Viewing 13 posts - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)
  • Colorado – where to stay?
  • johnhe
    Full Member

    I figure that we can finally afford to take our kids (17 and 20) to the States, which we’ve wanted to do for years. All 4 of us love the mountains, and each summer we tend to go to the Alps – often around Morzine. So we all thought that Colorado sounds like the best place to walk, swim, white water raft, mountain bike, ride horses etc.

    So where is the best place in Colorado to head for? I may get a day or two’s mountain biking fitted in, but on this holiday, that’s not a driving factor.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Best all-round fun adventure outdoor place I’ve been to is Moab – ok so it’s not IN Colorado, but relatively near 🙂 Because it’s not as mountainous it’s easier to get to different places. Plus it doesn’t look anything like the Alps, whereas the Rockies do.

    vmgscot
    Full Member

    As per molgrips

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    molgrips
    Free Member

    By way of explanation, this year we were intending to spend 10 days in Moab and ended up with 3 due to family reasons and anothre 4 in Rocky Mountain National Park. The RMNP would have been cool had more of my family been looking to bag a 14,000er, but otherwise there wasn’t much to do.

    Moab otoh, everyone loved it – even my wife wanted to stay and explore and do more stuff, and she’s only moderately outdoorsy. Desperate to go back and try stuff I’d never normally want to do – 4×4 driving on canyon roads, horse riding, etc etc.

    dragon
    Free Member

    Yeah but Moab in summer is for most people going to be too hot, better to go spring or autumn.

    Boulder in Colorado isn’t too bad a base, but it’s not up in the hills. I’m not sure if there is anywhere like Morzine. Beware in summer Colorado can have nuts lightening storms in the afternoon, so if you are going up a peak, get up and back before around 14:00 and keep and eye on the weather.

    Paul@RTW
    Free Member

    There are a few options johnhe. As others have said, Moab does have a lot of different options concentrated in a relatively small area. Chances are, you’ll fly into Denver so it’s easy to add some days in the Rockies on your way there and back.

    I used to spend a lot of time in Colorado and Moab so could write pages about this stuff. In fact, I did just that for a guy not so long back. I can may be dig that out – it was quite biking focused but plenty of good stuff to go on.

    Email me if you prefer (in profile); I’m a bit sporadic on here.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Yeah but Moab in summer is for most people going to be too hot

    True, but slightly later in the summer there’s a ‘rainy’ season – August I think. Wasn’t hot when we were there. Well – low 30s, but dry as a camel’s jockstrap so not really a problem despite occasional rain showers. We may have been lucky, but there was some suggestion it was somewhat typical.

    On the other hand, got battered by storms in CO. Not much fun in tents with loads of kids.

    dangeourbrain
    Free Member

    Stanley hotel in Estes park? Not exactly convenient as a base mind but, you know, all work and no play makes jack a dull boy.

    I’m actually out with a few outdoorsy denverites this evening so I’ll ask for stone serrious suggestions

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    You do need to do your research. I have only been to the CO mountains for the winter, Vail and Breckenridge enjoyed both. You need to check the weather, in mid summer its absolutely scorching ie too hot to do much.

    To throw another suggestion at you would be to go to Wyoming and Yellowstone / Jackson Hole / Teton. If you are used to the Alps you may be dissapointed with Vail/Breckenridge and although its high it’s not dramatic. IMO Yellowstone is just wow.

    Enjoy there are so many choices

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Estes Park – meh. Not a bad little place, but the town itself doesn’t get anyone excited really. I wasn’t sure of what activities there really were to do either. It caters for lots of casual tourists; Rocky Mt National Park (which it’s the base for) is also pretty restrictive. You can’t ride a bike off-road anywhere in it, for instance, and I didn’t see much stuff to do other than drive around and gawp at wildlife or climb big peaks.

    Colorado is a big ole place mind, I only know that part of it. Wouldn’t go back. Seems like there’s more pressure on land use though generally, whereas in Utah no-one seems to be trying to grow or farm anything or sell houses so outdoorsy people seem to be able to do as they please.

    IMO Yellowstone is just wow.

    Yellowstone is wow as a tourist yes, but it’s not clear how much exploring you can actually do. Or even how safe it is – steam vents and sulphurous bits seem to come and go so trails can become unsafe over time. Grand Teton next door could be cooler – very dramatic. Never went there though so don’t know what activity opportunities there are.

    sweaman2
    Free Member

    I’m inclined to agree with some of the comments above. Why cross the Atlantic to look at more mountains… which are not as craggy / glaciated as in Europe.

    Zion Canyon & Moab, Yellowstone and Yosemite are all spectacular outdoor areas with fantastic scenery and plenty to do.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Come to think of it, I haven’t uploaded my pics from the holiday yet.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    I know I keep going on about it, but you can tell I loved it 🙂 Mainly because around Moab you aren’t simply a tourist looking at stuff. Here’s an example. Typical Yellowstone picture:

    A pic I did upload from Moab. Yes, that’s my bike in the picture. That landscape, I cycled through it, not so much as a road in sight.

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