Lodging with Elvis in Estes Park

Over Labor Day weekend, in between our two wonderful days of visiting Rocky Mountain National Park for the very first time, we spent one night in Estes Park to save a long drive back to the Denver area or elsewhere on Sunday night.  I also have a little history with Estes Park that also made me want to stay here once again for the first time in over forty years.

In the 1960s, my family made a long driving trip together when I was in elementary school, and we drove all the way from the Texas Panhandle to Great Falls, Montana and back over a two-week period in late June of that particular summer.  Even though I am still not certain of the exact year, we always remembered the timing in the summer because we got caught in a snowstorm in the Grand Tetons on my sister’s birthday late that month.  The purpose of our trip was to see my brother in Great Falls before he left for his two-year deployment with the Air Force to Thailand during the Vietnam war.  Even though I was quite young, I remember quite a bit about that wonderful trip, including how glad I was to see my brother again and how worried I was for him when we left him there.  I hope to find the slides that my father took of this trip soon and maybe even update this post with a few of them when they are located and digitized.

One very distinct memory I have from the 1960s trip is seeing the Rocky Mountains for the very first time.  My father drove us to Estes Park to spend the night on our drive up to Montana, and we arrived after dark, as I recall.  So, when I woke up and saw the huge mountains all around us the next morning as we walked out of our motel room, I was so impressed and excited, and I remember thinking that this was the most beautiful place on earth.

Estes Park Lake Panorama
Estes Park Lake Panorama

That same feeling came over me once again as we walked out of our motel room to go eat breakfast on Labor Day morning, which was very neat for me.  I don’t think that feeling was too far off the mark even to this day, after seeing the Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park areas once again on our most recent trip.

When Hubby and I decided to make our Labor Day weekend trip, I searched online for a low-rise motel that was similar to the one we stayed in back in the 60s, just to try to recreate that experience I had as a child once again.  “Mom and Pop” motels still comprise much of the lodging in Estes Park, so it was just a matter of comparing them online and picking one.

We selected Murphy’s Resort for our overnight lodging for the night.  It was a great decision, and I am still wondering if this might have been the actual motel my family stayed in on our trip.  So much about this resort felt familiar to me, including the large park area in the middle of the complex, the lake within walking distance and the mountains nearby, of course.  The next morning, I spent a bit of time after breakfast just walking around the motel area with my camera, taking photos and stretching my memory to see if this might have been the place we stayed.  The more I walked around, the more familiar it seemed to me, especially the park area.  I will never know for sure if this was the place, but I loved how the familiarity of it and of the area really stirred that childhood experience once again in a big way.  I am so glad that this property is well-managed and will no doubt foster a great experience to even more people and families that visit this area in the future.

Murphys Resort 1

Murphys Resort 2

Murphys Resort 3

Murphys Resort 4  Murphys Resort 6

Murphys Resort 7

Murphys Resort 8

Murphys Resort 9
Murphy’s Resort is the low-rise motel that sits just behind the lodge on the lake. What a beautiful place Estes Park is with mountains all around.

There was one part of our stay here that definitely didn’t feel familiar, however.

Recently, the owners have remodeled the guest rooms, and we found ourselves in a room completely decked out with framed photos of Elvis.

Lodging With Elvis
Lodging with Elvis

We both just laughed when opened the door and saw all the photos of Elvis in our room.  We wanted a throwback lodging experience in Estes Park, and we definitely found it.  It just seemed to fit what I wanted out of our Estes Park lodging experience, since Elvis was huge in the 1960s when I was last in Estes Park.  Lodging with Elvis was an unexpected and whimsical aspect of our stay that we never anticipated and one that gave us a great memory for this trip.

Our brief stay in Estes Park was wonderful, and we especially enjoyed strolling through the beautiful shopping area development along the river after dinner on Sunday evening.

Estes Park Shopping 1
Horse-drawn carriage in Estes Park
Estes Park Shopping 2
River flowing beside the shopping district
Estes Park Shopping 3
Beautiful planters were all around the shopping district.

My favorite store in Estes Park was called For Bare Feet that primarily sold cute socks, and both long walls in the store had socks hanging all over them from top to bottom.  I bought three pairs because cute socks are so fun to wear, especially when camping, and I actually needed a few new pairs anyway.  I bought a pair of poodle socks, a pair of moose socks and a pair of pink flamingo socks, and I will enjoy wearing all of them.  We also made a quick stop at the nice Safeway nearby to buy a little more food for our picnic in the national park the next day, and we began looking for a place to get air in our rental car tires, with no success until the next morning.

