Fall Family Trip to Rocky Mountain National Park in Estes, CO
One of our family’s biggest priorities is traveling and experiencing the outdoors. Especially now that our kids are a bit older (7 and 9 at the time of the trip), weekend trips are a lot more fun and accessible (long gone are the days of carting around pack ‘n plays and all the baby/toddler gear).
We’re lucky to live in Colorado, where there are countless beautiful state and national parks and fun towns worth exploring. In October of 2024, we took a family trip to Rocky Mountain National Park and the town of Estes, Colorado.
Estes in the Late Fall
Estes in late fall is different from Estes in the summer. On one hand, some restaurants and attractions are closed. On the other hand, it isn’t as crazy busy as it is in the middle of summer. It’s also colder, so that’s something to factor in. It's also the tail end of elk rut season.
Airbnb
If it fits the budget, we prefer to stay at an Airbnb. We save money by buying groceries and also appreciate the added health benefits of not eating out 6 meals in a row. We stayed at the Hide-A-Way River Cabin. I loooove reading reviews on specific Airbnbs so I know what I’m getting ourselves into. Pros: location is great, so much wildlife nearby (see pics below - we saw deer and wild turkeys from our balcony), easy access to RMNP, kids loved the hot tub. Cons: small spaces and mattresses weren’t great. Overall, it was perfect for a weekend trip, but if I were spending a longer time in Estes I’d consider maybe looking somewhere else!
We spent some time checking out the town of Estes Park, stopped by the visitor center, and stumbled on random groups of elk.
Checked into our Airbnb and grabbed dinner and my husband and son caught the Broncos game at Historic Park Theater.
Day Two
Woke up early, headed to RMNP right away, googled “Where are you most likely to see wildlife at RMNP”, landed on Horseshoe Park, where we had the most magical morning. On one side, a massive herd of elk under the moon, on the other side, the most stunning sunrise of all time.
We had a reservation for Bear Lake Corridor and knew we wanted to do Bear Lake Trailhead first because I had read that the parking lot fills up early. It was beautiful and the perfect walk for kids.
Drove around looking for more wildlife, stumbled on some deer, ducks and fish. Stopped at visitors centers, various lakes (Sprague has a great loop, Sheep was close to an elk and duck siting), had a picnic lunch at a quiet, secluded stop near Moraine Park, scoped out some potential spots for fishing.
We finished our adventures at East Alluvial Fan.
Day Three
Woke up early to go to Lily Lake. We walked the loop and saw what we guessed were muskrats.
We headed to back to Sprague Lake to try our hand at fishing. If you head along the trail, there is a small path that shoots off the main trail and follows a river. This was a great spot for fly fishing. We also tried fishing on the lake but didn’t have much luck there. You can see a ton of fish in the river off the walking path when you first walk up to the lake from the parking lot!
Permit
Most important piece of advice - check https://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/timed-entry-permit-system.htm to see if you’ll need a permit. And keep in mind you need a separate reservation to enter Bear Lake Road.
Food
Estes has some great food options, and we love supporting local businesses.
We picked up groceries at The Country Market of Estes Park.
We loved the coffee at Kind Coffee, and there’s a cute walking path near a river. . The Birds Nest was also great for a coffee and hot chocolate stop. We also snagged the greatest of all gas station donuts on our way to RMNP at the Donut Haus.
We picked up pizza at Antonio’s - so good!
Penelope's was delightful.
We splurged on a dinner at Bird and Jim, which was amazing!
Shopping
If you enjoy fishing, stop in Kirk's Fly Shop! They were super helpful in giving us some ideas of where to go fishing with kids in RMNP and their fly section was incredible.
We also stopped at the cutest bookstore. We love supporting small businesses when we go to a new town and there are so many cute shops in Estes.
That about wraps up our trip to Estes and RMNP. It was the perfect weekend family getaway. Between photographing my family making memories on a mountain adventure, the abundance of wildlife and stunning views everywhere you turn - photography in RMNP is an absolute dream.
