We had not been to Colorado since 1998, so when we were invited to attend our niece's wedding (celebrating Anna Bonebrake's marriage to Thomas Porricolo), we took the opportunity to extend the trip to include Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park, and the Denver area. We were on this exciting trip from Friday, June 13, 2025, through Monday, June 23, 2025.
Before going into the details of our Colorado trip, we want to note that this vacation trip was in addition to two long backpacking trips that Stuart had already planned for himself for 2025:
- First, in May, we visited Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania, en route to taking Stuart to where he began a month-long thru-hike of the 311-mile Allegheny Trail in West Virginia. It ended up being a a cold and wet month for Stuart to be hiking the longest trail in West Virginia. The trail starts at the Mason–Dixon line in Pennsylvania and ends at the Appalachian Trail in Virginia.
- After returning from Colorado in June, Stuart went on a month-long backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail. FYI, Stuart's previous Appalachian Trail backpacking trip in Massachusetts was featured on the University Hospitals website in February 2024 for American Heart Month. Finishing the final few miles in Massachusetts before backpacking all of the Vermont section, and 50+ miles into the New Hampshire section. Stuart ended his trip after Mount Moosilauke, which is the first mountain where northbound backpackers on the Appalachian Trail go above treeline. Julie picked up Stuart at the end of his Appalachian Trail trip, and we then had a great second 2025 vacation traveling through New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. We plan to write a future blog post about this trip.
Here is a video which describes the section of trail after Mount Moosilauke, where Stuart ended his northbound 2025 Appalachian Trail adventure. When Julie watched this video before Stuart's hike, she commented, "I can't believe you are going to be hiking down that!":
The 2nd STEEPEST Mile on the Appalachian Trail!
We recommend viewing this video in full screen mode to get the full effect of seeing this steep section of trail.
Yes, we are having a busy traveling year! Due to our other travels, we had to delay writing this blog post, but we enjoyed putting it together as our way of remembering the good times we had in Colorado in June 2025. We are sharing our photos and trip observations with you here to encourage you to explore the places we visited in Colorado.
Saturday, June 14, 2025 - Northeast Section of Rocky Mountain National Park
Having driven into Estes Park, Colorado, in the dark on Friday evening, we were amazed by the view that greeted us when we looked out from our motel room on Saturday morning -- the snowcapped mountains of the Rockies!!
We started our vacation by exploring the northeast area of Rocky Mountain National Park, which included the following beautiful areas:
Fall River Visitor Center at the Rocky Mountain Gateway
Sheep Lakes Information Station - We heard a great ranger presentation, but unfortunately we did not see any longhorn sheep while we were there.
Alluvial Fan - This was a most fascinating spot, both in its beauty and its history! We found the sun at this higher altitude especially powerful, so we needed to wear hats for sun protection.
Endovalley Picnic Area - We had our picnic lunch in this secluded spot.
Hidden Valley - We took a short hike here and learned that it was a former ski resort area.
Beaver Meadows Visitor Center
Dinner: You Need Pie! Diner - We had a delicious dinner and, of course, pie!
Big Thompson River at the Estes Park Visitor Center - We loved how the river goes right through the town and on into Estes Lake.
We had a great time seeing all the natural beauty in this incredible park. For this first day, Stuart was wearing his Buckeye Trail Association 2023 Trailfest shirt (see blog post), which led to people from Ohio approaching us when they saw the shirt from Ohio’s long trail. It was fun to meet people from Ohio while we were vacationing in Colorado. We ended the day watching mule deer near our motel in Estes Park, Colorado.
Here are our photos from our first day at "Rocky":
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Please feel free to pause the video to read the interesting facts that are in the slides!!
Sunday, June 15, 2025 - High Country of Rocky Mountain National Park
Trail Ridge Road, Rocky Mountain National Park's heavily traveled highway to the sky, inspired awe before the first motorist ever traveled it. "It is hard to describe what a sensation this new road is going to make," predicted Horace Albright, director of the National Park Service, in 1931 during the road's construction. "You will have the whole sweep of the Rockies before you in all directions."
The next year, Rocky Mountain National Park's lofty wilderness interior was introduced to the first travelers along an auto route the Rocky Mountain News called a "scenic wonder road of the world."
Was all this just enthusiastic exaggeration? Hardly.
Covering the 48 miles between Estes Park on the park's east side and Grand Lake on the west, Trail Ridge Road more than lives up to its advanced billing. Eleven miles of this high highway travel above treeline, the elevation near 11,500 feet where the park's evergreen forests come to a halt. As it winds across the tundra's vastness to its high point at 12,183 feet elevation, Trail Ridge Road (U.S. 34) offers visitors thrilling views, wildlife sightings and spectacular alpine wildflower exhibitions, all from the comfort of their car.