We thoroughly enjoyed our brief stay at Murphy’s Resort would recommend it to anyone, not just because of my own memories from my childhood, but more as a great family friendly lodging option in the area today.  In fact, I loved the entire family friendly feel of the whole Estes Park community, and I hope they never lose it.  Murphy’s Resort just fit the bill for us, and we will definitely consider staying there again when we return to this area.  The throwback to the 60s was pretty priceless for me and somehow made my entire trip experience feel a little more complete.

I should also mention that the resort mascot at Murphy’s Resort is a beautiful black standard poodle, so that pretty much cinched our love for this place, especially since it is also a pet-friendly hotel.  I’m thinking my two standard poodles would love a visit to Murphy’s Resort sometime, too.

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I Remember

With love to all who hurt in a profound and deep way today.  I will never forget.  May God richly bless our nation as we strive to seek more of His perfect ways and not our own.

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Best Sunday Drive Ever

We love Sunday afternoon drives, but I will happily admit that our Sunday drive on this day in Rocky Mountain National Park was the best, and most memorable, one ever, especially after our gorgeous Peak to Peak drive this same day in the morning, which I described in my previous post.

After navigating a holiday weekend traffic jam in Estes Park just before noon, we finally made our way out-of-town, traveling west on Highway 36 to the Beaver Meadows entrance at Rocky Mountain National Park.  Once again, we found another line of cars to get into the park, but it was nothing like the line we encountered a few years ago at Yosemite on our first trip there.  It took about fifteen minutes to wait our turn in line and show our receipt, then we were finally on our way into the main part of the park.

Line of cars at the Beaver Meadows entrance station at RMNP
Line of cars at the Beaver Meadows entrance station at RMNP

After a fairly sunny drive into Estes Park on Highway 7, we found the rain once again inside the park.  We did not let it dampen our excitement to finally be in the park, though.

Just prior to entering the park, we made a quick stop at the beautiful Beaver Meadows Visitor Center and bought a few souvenirs at the nice gift shop there, including a 100th anniversary poster that I just adore.

See the poster and other items commissioned for the park’s 100th anniversary

The architectural story of this building is significant, and it is a lovely place all around.  The building was designed by Taliesin Associated Architects, a firm founded by Frank Lloyd Wright to continue his architectural vision after he was gone, and this building was one of the firm’s first major projects, completed in 1967.  At that time, the building was known as the Rocky Mountain National Park Administration Building but has since become the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center.  We loved how it seemed to blend almost seamlessly into the beautiful setting among the tall pine trees while still displaying a unique and inviting presence at the same time.  The building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2001.

Beaver Meadows Visitor Center 2
Beaver Meadows Visitor Center – a National Historic Landmark
Beaver Meadows Visitor Center
Beaver Meadows Visitor Center was such an inviting place to begin our journey in RMNP.
Sign at Beaver Meadows Visitor Center
Information sign at Beaver Meadows Visitor Center

As we walked back to our car, the rain began to fall in earnest.  Our plan to enjoy our lunch at one of the nearby picnic tables at the visitor center quickly dissolved with the falling rain, so we decided to just drive around a bit to see if we could at least find a prettier spot for our “inside-the-car” picnic other than the busy parking lot of the visitor center.  We turned onto Bear Lake Road and finally found a beautiful spot toward the end of the section of road leading to the Fern Lake trailhead where we pulled into a parking spot with beautiful views all around us.

Driving to Fern Lake
Driving to the Fern Lake Trailhead

After enjoying our little picnic in the car, the rain subsided, and we were finally able to roll down the side windows and just sit and enjoy the solitude, the scenery and the cool mountain air.  That is when my “eagle eye” caught something flying around the top of a tall tree in the distance.  Can you spot it in the photo below?

In the Distance
Do you see what I see?

Perhaps zooming in a bit will help.

Nest in RMNP
Birds in their nest on high!

