Colorado family vacation help

[Fishhead]

I got some cheap airline tickets to denver in the middle of July this year and am really racking my brain on where to take the wife and kids. We are flying into denver and renting a car for a week. I want to take the family on their first backpacking trip with some highcountry lakes for some fishing. I was going to take them where i elk hunt but the drive is almost 5 hours away and was really hoping to stay within 2-3 hours of denver. Someplace where we can hike in for a few days, see the sites, catch some fish, hopefully some wildlife, and fly back home. The family has yet to see the mountains and I would really like them to experience what i do every year. Any roksliders with some ideas.

 

[Akwoodchuck]

Easy....Rocky Mountain National Park.

 

[Pn8hall]

Rocky Mountain Park would be a great place to check out for sure. I have been taking the family to Breckenridge for the last 4 years every summer and they absolutely love it. I have 2 boys age 11 and 13. There are some terrific trails to hike and plenty of places to drop off the grid if you want. One of our favorites is the Mohawk lakes area. There is some decent fishing in the upper lakes and a good chance to see some goats up there. Blue River on north side of 70 can have some good fishing as well. Plenty to do in town for wife and kids if they like the shopping and what not also. I might even be able to get you hooked up with a condo to rent for the week right in middle of town. Shoot me a pm if you want more details about any of this.

Phil

 

[Back Country Hunter 2]

Second RMNP.

 

[Bowhuntr64]

You have lots of great choices! Steamboat Springs is about 3 hrs away—nice town with great restaurants, lots of hikes, great fishing in the Yampa River right in town as well as nearby lakes.

Estes Park is another option; about 1.5 hrs away. That’s Rocky Mountain National Park; it is stunningly beautiful. But it gets pretty crowded in July—for a reason; it’s awesome. Again, Class A hikes, cute town, lots of streams and mountain lakes.

There’s also Vail, Breckenridge, Silverthorn—all have everything you are looking for


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[5MilesBack]

I would want to get as far away from Denver as possible. Tour the state in a big loop stopping and staying wherever you want. Then loop back to Denver for flight day.

 

[wytx]

Medicine Bow NF and the Snowy Range. Come up to Laramie and avoid the crowds. We have Jubilee Days in July, small town feel and fishing is great up here.
The drive up over Highway 130 is beautiful. Not near the people you'll see down in Colorado. Look into renting a FS cabin or Snowy Mt Lodge has some .
Go over to Saratoga and do a float fishing trip down the Platte.
Wyoming has a 5 day fishing license and youth young enough do not need one if you buy one.

 

[cnelk]

Hell, I live in Colorado and I stay away from all those popular areas listed above.

Read wytx post... and then read it again

 

[Phaseolus]

Given your criteria RMNP is your place since you said you want to backpack. Once you get a couple of miles from the trailhead the crowdes will thin out. Fern Lake and Odessa Lake trails used to be a spot I would head when I still lived on the Front Range.

 

[elkduds]

How strenuous a hike is your family up for? If it is more effort than fun, some families lose interest. Wanting to go in a couple miles, have base camp and do day hikes from there? Or a multi-day loop? Plenty of fishable wilderness areas in your 3 hr radius: Buffalo Peaks, Lost Creek, Indian Peaks, Gore/Eagle's Nest, even Holy Cross and Mt. Zirkel. Rawah, Comanche/Neota and Never Summer are north of RMNP, still in your radius. If you want solitude, that pretty much rules out backpacking in RMNP. You need reservations there for backcountry camping.

 

[DenverCountryBoy]

How old are your kids and how far will they enjoy hiking with a pack at altitude? Is your wife down for digging cat holes or will she want to stay at a developed campsite with outhouses? How many days will they be comfortable not showering?

 

[Olsolitaire1]

So you have a vehicle for a week, like some of those above said, get out of Denver ( no need to stay there)and drive, camp, hike, and fish for the week, then head back to DIA. Places like Taylor creek reservoir, lots of everything you asked for in one spot, buffalo peaks back packing.
If you must RMNF is great but go all the way through or on the road trip go in for the Grand Lake side and over. No need to stay there, too many people.

 

[Fishhead]

Wow... Thanks everyone. Lots of great ideas guys... The wife is kind of set on RMNP after doing some online browsing, but I'm trying to convince her to just check the park out for 2 to 3 days. The rest of the trip i would like to get away from the crowds. My boys are 9 and 12 and will have no problem hiking in somewhere. They beg me every year to take them with me when i head out west every fall. The wife loves the camping stuff too, so there shouldn't be a problem there. I do imagine i will be loading the reckoning extra heavy though. Again thanks for all the ideas... Starting to get it narrowed down...

 

[260madman]

When we went in 2017 we stayed in Brighton north of Denver for the second half of our trip. The first half we stayed in Salida. I would definitely stay away from Denver, it’s not what it was 10-15 years ago.

 

[granite7]

Be sure to start early. If you’re not in the parking lot at the trailhead before 7:00 AM, you’re probably not finding a parking space. RMNP was busy enough this year that they were beginning to hold people at the gates on busy days.


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[Lonearcher]

Hike into FryingPan Lake.
https://www.protrails.com/trail/800/aspen-snowmass-fryingpan-lakes

 

[BCSojourner]

Take the Trail Ridge Road through the Park to do the 'RMNP thing' and you can hook up with US 40 in Granby and head west from there towards Kremmling and Steamboat Springs. You will be surrounded with many USFS and designated Wilderness opportunities, within an hour or two of the Park. The West Slope (west of the Front Range Denver area and Continental Divide) has many small friendly towns and huge expanses of public lands.