Whether they begin their journey at Estes Park or Grand Lake, Trail Ridge Road travelers climb some 4,000 feet in a matter of minutes. The changes that occur en route are fascinating to observe. A drive that may begin in montane forests of aspen and ponderosa pine soon enters thick subalpine forests of fir and spruce. At treeline, the last stunted, wind-battered trees yield to the alpine tundra.
Up on that windswept alpine world, conditions resemble those found in the Canadian or Alaskan Arctic. It's normally windy and 20 to 30 degrees colder than Estes Park or Grand Lake. The sun beats down with high- ultraviolet intensity. The vistas, best enjoyed from one of several marked road pullovers, are extravagant, sweeping north to Wyoming, east across the Front Range cities and Great Plains, south and west into the heart of the Rockies.
But for all its harshness, the Trail Ridge tundra is a place of vibrant life and vivid colors. Pikas, marmots, ptarmigans and bighorn sheep are commonly seen. About 200 species of tiny alpine plants hug the ground. Despite a growing season that may last just 40 days, many bloom exuberantly, adorning the green summer tundra with swatches of yellow, red, pink, blue, purple and white. All are seen from the Tundra World Nature Trail, a half-hour walk beginning near the parking area at Rock Cut.
Most Trail Ridge Road travelers drive to treeline with a certain amount of urgency. They are advised not to ignore all that awaits in the verdant country below the alpine tundra. Forested moraines, great heaps of earth and rock debris left behind by melting Ice Age glaciers, rise above lush mountain meadows. The Continental Divide, where streamflows are separated east from west, is crossed at Milner Pass, located at a surprisingly low 10,758 feet elevation. Moose munch greenery in the upper reaches of the Colorado River, which flows through the scenic Kawuneeche Valley. Grazing elk greet sunrise and sunset in many of the forest-rimmed meadows found around the park.
At all elevations, the drive on Trail Ridge Road is a memorable adventure. Put aside at least a half day for the trip. Longer, if possible. The experience, as Horace Albright suggested more than a half century ago, is hard to describe.
Trail Ridge Road is one of ten America's Byways in Colorado and a national designated All American Road. Like to see as many byways as you can? On the outskirts of Rocky is the oldest Colorado Scenic Byway, Peak to Peak, and another America's Byway, the Colorado River Headwaters. To learn more about other Colorado Scenic Byways click here.
For our second day day exploring Rocky Mountain National Park, we followed Trail Ridge Road to the highest points in the park above treeline. "The Trail Ridge Road ranks as the highest uninterrupted surfaced road in the US and has a length of 48 miles." Each bend in the road brought another breathtaking view -- there are hardly even words to describe it! We then drove down the other side to cross the location of the Continental Divide of the Americas. Stuart wore his maroon Continental Divide Trail shirt to celebrate that we crossed the Continental Divide within the park.
This amazing day in Rocky Mountain National Park included seeing the following incredible areas:
Rocky Mountain National Park Sign
Trail Ridge Road - We stopped at several scenic overlooks along Trail Ridge Road. As you will see in our photos, yes, there was deep snow in June where we traveled above treeline. The high poles that are needed to mark the edge of the road when the snow gets deep reminded us of our "To The Klondike Summit" tour in Alaska on June 29, 2024 (see our Alaska 2024 blog post).
Many Parks Curve Overlook
Rainbow Curve Overlook - A park naturalist talked to us for a long time about the flora and fauna of the area.
Forest Canyon Overlook - We were so lucky to see a bald eagle soaring overhead, and watched some playful marmots.
Rock Cut
At 12,110 feet, this stop along Trail Ridge Road is on the “Roof of the Rockies.”
Tundra Communities Trail - Julie was enchanted by the tiny tundra flowers. She could feel the effects of the altitude, but it did not stop her from taking a long walk up the paved path on the mountain.
Alpine Visitor Center - We loved the quote in the image to the right describing the alpine tundra ecosystem.
Milner Pass - The location of the Continental Divide of the Americas is at Milner's Pass. (GPS 40.42025, -105.81122. Click this link to open Gaia GPS map in new browser window.) It was fascinating to to think about how the water divides at this point.
