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Trip Planning for this June

Started by RenStarr, March 20, 2013, 12:01:50 PM

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RenStarr

My wife and I along with my 5 year old grandaughter are in the planning stages of making a trip to Colorado this June.  We're planning on attending faire on Sunday of opening weekend.  But I thought I would ask for some recommendations from some of you that live in the area:

Places to lodge that are local to the faire? 
Places where discount tickets can be bought prior to hitting the front gate.  I see from the Web Site that they list "front range King Soopers"?   I assume that's a grocery store chain?

The must see things at your faire? 

Places to lodge in the Estes Park area.  My wife wants to stay there for 3-4 nights and she got some things on her to-do list already.  I'm thinking some places close to the National Park, along a stream, nice hiking, good views, clean place to stay, etc........the usual stuff.  Any suggestions?  Doing a search on the web yields a very long list.  Any suggestions that would help us shave that list down would be appreciated.   ;D
Spiced rum....hmmmmm
Greetings, try this.
Starr Gazzer.
2013 TRF AHE RenNado.....heck of a night

Merlin the Elder

I can tell you from our trip out there a couple years ago, Castle Rock is maybe 15-20 minutes north of the faire, and has several nice places right off I-25 at Meadows Parkway in Castle Rock. A great brew pub/restaurant within walking distance of hotels called Rockyard American Grill & Brewing Company.

Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs is pretty impressive, if you like rocks. 

The Cat Show at CRF is a total must!
Living life in the slow lane
ROoL #116; the Jack of Daniels; AARP #7; SS# 000-00-0013
I've upped my standards. Now, up yours.
...and may all your babies be born naked...

Adriana Rose

The first weekend is also 2 for 1 weekend too, there will be little vouchers at Wendy's. And King Soopers is easy to find in Castle Rock too.


Estes is pretty much the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park.

For things to do with the kiddo there is The Children's Museum in Denver if I remember right it is right off I25.

Norfolk

Merlin is  correct:  The place to stay in order to enjoy our Festival is Castle Rock.  It is about 15 minutes North of the gate, with a number of hotels and eateries from which to choose.  According to TripAdvisor, the pick of the litter is the Best Western.  Your wife may be interested in the fact that it is situated across the parking lot from the largest outlet mall in the state.   ;)

As Adriana Rose indicated, opening weekend is 2 for 1;  you can pick up the coupons at Wendy's or King Sooper's, but there are generally patrons hanging around who will give you one for the asking.

Recommendations: (1)  Our Festival is, literally, situated on the side of a mountain at over 6000 feet elevation.  Weather conditions can be anything from 40 degrees and rainy to 100 degrees without a cloud in sight.  Everything is up hill.  Both ways!  Come prepared.  (2)  Come early!  Get there at or before 9:30 (canon is at 10AM) and you will not only get primo parking, you get to enjoy the gate show.   
Just call me "Your Grace"

Gauwyn of Bracknell

Norfolk - the way you hawk the gate show you would think you know someone who is in it  :D
Born 500 years late

Gauwyn of Bracknell

Norfolk

Quote from: Gauwyn of Bracknell on March 21, 2013, 05:56:53 AM
Norfolk - the way you hawk the gate show you would think you know someone who is in it  :D

The Duchess and I are in the gate show only in the sense that someone sitting in the first row of a rock concert can be said to be "in it"!
Just call me "Your Grace"

Capt Gabriela Fullpepper

Quote from: RenStarr on March 20, 2013, 12:01:50 PM
My wife and I along with my 5 year old grandaughter are in the planning stages of making a trip to Colorado this June.  We're planning on attending faire on Sunday of opening weekend.  But I thought I would ask for some recommendations from some of you that live in the area:

Places to lodge that are local to the faire? 
Places where discount tickets can be bought prior to hitting the front gate.  I see from the Web Site that they list "front range King Soopers"?   I assume that's a grocery store chain?

The must see things at your faire? 

Places to lodge in the Estes Park area.  My wife wants to stay there for 3-4 nights and she got some things on her to-do list already.  I'm thinking some places close to the National Park, along a stream, nice hiking, good views, clean place to stay, etc........the usual stuff.  Any suggestions?  Doing a search on the web yields a very long list.  Any suggestions that would help us shave that list down would be appreciated.   ;D

Estes is my backyard... well almost. I live less than 45 minutes east at the real entrance to RMNP You either go through Longmont or Loveland to get there.

Hiking... There are a lot of great spots to hike in the area. Be warned that in RMNP you will find crowds and that takes away from the experience. There is a great site called www.localhikes.com http://www.localhikes.com/MSA/MSA_2670.asp is the direct link to the area.

Ouzal Falls is pretty but the trail is often overly crowded. Bridal Veil just north of Estes Park is a nice easy hike and a pretty falls, Westcreek is harder, shorter and never busy with a pretty falls. Once again anything in Estes park will be busy that time of year

If you like beer, Loveland and Ft Collins are the spot to go. Grimms and Big beaver in Loveland with Grimms being the best. In Ft Collins, I know many speak of New Belgium but NB has gotten to big and the beers while good are not as good as some of the others. O'Dells is great but I'd recommend Pateros Creek http://www.pateroscreekbrewing.com/

If you like simple food The Wapiti in Estes is good as is the Big Horn. Both places you can get buffalo and at the Wapiti you can get Elk and even Rocky Mountain Oysters that are actually pretty good.

Loveland and Ft Collins both have nice small museums and the area is loaded with very nice bike trails.

Ft Collins has some great places to Eat like Taverna, Hu Hot, Rodizo (pricey), and the best steaks can be gotten in Loveland at The Black Steer

Places to stay. Estes will be very busy and expensive that time of year. The Stanley is the place to go but not cheap. Ypou can also get small places in Estes and now is the time to reserve them.