It was a huge nest in the top of a tall, dead tree in the distance, and as we began to watch it more closely, we saw two big adult birds flying around the nest and perching in it.  I quickly knew that my decision to not bring a tripod on this trip would be one that I would regret, too.  I dug out my telephoto lens anyway, determined to get a better view of the activities transpiring in the nest.  While I never was able to get a good clear shot, of course, I managed to get a few shots that were better than I thought they would be without any camera stabilization, other than leaning the lens against the car door with the window rolled down.

We have not been able to absolutely identify these birds, and I do not think that they are bald eagles.  I’ve watched the Decorah bald eagles online for a few years now, and these birds seemed a bit smaller and had different markings on their heads.  I’m open to suggestions as to what they are… eagles, hawks, anyone?  I wish I knew my birds better than I do, but it was a wonderful experience seeing these wonderful birds perched in their nest on high in person.  I just wish now that I had packed the tripod, as it was such a wonderful quality photo-op missed.

View From Our Picnic Site
The view at our picnic spot was beautiful!

After finishing our picnic lunch, we drove about a mile to the end of the road and the Fern Lake trailhead.  We knew that we did not have time to hike the trail, but I did capture a picture of the most inviting trailhead.

Driving to Fern Lake 2
Aspen trees on the road to Fern Lake Trailhead
Driving to Fern Lake 3
Road to Fern Lake Trailhead
Fern Lake Trailhead
Fern Lake Trailhead

There was also a bear locker nearby for people to stash any food that they might have in their car so that bears would not be tempted to break into the hikers’ vehicles.  I would love to return to hike this trail on a future trip, for sure.  The road to the Fern Lake trailhead was a beautiful, secluded drive with ferns and aspen trees all around the further we went.  I’m sure the hike is absolutely gorgeous, just based on what we saw of the area on our drive.

We also made a quick drive through the Moraine Park campground nearby on this same road, and we decided that we likely would not bring our RV to this campground in the future.  Since we returned home, however, I have read that this campground will be repaved soon, which is a good thing.  For people with smaller RVs or tent campers, this would be a lovely place to camp.

As it was now around 2:30 pm, we decided to make our last scenic drive of the day up to the Alpine visitor’s center on the famous Trail Ridge Road.  At last.  🙂

Trail Ridge Road is the highest continuous road in the United States, and the top elevation on the drive is 12,183 feet.  Thankfully, it is a very well-built two-lane road, which is a good thing because there is a significant amount of traffic on it during peak months.  We even saw a couple of RVs headed toward us as we made the drive up, too.  The road connects Estes Park to Grand Lake as Highway 34, and it is 48 miles from town to town.  Reading more about this unique road is well worth a few minutes of your time, and that information can be found at the link provided.  To say that this is an impressive drive is an understatement.  To say that it is a once-in-a-lifetime drive would be a much better description, at least for us!

We had an issue to consider before making this drive, though.  Our hideous rental car tires, which were past their lifespan at over 40,000 miles, would not hold pressure.  The warning light had come on a bit earlier for the first time, just after we left Estes Park.  Of course, there was nowhere to get air for the tires once we left town, and we did not want to return to town to get air and get stuck in the holiday traffic once again, as it would impact what we would be able to see in the few hours of daylight we had left on this day.  After looking over the tires carefully, Hubby made the call for us to just continue with our scenic drive plans but to cut our drive short and not take the road all the way to Grand Lake.  We drove to the Alpine Visitor’s Center, then turned around and drove back to Estes Park for the night, and the tire pressure warning light continued to flash on and off the entire time.  Long story short, we made it back to town just fine with no issues.

Now, about that drive!  What a fabulous drive it was for us, and it is one that I will always remember, for sure.  We are flatlanders, so any mountains always impress us, but this was just literally “over the top.”  Even though we were unable to pull over at any of the scenic overlooks on the drive, due to the number of people already parked at each one, we still enjoyed this drive so much.  Hopefully on a return trip, we will be able to go during a less crowded time, stop at these scenic overlooks and hike in the tundra area, since it is such a unique ecosystem.

I will just let a few pictures tell the story of our drive to the top.

