I know it is a great place to vacation in the summer but does anyone know, does it get many visitors outside of June, July, and August?
Is it far from the ski resorts?
Estes Park is a nice area right next to Rocky Mountain National Park but it isn’t in prime Colorado ski country. The closest ski area to it is about an hour away in Eldora.
I am probably not the only one that wondered why the Stanley Hotel of The Shining fame would close for the winter but it does have some basis in reality. The real hotel doesn’t close during the winter but it is a mainly a summer mountain resort.
There should be plenty of stuff to do and you can go skiing if you want for a day or two without much trouble but that isn’t the best area for it in Colorado.
I only go to Colorado during the summer myself but I have lots of family in that area if you have specific goals. It would still be very pretty and memorable even without the big ski resorts.
Aspen fall pics - very small time window, tho
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You planning on visiting?
The Taffy shop there makes Peanut Butter taffy that itself is worth the visit.
If it were the summertime, it would be a leisurely day’s drive from Breckenridge, which I’ve driven before. (Sort of the opposite to your question – Breck is wonderful in the summertime: the hotel I stay at is literally across the ski slope from a trail). But it’s actually farther away since the road across Rocky Mountain National Park (and for all I know, further on down the road as well) is closed in the winter.
Just don’t stay at the Elk Meadow RV park. Sucks like you wouldn’t believe.
Speaking of a walking outside your hotel, the best place I’ve stayed at in Estes Park was in a cabin above the YMCA, which was also only a few hundred feet from a trail that led into RMNP. The next time, that cabin wasn’t available and I was “forced” to settle for a 3-story condo across the street from the park on a gorgeous mountainside, which had amazing views but wasn’t very close to a trail.
The Stanley Hotel used to close in the winter months because it was not well insulated for the cold and therefore more expensive to heat than was worth it for renting out rooms.
It’s been remodeled and now is open year-round, although I think they still don’t have as many visitors/room nights (however they count 'em) in the winter months. It’s not very close to any great skiing, but it is close to Rocky Mtn. Natl. Park, which has its own charm in the winter. (And is cold even in the summer.)
OMG yes the taffy shop. We always wind up bringing about ten pounds of taffy home after a visit to Estes Park.
In September there is a highland games weekend. The Tatoo is usually pretty good (though kind of weak last year). but they have lots of dancing, Highland games (hammer throw, Camber toss, etc.), good food a parade, all kinds of fun.