I lived in Boulder for something like 11 years, and have been back as a tourist a few times since leaving.
If you have time and want to do something a bit less strenuous than hiking, do the loop from Boulder to Nederland to Estes Park and back. It’ll take you a few hours, depending on how many times you stop. The highway from Nederland to Estes Park is called Peak to Peak Highway, and it’ll blow you away. It’s flat out gorgeous.
Food wise, we tried all the hip new fancy restaurants in Boulder last time we were there (last October) and our favorite was our old standby - Jax Fish House. Very crowded and hard to get in if you go at the last minute, but really, really good food.
Stay away from the 29th Street Mall - it’s Chain Store Madness. The Pearl St. Mall is much better. FYI these are both pedestrian malls, not big indoor Gallerias.
What else? If you’re a beer drinker, it’s worth heading 15 miles east to Longmont to visit the Left Hand Tasting room - the one on Boston St., not the restaurant with the similar name in downtown Longmont. It’s a microbrewery (not a brewpub) with a nice tasting room and a good tour if you like such things.
Oh Boy, I’m getting really excited! I think the Peak to Peak Highway sounds really cool! I do want to get a full day hike in, so I think RMNP would be the best.
Boulder was a while ago, things change, so that caveat.
For a quickie hike/less than day trip, go to west end of Pearl Street. About 4th or 3rd Street is a nonobvious sign to a trail, north side of the street. You climb a stair for a while, and come out to this place with an AMAZING view of the city and Great Plains beyond. There’s a hiking trail network up there that is obviously used, but not real heavily. This is doubleplusgood cool at night! (Dress warmer than you think you have to).
As mentioned, Boulder Canyon. It’s close, just a drive west on Canyon or Arapahoe.
And RMNP is actually a secret government laboratory for bioweapons, so avoid it. Everyone who goes there is mutated or disappears. Really! Stay away!
There are many sights worth the trip to RMNP – as a native, I’ve been there more times than I can count. But my favorite point – one I try to photograph every time I go, hoping to capture the ultimate image – is the beaver climbing Long’s Peak. Drive up U.S. 34 past the old Hidden Valley ski area to a place called Many Parks Curve. There should be a parking lot just past the curve; park there and walk back down to the catwalk, look south. You’ll see what looks like a giant stone beaver lying with its snout on the east flank of Long’s Peak. The view is breathtaking.
Is there still a cog railway up to Pike’s Peak? That’s how we did it when we went 23 years ago. Enjoyable view, we had a tour director riding in the car with us who was able to answer all sorts of questions. We went from 72 degrees on the ground to 32 degrees at altitude - quite a shock to us North Carolinians who rarely saw snow, let alone in late May!
RMNP is worth a visit. We spent less than a day there (on that same trip in 1985) and wished we’d had time for more. I remember Trail Ridge Road had just been plowed open a week or two before, and at points we were driving between 8-foot snow banks on either side of the road.
I can vouch for the Peak to Peak. I drove it and it was breathtaking. I remember there was a festival in Nederland and a car almost hit me in the roundabout because they tried to enter while I was already in it. Lots of people there.
Just to add some different suggestions, if you head down to Red Rocks state park there are some very cool trails through some of the more interesting geology in the region. I would also recommend going to see the wild buffalo herd just Wes of Denver on I70 as well as the grave of Buffalo Bill. All this can be done in a day trip.
Adding my voice. Definitely do RMNP, and take your time. It’s stunning. It’ll be less crowded during the week, probably. The other suggestions are excellent ones, especially the Dunshabe Tea House.
Ahhhh, of course! I’d almost be willing to give up a moderately useful body part to see New England in autumn! The Rockies are ablaze in fall, but it’s pretty much all one color. Gold. It’s the massiveness of the color that makes it so beautiful, but it lacks the texture, variation and richness of color you have.
As a Colorado Native for all of my 27 years on this planet, I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve never been to Rocky Mountain National Park. I have been to some astonishing places however. One place you MUST visit is called Hanging Lake. It’s about 2 hours west of Denver down I-70 right before Glenwood Springs. It’s a tough hike but absolutely gorgeous, with a stunning reward at the top!
Yeah, but it’s not as good south of Nederland now that there is all the casino traffic.
For a drive into RMNP, I recommend Old Fall River Road. It’s the old highway. It’s one-way from east to west, and meets the current highway at the Alpine Vistor’s Center, where you could turn around to return to Estes, or continue west and make a circle through Granby and Walden to head east on Rt 14, which is also wonderful. (This brings you to Fort Collins.)