Trail Ridge Road 1
Starting our drive on Trail Ridge Road
Trail Ridge Road 2
Nearing the treeline around 11,000 feet elevation
Trail Ridge Road 3
Look – no trees!
Trail Ridge Road 4
The approximate elevation where the road went above the treeline
Trail Ridge Road 5
This was an amazing sight to see!
Trail Ridge Road 6
The unique tundra land above treeline
Trail Ridge Road 7
Lava Cliffs  at 12,135 feet elevation, which was close to the highest point of the drive

We spent about thirty minutes at the Alpine Visitor Center to give Hubby a driving break, see the landscape, take photos and buy a few more souvenirs.  The largest gift shop in the park is located here, along with an adjacent restaurant, which are both located in a separate building next to the Alpine Visitor Center.  The views of the tundra from this location are quite stunning, even from inside the gift shop looking out of the windows.

Alpine Visitor Center 1
We finally made it!
Alpine Visitor Center 2
Sign at the Alpine Visitor Center
Alpine Visitor Center 3
It was so cold! The wind was blowing quite hard, and the chill factor outside was 33 degrees.
Alpine Visitor Center 4
Tundra view from inside the warm gift shop
Alpine Visitor Center 5
Just outside the Alpine Visitor Center – gorgeous view!
Alpine Visitor Center 6
Trail at the Alpine Visitor Center
Alpine Visitor Center 7
Treeline information in the visitor center
Alpine Visitor Center 8
The Alpine Visitor Center is completely self-contained, requiring no electric or water connections. It is only open in the warmest months of the year from about Memorial Day to mid-October.  The upper part of Trail Ridge Road is not plowed during the winter months and is impassable.

The drive back to Estes Park was just as beautiful as the drive up the pass.  We were glad to finally be back in town where we would not worry quite as much about the tires, too.

Alpine Visitor Center 9
Starting our drive back to Estes Park as we left the visitor center
Trail Ridge Road 8
One of several amazing views on our way back down
Trail Ridge Road 9
An Alpine lake can be seen in the middle of this photo.

In my next post, I will share a little story about my “history” with Estes Park and why we opted to stay where we did that night, as well as “who” we slept with!  We also spent a full day back in RMNP on Monday, Labor Day, as the weather cleared and we took two fabulous hikes in some gorgeous locations, and I’m so excited to share that day’s adventure here soon, too.

 

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Driving Peak to Peak

On Sunday, the second day of our Colorado Rocky Mountain adventure over Labor Day weekend, we retraced some of our drive from the previous day as we headed toward Rocky Mountain National Park for the first time.

Side note: Thankfully, we had a gas station with a car wash next to our hotel, and we took that opportunity to finally wash the car before beginning our scenic drive for the day.  Our entire rental car experience is another story about this trip, and perhaps I will share that after my trip posts are done.  Let’s just say that one particular car rental agency at the Denver airport has some serious issues that someone needs to address… quickly… as this was, by far, the worst rental car experience we have ever had, and the condition of our car unfortunately impacted part of the drive we intended to make at RMNP later this day.
Day 2 Drive
Day 2 Drive

The first part of our drive took us back to Boulder, and this part of the drive looked quite different to us than it did the evening before, when we were headed out of the mountains toward Thornton to our hotel for the night.  On Sunday morning, the mountains loomed beautiful and large directly ahead of us.

Driving to Boulder
Driving to Boulder

The mountains at Boulder are called the “flatirons” for their distinctive shape.  We had a much better view of these mountains this morning than on the previous evening when we drove through the area in route to our hotel during a misty rain.

Flatirons at Boulder
Flatirons at Boulder

Boulder is such a pretty and seemingly vibrant town, with beautiful tree-lined streets and bike lanes along the river.  I would love to return sometime and explore the town much more.  And, as I mentioned in my previous post, the scenic drive between Boulder and Nederland was fabulous once again, too.

Boulder CO
Tree-lined street in Boulder
Hwy 119 scenic beauty
Hwy 119 scenic beauty

There is a scenic tunnel on this drive, and I wanted to get a good picture of it as we drove back through this area, but I forgot to watch for it with camera in hand.  It surprised me once again while we were driving, and this blurry photo was the best I could do as I hurried to get my camera in hand.

Tunnel Hwy 119
A blurry picture is better than no picture, I guess.  It really is a pretty tunnel.

We drove past Barker Reservoir and saw the big City of Boulder dam once again, too.

