhill mountain biking is probably a bit much (plus we have street bikes), but flat or trail biking is fine, as is moderate river stuff, tubing, hiking, etc. 

can you ride any lifts up in summer, for scenic views, summer activities (a la Tahoe) and such?