Family day in Estes Park

This weekend we drove from Colorado Springs to Estes Park. I brought a book to read for the 2 hour drive, but only read for a few minutes because driving in Colorado is too beautiful to be looking down at a book!

As we approached Estes, we told the boys that the first person to spot an elk would earn a quarter.

PAUL was the first to spot not one – but a herd of about 50 elk!

We stopped and spent some time just watching them rest, walk, and play. Two elk were locking antlers, and we had fun watching them ‘wrestle it out!’

Then we stopped by the Estes Park visit center. It’s pretty basic – just bathroom and flyers and people available to answer any questions. We grabbed a map and picked a place for lunch and continued on our day.

We spent some time window shopping along the main street (Elkhorn) in Estes. I love these little Colorado towns with shops built right into the side of mountains!

We ate lunch at BigHorns. Is it bad to admit we ate Elk burgers!? Thank you, Mr. Elk, for feeding us!

After lunch, we purchased some taffy from this adorable, historic “Taffy Shop.” They give free samples of whatever flavor you want to try! Usually, I would pass on taffy. (I’d rather have chocolate) But this was taffy was DELICIOUS! It’s freshly made right there in the store, so it’s really soft and fluffy and oh, so good! I bought a small bag to take home – vanilla for me (so boring, right?), pecan taffy for Ted, cotton candy flavor for Clark and Paul, and raspberry for Luke and George.

After some time on the main street, we got in the car and drove up to see The Stanley Hotel where a couple of movies have been filled. (Dumb and Dumber and a Stephen King movie that I have not seen – I can’t watch scary movies)

Next, we visited the Estes Park visitor center. It’s free and had some interesting exhibits about the history of Estes Park. We enjoyed this little museum, and you can’t beat FREE!

It’s hard to visit Estes without going to the Rocky Mountain National Park. However, we didn’t go on this day because it’s $20 per car to enter and we knew we wouldn’t be staying long.  It was snowing, windy, and cold. We also considered just driving around the Park, but my kids had already been driving for a couple of hours earlier today and as beautiful as this park is, they didn’t want to be stuck in the car any more today.

We had a great family day and I’m glad we got to see beautiful Estes Park! Have you been here? What do you like to do? Leave a comment!