Barker Dam at Nederland
Barker Reservoir and Dam near Nederland

Barker Dam

After arriving in Nederland, we turned north on Highway 72 and once again resumed our drive on the Peak to Peak Scenic Byway.  We were amazed at how many people were out on bicycles on this beautiful stretch of road, too.  We agreed that while we enjoy riding our bikes, tackling the hills on this road is something we would not be excited to do, unless we could somehow find a way to only ride the downhill parts, of course.

Cyclists on the Peak to Peak Highway
Cyclists on the scenic Peak to Peak Scenic Byway
Scenic beauty on Peak to Peak Hwy 72 north of Nederland
Scenic beauty on Peak to Peak Hwy 72 north of Nederland

Since part of our purpose for making this trip was to check out possible RV campsites, we made a quick stop at the Peaceful Valley campground in the Roosevelt National Forest, which we easily accessed just off of Highway 7 – a continuation of the Peak to Peak route from Highway 72.  It was a truly beautiful place, but given the other nice campgrounds that we saw during our trip, we would likely pass on this one unless we just wanted a quick overnight stop.  It sits on a pretty creek, and each site has bear lockers.  Most sites seemed to be set-up more for tent campers, rather than RVs, and the only facilities were vault toilets.  Over the holiday weekend, the campground was almost full, too.

Roosevelt National Forest Camping 1
Campsite at Peaceful Valley Campground with bear locker
Roosevelt National Forest Camping 2
Peaceful Valley Campground sits right on Middle St. Vrain Creek, and several campsites sit next to it.

 We returned to Highway 7 and continued to drive north on the Peak to Peak Scenic Byway.  Soon, we found ourselves along the eastern edge of Rocky Mountain National Park, and while Highway 7 is not actually in the park, several places in the park are accessed from it, as there is not a park road available to get to them.

Wild Basin Road
Road to Wild Basin Entrance Station at RMNP
Wild Basin Entrance Station
Wild Basin Entrance Station at RMNP

We opted to go ahead and pay our park fee here and hopefully see just a bit of this side of the park.  We paid our fee at this small station pictured above, but just after we drove in the park, the rain began to fall in sheets, and we could barely see in front of our car.  We were able to see a small lake nearby, but that was about it.

Rather than sit and hopefully wait for the rain to subside a bit, we made our way back to Highway 7 and just continued north toward Estes Park and the main entrance to RMNP.  Thankfully, the rain quickly began to subside, and it even cleared off nicely for a while.

Highway 7 Rain
Our Peak to Peak drive was both rainy and sunny.
Highway 7
Highway 7

 A few miles later, we passed the sign for the park entrance at Long’s Peak, but once again, we opted to just continue our drive north.  We pulled over shortly, however, to try to get a picture of Long’s Peak.  Unfortunately, the clouds were still hanging around right over the peak.

Long's Peak entrance to RMNP
Long’s Peak entrance to RMNP
Longs Peak in Clouds
Long’s Peak was hidden in the clouds.
Longs Peak Sign
Long’s Peak is the tallest peak in the area, but it was hidden in the clouds on this day.

We continued our drive toward the beautiful and scenic town of Estes Park, which sits in a pretty valley just a few miles from two of the main entrances to Rocky Mountain National Park.

Driving to Estes Park
Driving to Estes Park in the valley ahead

By now, it was getting close to lunchtime, and we debated whether or not to eat lunch in Estes Park or drive on to the national park.  Since we already had our picnic lunch packed, we opted to just forego lunch in town and drive directly to the Beaver Meadows park entrance.  Even though we ran into quite a bit of traffic in town as we made our way to the park, fortunately it did not take too terribly long to get through town and to the park entrance.  We knew there would be crowds over Labor Day weekend and had already adjusted our expectations accordingly for our time in this area.

In my next post, I will share the rest of our fabulous Sunday drive, including our experience in driving the famous Trail Ridge Road highway to the Alpine Visitor’s Center at almost 12,000 feet for the first time.

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A Golden Day in Colorado

This will be the first of several posts on our recent trip to Colorado!  I’m excited to share this beautiful journey here, too.

Over Labor Day weekend, we visited the greater Denver area on a little reconnaissance trip of sorts.  We are interested in making a trip in our RV to this area sometime in the future, but we wanted to first check out several areas and RV parks before making that very long drive.  We also wanted to visit Rocky Mountain National Park for the very first time on this trip, and we were able to secure flight reservations on the days we wanted to travel, despite the fact that it was a busy holiday weekend and we had waited fairly late to make our reservations.