Onahu Trailhead and the Green Mountain Trailhead - Going beyond the location of the Continental Divide at Milner's Pass, we were excited to find where the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail (CDT) goes through the park. We have visited some of the New Mexico section of the CDT in 2022 after Stuart had hiked the desert section of this trail from the Mexico border. It is amazing to think that the thru hikers we met on the CDT in 2022 traveled by foot this far. (GPS for where the CDT crosses CO Route 34: 40.32614, -105.85356. Click this link to view the Gaia GPS map in new browser window, and then expand map to see where the CDT goes through the park.)
Dinner: Penelope's World Famous Burgers & Fries - This was a fun place filled with Coca-Cola memorabilia!
We hope you enjoy the following photos from our trip on Trail Ridge Road as we traveled this highway to the sky, and then beyond to cross the divide:
We recommend viewing videos in full screen mode.
Please feel free to pause the video to read the interesting facts and maps that are in the slides!!
Monday, June 16, 2025 - Estes Park Riverwalk and Bear Lake Road Corridor of Rocky Mountain National Park
We had another incredible day at Rocky Mountain National Park, but could not enter until the afternoon.
When you visit the park, you must have a timed entry ticket, but the park added even more restrictive entry requirements for the areas along Bear Lake Road. Thus, we were not able to enter the park until the afternoon, so we used the morning to explore Estes Park. See the Timed Entry Permit System web page, and watch the following park video to learn more:
Estes Park, Colorado, has a beautiful Riverwalk along the Big Thompson River, where we enjoyed visiting interesting shops. It is great that they created this greenway through their town.
Once we entered the park, we ate our lunch at the Hollowell Park picnic area, under the spreading branches of an ancient evergreen tree. During our lunch, a mule deer charged us and stared us down before finally leaving (see the deer in the video below). Later the two of us hiked around Sprague Lake, and Julie took a hike around Bear Lake. We loved the spectacular views. The whole area is just incredible! We saw the following animals along Bear Lake Road Corridor: elk, mule deer, horses at a stable, a wild turkey, and a mother moose with her twins.
Here is a map that shows the places that can be visited along the Bear Lake Road Corridor:
Enlarge Bear Lake Road Corridor Map
Here are our photos from another amazing day in Colorado:
We recommend viewing videos in full screen mode.
Please feel free to pause the video to read the interesting facts and maps that are in the slides!!
Tuesday, June 17, 2025 - Rocky Mountain National Park
We knew that there would be parts of Rocky Mountain National Park that we would want to visit again, so we added this extra day to go back and visit some of our favorite parts of the park, both below and above treeline.
Our first three days here were unusually sunny with blue skies. Tuesday (day four) was more typical, with an afternoon rain followed by a rain/snow/hail mix in the higher elevations. In the early evening, thunderstorms led to the creation of a rainbow. As we were leaving the park, we saw elk and moose again.
After leaving the park, we drove through the famous YMCA of the Rockies and explored The Stanley Hotel. The movies The Shining and Dumb and Dumber were filmed at the historic Stanley Hotel. After this final day in the park, we were now looking forward to more adventures in other parts of Colorado.
We recommend viewing videos in full screen mode.
Please feel free to pause the video to read the interesting facts and maps that are in the slides!!!
Wednesday, June 18, 2025 - Carousel of Happiness and Dinosaur Ridge
This was our travel day from Estes Park, Colorado to "the Mile High City" -- Denver, Colorado.
Rather than taking the most direct route, we used the day to visit the following two locations:
Carousel of Happiness
Since Julie volunteers at the Cleveland History Center’s Euclid Beach Park Grand Carousel, of course we needed to visit the Carousel of Happiness in Nederland, Colorado! This carousel has an incredible history which we highly recommend you read on their website at: CarouselOfHappiness.org Julie says this place is truly magical!! (To learn about Julie's and our son, Kevin's, work to preserve the memory of Cleveland amusement parks, please see our amusement park blog posts and Kevin’s NE Ohio Amusement Memories’ NEW website.)
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Please feel free to pause the video to read the interesting facts that are in the slides!!
Dinosaur Ridge
Explore Your Wonder at Dinosaur Ridge
Dinosaur Ridge
. . . Aug 1, 2018
People from all over the world come to see dinosaur tracks, touch dinosaur bones, study prehistoric fossils, and wonder about the age of the dinosaurs. Explore your wonder at Dinosaur Ridge! www.dinoridge.org
As we continued to explore Colorado on our vacation, we visited Dinosaur Ridge! As members of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, we often see exhibits about dinosaurs in their museum, but today was our first time at an actual dinosaur fossil site. (See our blog posts about the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.) Even though it was a very hot day, we really enjoyed our tour on the "Stegobus" with tour guide, "Pterano-Don" Cadwallader.
