Day Trips from Denver
Ideas for a day trip around an hour drive from Denver, co
Most of these are dog friendly too!
I should share, I don’t live in Denver, I live in a suburb on the western side of denver called Morrison. But no one knows where that is so for common knowledge I use denver as the starting point!
Red Rocks amphitheatre
Just west of Denver and only 10 minutes form my condo is the extraordinary Red Rocks Amphitheatre. There you can see a concert, exercise, attend an event, or go on a hike on one of the numerous trails with views of the amphitheatre in any direction! Don’t forget to stop at the trading post on your way out too!
garden of the gods
Just over an hour drive south is the beautiful garden of the gods park! Free to enter, drive through, and park with a large trail system for any length of hike you’d like each with amazing views of the breathtaking formations! I suggest using all trails app to guide you throughout the park!
rocky mountain national park
RMNP is about 1.5hrs northwest of Denver, just outside of Estes Park! In the winter you can drive a section of Trail Ridge Road from the Beaver Meadows Entrance to Fall River Entrances and stop at the visitors center for a map and hiking suggestions for your ability! Along the drive you will see plenty of wildlife; we saw mule deer, elk, and mountain goats! If you are prepared for the weather there are many parking areas to hike from!
Winter Park, co
Just over and hour west and over Berthoud Pass is WINTER PARK, CO! Winter Park is a town but also home to Winter Park Ski area where is where I go most! But you can do more than ski and snowboard. There’s Grand Adventures snowmobile tours, tubing, gondola rides, and the downtown area has numerous adorable shops and restaurants to check out as well! I have stayed at Gravity Haus hotel in town and its about 5 min from the ski area with a bus stop across the street! It was dog friendly and the bar/check in area was Cooper and Chase friendly as well!
Snowmobile tour
There are snowmobile outfitters on about every road west from Denver! I researched for about a week and must have looked at them all! I’d say I’m pretty good at trail riding and would have loved to just rent a sled for the day but in a new area and by myself figured it would be safer to take a tour. Not to mention some companies won’t rent to just a single person.
My top two outfitters were Grand Adventures in Winter Park and High Country Tours in Leadville, CO! What made me choose this company was location and the variety of tours! HCT was located in an area I had not explored yet and I had to drive past Copper mountain so I got some laps in skiing before my 12pm tour! Also the various types of tours! You can choose from scenic, action, advanced, and mountain top. I chose the Mountain Top Action Tour and damn am I so happy with that! My group was all the same skill set and we climbed Prospect Mountain through old mining country to a breathtaking view!
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