Our sightseeing drive on Saturday
Our sightseeing drive on Saturday (courtesy of Google Maps)

On Saturday, the first day of our Rocky Mountain adventure, we flew to Denver, then drove to Golden, Colorado. We arrived in the town of Golden at lunchtime, and after walking around the main area of town a bit, we finally opted to dine at a tiny little restaurant called El Callejon that served Colombian and Mexican food, primarily because most of the other restaurants were quite crowded with longer waits.  As it turned out, the food at was very good, and we were quite happy that we ate there.

Lunch in Golden a
Hubby’s lunch
Lunch in Golden b
My lunch

If we are ever back in the area, we would dine at El Callejon again. While my lunch was a break from my usual diet, it was worth it on this particular trip.  At least I had a diet soda. 😉

Golden is a neat little town and one that we would like to revisit again sometime, since we did not have much time to do so on this trip.  Of course, the Coors brewery is there, and we saw it in the distance as we were leaving town.  I’m sure that it draws many visitors to Golden, too.

After lunch, we drove to nearby Golden Gate Canyon State Park for the afternoon, as we especially wanted to check out this particular park in person for a possible RV trip sometime in the next year or two.  While checking it out online, it seemed like a nice park in a pretty area, and it also showed to have 50 amp hookups for RVs, something we always look for when traveling in our motor home, especially in summer months.  Even though we opted to take Golden Gate Canyon Road from Golden to the park, we would likely take another route in the RV, as this road was a little too twisty and steep for our taste when driving the RV.  As I understand, Highway 119 is a better route, even though a bit longer, and RVs must come into the Reverend’s Ridge Campground via 119 and Gap Road anyway.

Golden Gate Canyon State Park Sign
The welcome sign outside the park office
Golden Gate Canyon State Park Pond
Fish pond and walking path in front of the visitor’s center

The park did not disappoint at all, and we would love to camp here sometime in the future, if time permits us to make such a long trip for vacation.

Golden Gate Canyon State Park Welcome
Visitor information table

The office area has a nice little welcome center, information area and souvenir store, and there is also a small trout pond in front.  Fish food is available to feed the fish for a quarter, which proved to be a popular activity for most visitors in the short time we stopped there.  We found the park staff to be extremely friendly and helpful, too.

Golden Gate Canyon State Park Visitors Center
Visitor’s center
Golden Gate Canyon State Park Feeding the Fish
Feeding the fish was a popular activity
Golden Gate Canyon State Park Fish
Fish feeding

The Reverend’s Ridge campground is very nice with several loops for RVs, and it also has cabins and big yurts to rent as well.  Electricity is available at the RV sites, and water is available to fill tanks at different points in the campground.  After seeing these nice options for the cabins and yurts, we are even discussing the possibility of just renting one of them instead of bringing the RV.  The fact that dogs are not allowed in these is complicating that decision a bit, though.  We like to bring the dogs with us when we go camping, both for enjoyment and to avoid expensive boarding fees for two big dogs.

Cabin in the Reverend's Ridge campground
A nice cabin in Reverend’s Ridge campground
Yurt in Reverend's Ridge campground
Large yurt in Reverend’s Ridge campground

We spent quite a bit of time driving through the campground, checking out RV sites, and we were happy to know that we would be quite satisfied with just about any of them.  Specific sites can also be reserved through Reserve America’s website, too.  Since none of the picnic tables are covered, we also made a note to pack our EZ-Up awning for this trip if we come back.  While rain is usually not an issue where we tend to camp most of the time, we realized that it actually rains here in Colorado, so having the awning over the table would be a big plus.

RV site in Reverend's Ridge campground
RV site in Reverend’s Ridge campground

RVs are not allowed to drive on the park road from the visitor’s center to the campground, and they are required to come into the campground from a different park entrance nearby via Hwy. 119 and Gap Road.  Even though Gap Road was in great shape, I can see where it might be a bit difficult to drive on if rain is an issue.

Golden Gate Canyon State Park Campground Office
Office at Reverend’s Ridge Campground
Golden Gate Canyon State Park Amphitheater
Amphitheater at Reverend’s Ridge Campground

The short road to the campground from Highway 119 is a packed caliche road, and it was in very good shape.  There is no cell or internet service in the park, but we found a pay phone in the campground, just behind the office and close to the amphitheater.