Normally, we would not mention the hotel where we stayed, but after visiting Dinosaur Ridge, it was fun to see that the Best Western Denver Southwest was decorated entirely with a dinosaur fossil theme. The week we were there, Best Western had just taken over management of the hotel, so the staff told Stuart that future improvements were being planned. The following is their description of the hotel space:
Here are our photos from Dinosaur Ridge and the Best Western Denver Southwest:
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Please feel free to pause the video to read the interesting facts that are in the slides!!
Thursday, June 19, 2025 - Molly Brown House Museum
It hit 100°F on this day in Denver, so it was a good time to be indoors in a museum!
When in Denver, we highly recommend taking a tour of the Molly Brown House Museum. On Thursdays, they are open in the evening until 7:00 pm, and we made use of having this extra time to learn even more about this important woman in American history.
At the time we visited, the museum had a special exhibit about the Titanic. Julie has always had a special interest in the Titanic, and found the exhibit fascinating!
A BIG thank-you to the museum staff member who took time before our tour to tell us more about Margaret Brown’s life, and to the volunteer who led the house tour. There is so much more to Margaret Brown’s life than her story of surviving the Titanic.
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Please feel free to pause the video to read the interesting facts that are in the slides!!
Friday, June 20, 2025 - Hammond’s Candy Factory Tour
It was 107°F in Denver, Colorado, on this day!!
Our son, Kevin, flew into Denver for his cousin's wedding, so he was able to join us on a tour of the Hammond’s Candy factory. It was fun to get FREE candy samples as part of the tour. Here is a video showing the creation of the cinnamon lollipop that Stuart received. Julie and Kevin received mystery-flavored candy canes called the "Naughty Or Nice Candy Canes" (click to open new browser window to see video: "Naughty or Nice? Black licorice or strawberry candy cane! What will it be?").
Warning: our candy photos might make your mouth water:
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Saturday, June 21, 2025 - History Colorado Center
Our son, Kevin, joined us in learning about Colorado's history at the History Colorado Center. There is so much to see at this museum that we didn’t get to everything.
For those of you who lived through the 1990s, you would be interested in the current special exhibition entitled: “The 90s: Last Decade Before the Future.”
History Colorado presents "The 90s, Last Decade Before the Future"
CBS Colorado
. . . Nov 21, 2024
Take a trip back in time to History Colorado's homage to the 90s with a new exhibit.
Be sure to pause this video of our photos from this museum to read some of the interesting facts presented:
We recommend viewing videos in full screen mode.
Please feel free to pause the video to read the interesting facts that are in the slides!!
Sunday, June 22, 2025 - Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge and Lakeside Amusement Park
On our last full day in Denver, we visited two venues:
Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge
In the morning, we took our son, Kevin, to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge before taking him to the airport. We took the free, 11-mile wildlife drive audio tour, from which we learned about the history and animals of the Refuge.
Unfortunately, we did not see any of the bison, but we did enjoy seeing mule deer, white-tailed deer, prairie dogs, and a variety of birds. The prairie dogs were particularly fun to watch as they dug their holes and popped up from them.
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Lakeside Amusement Park
Great way to end the day! In the evening, we took in the sights and sounds of Lakeside Amusement Park! It is a unique, old-time amusement park, with a very interesting history:
We enjoyed the train ride around the lake at night. The neon lights of the amusement park reflecting on the water were beautiful. This is the second carousel/merry-go-round that we have ridden on this trip (see our photos above of the Carousel of Happiness from earlier in the trip).
We recommend viewing videos in full screen mode.
Please feel free to pause the video to read the interesting facts that are in the slides!!
Monday, June 23, 2025 - The Buffalo Bill Museum and Red Rocks Park
Before heading to the airport to go home, we spent the morning exploring The Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave, and visited the Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre. We learned that there was a lot more about the life of William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody than we were aware of, and we highly recommend going to the museum to learn about him and his fellow performers.
Our photos end with us flying home to the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport with its welcome sign featuring the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (we have written many blog posts about the Rock Hall).
We recommend viewing videos in full screen mode.
Please feel free to pause the video to read the interesting facts that are in the slides!!
Related Blog Posts
We always like to include a list of related blog post categories that may be of interest to the readers of this blog post:
Travel - In recent years we have increased the number of "Travel" blog posts. See our posts about Niagara Falls, Mohican State Park, Alaska, Norman Rockwell Museum, Merry-Go-Round Museum, Hershey’s Chocolate World, Knoebels Amusement Resort, and much more!
This blog post is our twelfth "Travel" blog post! Watch for future blog posts about our local activities and travels.