Location: Austin
Day 1 - 1 Apr 2019
Amarillo
Content: The drive from Austin, TX to Denver, CO is over 14 hours… It’s a long one! We wanted to make the most of our time, so we opted to leave Austin around 3 AM, that we’d get into Denver around 5 PM.
Location: Amarillo
Day 1 - 1 Apr 2019
Cadillac Ranch
Content: Along the way, we stopped at the infamous Cadillac Ranch. To be honest, I wasn’t impressed. There was trash and spray cans littered everywhere. If you need a stop to stretch your legs, then go for it, but I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to see it.
Location: Trinidad
Day 1 - 1 Apr 2019
Art Cartopia Museum
Content: This stop, however, I would totally recommend! I randomly found Art Cartopia Museum by looking at the route on Google, and it was such a fun/funky stop!
Location: Trinidad
Day 1 - 1 Apr 2019
Denver
Content: We stayed in Arvada, a little outside of Denver to visit our friends that live in the area. Denver is an awesome place with so much to do, I recommend staying the night and checking out a cool place for dinner.
Location: Denver
Day 2 - 2 Apr 2019
Estes Park
Content: Make the 1.5-hour drive from Denver to Estes Park. It’s a beautiful drive through the mountains, and Estes Park is gorgeous to see coming down!
Location: Estes Park
Day 2 - 2 Apr 2019
The Estes Park Resort
Content: We stayed in The Estes Park Resort. It was fairly nice and looked better than most of the accommodations available in Estes Park.
Estes Park Main Street
Content: Estes Park, like many small towns in Colorado, has a cute, quaint downtown area. Stroll along the streets and check out the different shops, restaurants, and bars! It also has a stream/river that flows through the downtown.
The Grubsteak
Content: We had dinner at The Grubsteak. It was pretty good, but there are tons of great restaurants in Estes Park to check out too.
Location: Estes Park
Day 3 - 3 Apr 2019
Rocky Mountain National Park
Content: Wake up bright and early and head into Rocky Mountain National Park! I HIGHLY recommend you do that far in advance, the early slots sell out quickly!
Location: Estes Park
Day 3 - 3 Apr 2019
Bear Lake Trail Head
Content: Once in the park, we headed to Bear Lake Trailhead to do the hike to Dream + Emerald Lake.
Hiking to Dream Lake + Emerald Lake
Content: This hike was incredibly beautiful and I highly recommend it! It was fairly easy, but there were some parts that definitely had me huffing and puffing. And I was SUPER sore the next day. But overall, it was so worth it.
Bird & Jim
Content: After the hike, we were pretty tired and opted to go back into Estes Park for lunch. Absolutely loved the pheasant chowder. Fantastic atmosphere and everyone was very mask conscious. Delicious food, delightful drinks, and great service.
Location: Estes Park
Day 4 - 4 Apr 2019
Trail Ridge Road
Content: The Trail Ridge Road is 48 miles long, with 11 miles of it above the treeline (elevation over 11,000 ft)! It is incredible to see the change in scenery as you rise in elevation so quickly. Luckily there are tons of places for you to pull off, enjoy the view, and snap some pics.
Location: Trail Ridge Road
Day 4 - 4 Apr 2019
Grand Lake Lodge
Content: After Trail Ridge Road, arrive in Grand Lake, CO! We opted to stay the night here at the Grand Lake Lodge and I highly recommend it. The room itself is nothing to write home about, but the views here are incredible. The lodge sits on top of a hill overlooking Grand Lake below. It’s so beautiful!
Location: Grand Lake
Day 4 - 4 Apr 2019
Huntington Tavern
Content: Have dinner at Huntington House Tavern at Grand Lake Lodge, and be sure to book seating on “the porch” — just look at that view for dinner!! After dinner, grab a drink at the bar and head out to the Deer Deck to watch the sunset over Grand Lake.
Location: Grand Lake
Day 5 - 5 Apr 2019
Blue Water Bakery
Content: After grabbing a coffee and pastry, walk down to the lake to enjoy your breakfast. There are plenty of benches you can sit on and enjoy the lake views.
Vail
Content: Then it’s off to Vail, CO! We opted to take a little longer route through Winter Park, CO The drive again was just incredible. SO many switchbacks through the mountains with views for miles!
Location: Vail
Day 5 - 5 Apr 2019
Four Seasons
Content: The Four Seasons was gracious enough to host us for two nights. We were able to check right in and get settled in our gorgeous Mountain Premier Room. After a welcome drink, freshen up and head into Vail Village.
Vail Village
Content: Head into Vail Village and see just how cute and quaint it is! It reminds me of a European town and I loved it! There are tons of shops, galleries, and restaurants to explore.
Sweet Basil
Content: We had dinner at Sweet Basil the first night and it was wonderful! It, like most of the restaurants in Vail, are very popular, so I highly recommend making a reservation no matter where you go!
Location: Vail
Day 6 - 6 Apr 2019
Vail Stables
Content: We did the 1.5-hour Bear Hollow Trail ride and it was plenty. If you’re not used to riding (like myself), 2 hours would probably be too much. I was sore for days after. Vail Stables Horseback Riding. The trail takes you through Aspen lined trails up the mountain. The forest is so beautiful and peaceful. On the way down, you get incredibly scenic views of Gore Range, Vail Ski Slopes, and Beaver Creek!
Four Seasons
Content: After a trail ride, refuel with some lunch. We opted for the Four Seasons because it was easy and we were leaving from here for our next activity, but there are tons of lunch spots in Vail Village to check out!
Piney Lake
Content: One of the perks of staying at the Four Seasons Vail is guests get to use their Mercedes-Benz G Wagon! Driving out to Piney Lake was highly recommend to us, but you have to drive on really rough (basically off-roading roads) so we took the G Wagon! To get out to Piney Lake, you take to drive on almost 9 miles of rough, rocky, roads (it doesn’t look like it, but trust me). It takes about 40 minutes to get out there. I was very thankful to have a vehicle that could handle the rough road.
Mountain Standard
Content: Killer craft cocktails that tee up a carefully thought out compact menu. The attention to detail is top shelf and the creative twists make a typical dish like trout standout when compared to similar establishments. Even the onion rings were fabulous...with the perfect amount of crunch and crisp, and thankfully they have blue cheese stuffed olives to round out the martini when enjoying them with oysters on the half. Can’t wait to get back...
Location: Vail
Day 7 - 7 Apr 2019
Leadville, CO
Content: We drove through Leadville, CO and it is such a cute little town! Had it been later in the day, we totally would have stopped to look around.
Location: Leadville, CO
Day 7 - 7 Apr 2019
Great Sand Dunes National Park
Content: We would have LOVED to stop here, but we were already on a time crunch and it would’ve added another 2 hours. If you’re breaking up the drive, I’d totally recommend making a stop at Great Sand Dunes National Park:
Location: Great Sand Dunes National Park
Day 7 - 7 Apr 2019
Rio Grande Gorge Bridge
Content: Just outside Taos, the Rio Grande Gorge is definitely worth a stop. The rest stop has fairly clean bathrooms, and the bridge really is incredible to see.
Location: Taos
Day 7 - 7 Apr 2019
Carson National Forest
Content: After Taos, our GPS took us through Carson National Forest. It was a slower drive but absolutely beautiful through the mountains and along creeks. After that, it’s pretty flat and boring through Texas. Our 7 days Colorado Road trips end here was it amazing.