Golden Gate Canyon State Park Pay Phone
Pay phone at Reverend’s Ridge Campground (no cell or internet anywhere in the park)

We also questioned whether or not we would be able to get a signal on our satellite dish, due to the abundance of many wonderful tall trees throughout the campground.  Having no cell, internet or television signals would give us a real getaway-from-it-all vacation, for sure, but on a week-long trip, we have found that relying solely on movies can get a bit old.  However, just being in such a wonderful new location with so many new sites to see would likely be our main entertainment anyway.  Since it is quite a drive to the nearest grocery store, we would want to make sure that we carried all of our needed food items and other supplies into the park and not rely on a drive back to Golden or elsewhere for supplies.

We then drove up to Panorama Point, which is just up from Reverend’s Ridge Campground and took in the amazing views of the Rockies to the west.  “The boardwalks of Panorama Point offer sweeping views across a 100 mile stretch of the Continental Divide.” – Protrails Website

Panorama Point Overlook
Panorama Point Overlook
Golden Gate Canyon State Park Panorama Point
Sign at Panorama Point
Magnificent view of the Rockies from Panorama Point
Magnificent view of the Rockies from Panorama Point

We also hiked part of Raccoon Trail, just down from the overlook, for about 45 minutes.  It turned out to be a fairly steep hike from the overlook, and we found that we felt the altitude a bit the longer we hiked.  So, we cut our hike short, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.  We just needed a bit more time to adjust to the 9311-foot altitude, and we had no issues the rest of our trip while hiking, even at altitudes slightly higher than this.

On the Raccoon Trail at Panorama Point
On the Raccoon Trail at Panorama Point

One of the most interesting sites that we saw while hiking this trail was the abundance of mushrooms in several different colors, a site that was most definitely new for us to see while hiking.

Brown Mushrooms
Brown Mushrooms
Orange Mushroom
Orange Mushroom

By the time we ended our hike, the sun was beginning to creep down toward the horizon, and it was time for us to begin our drive to our hotel for the night in the Thornton area, just north of Denver.  The view as we exited Panorama Point was beautiful!

Driving down from Panorama Point
Driving down from Panorama Point
View of the Rockies to the west
View of the Rockies to the west

Rather than return to the metro area via the interstate once again, we opted to take a more scenic drive to the north, and this particular drive turned out to be a treat of gorgeous scenery.  The first part of the drive on Hwy. 119/72 to Nederland is actually the southern end of the famous Peak to Peak Scenic Byway, and the drive on Hwy. 119 between Nederland and Boulder was absolutely stunning as well. We even stopped at several points to take a few pictures, especially between Nederland and Boulder as the road cut through large cliffs and alongside the flowing creek.  This entire area is part of the Roosevelt National Forest.  In fact, we found ourselves in the forest lands most of the time we were gone, except for the times that we were physically in the state and national parks.

Drive on Highway 119 to Nederland
Drive on Highway 119 to Nederland along the Peak to Peak Scenic Byway
Barker Reservoir at Nederland
Barker Reservoir at Nederland with Eldora Ski Area in the distance
Drive on Hwy 119 to Boulder a
Scenic drive on Hwy 119 between Nederland and Boulder
Drive on Hwy 119 to Boulder e
Scenic drive on Hwy 119 between Nederland and Boulder

It would have been nice to stay in the beautiful town of Boulder for the night to save a bit of driving on this trip, but our hotel was free on points for the night in Thornton, which also worked out just fine, too.  I’m always good with free.

After driving through the scenic town of Boulder, past the University of Colorado and on to our hotel, we ate dinner at a nearby Perkins Family Restaurant, then made a quick dash to a nice Wally World nearby for a few supplies for our trip to Rocky Mountain National Park the next two days.  We were well advised to carry a picnic lunch and water bottles into the park both days due to lack of dining facilities in the park, and that was excellent advice, for sure.  A quick stop for a small collapsible cooler bag and a few groceries proved to be a great decision for us, and we will enjoy having the little $10 cooler bag to pack on future trips by plane, if needed, as it folds down flat and is easy to bring along.  It also kept our food and drinks very cold for the entire day each day, too.

The next two days of our trip took us to Rocky Mountain National Park for the first time, with an overnight stay at a nice little motel in Estes Park.  More to come!

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