This blog post shares the best of Estes Park, Colorado in winter. Estes Park is a small town outside of Denver near an entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. Hikers, adventurists, and sightseers alike will all find something to love about this nature town.
Estes Park is about a 1.5 hour drive from Denver International Airport, making it accessible to all. It’s a scenic route so it’ll feel like your vacation has started as soon as you head out.
What to do
Snowshoeing in Rocky Mountain National Park
Snowshoeing is one of the best activities to experience Estes Park in winter. There are endless trails for hiking/snowshoeing both inside and outside of Rocky Mountain National Park. Estes Park Mountain Shop offers gear rental for all kinds of activities – both winter and summer. They made the process of renting snowshoes so easy and it was very affordable. We hiked Lumpy Ridge Loop on our arrival day and it was a nice short trail to get our trip going. Snowshoes weren’t necessary for this one but it always depends how much fresh snow there is.
You can wear either snowshoes or microspikes for snowy hikes, but again if there’s a lot of fresh snow I’d suggest snowshoes. People wearing microspikes destroyed the paths when we were there since there was a lot of snow and it just made it more difficult for everyone.
Also be mindful when you’re on the trails, it’s a shared space and everyone deserves the courtesy to hike at their own pace.
Spa at Estes Park Resort
The spa at Estes Park Resort is wonderfully designed and the epitome of zen. We scheduled a couples massage here after a few days of snowshoeing and it’s up there for best massage I’ve ever gotten. There are locker rooms to change into luscious robes, a tranquility room to relax before your massage, and zero gravity chairs you can opt to try after your session. I highly recommend calling in advance for an appointment, we lucked out with booking once we were there but they didn’t have availability for all of the services we wanted to enjoy. Still, it was a dream of a day to end our trip at Estes Park in winter.
Explore Downtown
Downtown Estes Park has cute streets with shops and restaurants to wander. There are some incredible art shops too for browsing nature and wildlife photography. Definitely spend a slow afternoon strolling the town and indulging in some sweets!
Wine and Chocolate Festival
The Wine and Chocolate Festival happened to be going on while we were there so we figured we’d check it out. Tickets are required and it was about $40/person, or $10 if you’re the “designated driver” (i.e. not going to drink wine). The price included a souvenir wine glass, tote bag, and tickets which could be used at any of the vendors inside. There were wine and chocolate vendors of course, but also some other options like cheese and mead. It was a fine activity since we had some free time and it was indoors which was a nice break from the cold. I will add it was crowded so lines for the vendors were pretty long.
Where to stay
We stayed at the Stanley Hotel which sits at the top of Estes Park. It’s a unique hotel, as part of The Shining was filmed there, so the decor is dated grandeur. There are a few different lodging options – the main hotel, boutique hotel, spa hotel, and individual suites. There’s also a decent variety of dining options, some of which are detailed later in this post. It’s centrally located near a few trails, restaurants, and entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. If visiting in the off-season, especially during winter, I’d recommend staying in the main hotel. The others were ghost towns, difficult to even find an employee. I should also note this hotel is on the pricier side compared to other hotels in the area.
Estes Park Resort is another great hotel located on the west side of the lake. It’s a bit farther from downtown but only a few minutes drive. It offers incredible views, a spa, and restaurant. In comparison to the Stanley, the rooms were half the cost here at the time we visited. If I were to come back to Estes Park, I’d stay at the Estes Park Resort.
Where to eat
Cascades
Cascades restaurant is the more formal dining spot at the Stanley Hotel which offers lunch and dinner, it is a bit pricey. I enjoyed their lunch menu – they had a delicious French dip that could easily be split for two people – but would skip for dinner, personally. We ate here on our first night, so the convenience factor of not having to leave the hotel earned a few points, however the food wasn’t anything noteworthy.
I will note that their lunch ends around 2pm and then they only have a limited happy hour menu until dinner, so the food options on at that time are minimal.
Post
The Post is a chicken joint that’s just a short walk from the main Stanley Hotel building and offers more casual comfort food. We ate here multiple times and really enjoyed it. The salad, rolls, and chicken tenders are especially good.
Coffee Cherry Co
I thoroughly appreciated having a coffee spot inside the main Stanley Hotel building. They have specialty flavors that you won’t find elsewhere and you can’t beat the convenience. They also offer ice cream with a nice variety of flavors.
217 Wine
This wine bar is inside the main Stanley Hotel building, right off the lobby. It’s a charming spot to hangout and enjoy some wine and charcuterie. The decor is modern and it’s wrapped in windows so the views are nice too.
Brunch & Co
The Stanley Hotel also offers breakfast and brunch at the Brunch & Co restaurant. It’s a fun menu with a good selection at a mid-price point.
Notchtop Bakery & Cafe
Notchtop Bakery & Cafe was my favorite breakfast and lunch spot, just a couple minutes drive from the Stanley Hotel. It’s cozy and the staff was so friendly. They offer a wide variety of menu items for both breakfast and lunch at an affordable price. We probably ate here about five times during our trip. The lunch portions are also large so you could honestly split one entrée for two people.
Dunraven Restaurant
Dunraven is located inside the Estes Park Resort, offering breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Their menus offer a good selection and a bit more affordable than Cascades. We had delicious pasta dishes here for dinner one night, and another tasty French Dip for lunch one day after snowshoeing.
Similarly to Cascades, they stop serving lunch at 2pm and move to a limited happy hour menu until dinner.
How to get around
We flew into Denver International Airport (DEN) and rented a car to drive to Estes, which is a 1.5 hour drive (74 miles). A car is definitely necessary to get around Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. If visiting in the winter, I’d recommended a vehicle with all-wheel drive to accommodate the snow.
When to visit
We visited Estes Park in winter, the first week of February. It wasn’t very crowded, though the weekends are a bit busier from weekend warriors. The winter months seem to be December through February for definite freezing temperatures and the most snowfall, if that’s your goal.
I would love to go back in all seasons honestly, to enjoy the varying landscapes from wildflowers to Fall colors, but winter was absolutely majestic.