Hope this helps

My Lord Toki and I will miss you as we go on Saturdays.

Wendy's has BOGO coupons and King Soopers has $2.00 off

"The Metal Maiden"
To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody e

Gauwyn of Bracknell

Lady Delaney is by far the expert here, so maybe she can clarify.  When we go we have found hiking to be much less crowded if you go deep into the park toward Lake Grandby.
Born 500 years late

Gauwyn of Bracknell

Ian Maxwell

I've rented cabins from Pine Creek Cabins, the are in various locations around Estes. Not exactly cheap, but very nice.

http://eppinecreekcabins.com/

Ian

Capt Gabriela Fullpepper

Quote from: Gauwyn of Bracknell on March 21, 2013, 11:38:31 AM
Lady Delaney is by far the expert here, so maybe she can clarify.  When we go we have found hiking to be much less crowded if you go deep into the park toward Lake Grandby.

Yes, fighting the traffic over Trail Ridge and hiking the back side can be nice. However... On the backside there is far far more beetle kill and this is a HUGE downer. the further over trail ridge towards Grandby the worse it gets. However I did stumble onto 2 bull moose on that side grazing in a huge meadow. As always keep your distance on all wild life. You will see idiots get so close the can touch the animal, this is illegal and you must keep your distance. Moose kill more people annually than bears or mountain lions. Elk can also injure you badly.

On many occasions Big horn sheep can be seen in the Big Thompson Canyon. Deer is abundant and elk can be. Mark yourself lucky to see wild turkeys, bears or mountain lions. Remember to never panic. If you see a bear, back away slowly talking softly (Nice Bear, Nice bear) and leave it be. if you see a mountain lion... make sure you make yourself look bigger. and if attacked. fight back, Big sticks, walking sticks can be your friend. Cats are curious but cowards.

The least crowding hikes happen outside RMNP and can be far more rewarding. Comanche Peaks is my favorite. It's easy, (well almost 200 yards incline then 1/2 mile decent to a pretty stream. 3 miles back is an old cabin and a huge meadow. 4 miles in RMNP. This trail is never very busy.

Cow Creek which leads to the Bridal Vail is a great hike and that one trail splits into 7. One is 4 miles taking the back route to gem Lake. The lake is more like a giant water catch and not a lake. You over look the backside of Estes. You can take the front route but be warned, this trail can be a killer. 2 miles of steep switch backs. the back route at Cow Creek is 4 miles and easy and peaceful with no crowds. Cow creek also leads to Lawn Lake which is the lake that had a damn burst in 1982 that created the Elluvial Fan falls.

As always take lot's of water, more water than you will need. Covering for the head, sun screen, rain gear, good shoes, snacks (Jerky, nuts, energy bars, even an apple or peach).

I hike northern Colorado a lot during the nice seasons (Starting in April and going to Oct normally and have been planning Snow shoeing but snow has been missing to do good snow shoeing.

None of this is meant to scare you, just prepare you as many people that come to the state are not prepared. Being at 10,000 feet, you will bake like a hot dog over an open fire and you need to drink tons of water
"The Metal Maiden"
To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody e

Francisco Paula

Most regulars hit the parking lot around 9:00 so they are up front, i recomend this for several reasons. One if you have to go to the car at anytime during the day you are right out the front and only gate, yes weather changes you could be 40 and rain or 100 and hot as all hell, also if you bring gatorade and such you can run to the car to get that. Two when the faire day is done you don't have a long walk or have to wait for the bus to take you to the back 40 to get to the car.

Wendy's will have 2 for one coupons for opening weekend. They open the ticket booths at faire at 9:00 and they have enough the lines never get to full.

Castle rock is the best place to stay for faire you are 15 minutes from faire, you have plenty of places to eat, you have the outlet malls right there and if you want to go to a bigger mall Park Meadows is just 15 minutes or less north of their.

Estes park i always enjoy the Stanley Hotel but can be pricey and haunted, they have a resturant with great food in the hotel and its haunted. Oh did i mention the stanley is haunted.

Hmm other than that i don't think i can say anything that hasn't been said besides come by the big cat show and say hi to me, i will be standing off to the side making sure dumb people stay back from the cats.

Oh remember
Sun Screen
Water
If you drink alchohol drink lots of water you will get drunk faster then at sea level.

RenStarr

Thanks for the feedback folks.  We'll be scanning all of our options and putting together some solid plans over the next month.  Looking forward to seeing CRF!!  The big cat show sounds interesting. 

Queston:  How are they at the front gate about flask's, bota bags, etc......?  I'm used to TRF and Sherwood where folks go thru with all kinds of stuff hanging off themselves and their belts and nothing is ever said.  Only time I've ever been hasled bout that kinda stuff was at Scarby one year.  Girl insisted that I take my flask (in a small bag on my belt) back to my car or poor the contents out.         

Gonna read up on the Stanley Hotel also.  Being haunted would be cool with me and a bit of adventure, but Lady B (wife) would reject that idea for sure.  No need to even ask about that.   
Spiced rum....hmmmmm
Greetings, try this.
Starr Gazzer.
2013 TRF AHE RenNado.....heck of a night

Francisco Paula

The cat show is a blast. We will have two white tigers again this year, even though they are still cubs they will be about 180 pounds.

Adriana Rose


Merlin the Elder

180 pounds?!?! Cubs my...er, um...
Living life in the slow lane
ROoL #116; the Jack of Daniels; AARP #7; SS# 000-00-0013
I've upped my standards. Now, up yours.
...and may all your babies be born naked...