Two newbies need help planning the road trip to Colorado National Parks
My wife and I decided to do a road trip in Colorado. It will be our first time doing this kind of trip so I was hoping for a bit of help in planning.
Our trip will be in the week of 4th of July. We plan to arrive at the Denver International Airport late in the evening on Tuesday July 2nd and fly back home on Monday July 8.
Since we really want to see RMNP, Colorado National Monument, Black Canyon and Garden of Gods, here is the map and the day schedule my wife planned out.
After spending the first day sightseeing in Denver we plan to drive that same night to Estes Park (B) so we can have early start the next day to the Bear Lake Trailhead (C). We plan to be there at 6 AM to avoid heavy crowd. After hiking 4 Lake Loop Trail we will start the drive towards Colorado National Monument (E).
We decided to stop in Glenwood Springs (D) to cut the 5h+ drive from Estes Park to Colorado National Monument and that way we can also visit Hanging Lake and maybe some hot spring place once we arrive in Glenwood. But we are also open to suggestions on other recommended places to spend the night along the way.
At the Colorado National Monument (E) we plan to do a scenic drive and after that drive to Black Canyon (F). We were thinking of spending a night in Montrose (G) since it's close by. Is there any other interesting place to spend the night around Black Canyon? Since our next destination is Colorado Springs (I) maybe we could do an hour or two drive towards there and then stop somewhere along the way?
We are also not sure if we should cut the drive from Montrose (G) to Colorado Springs (I) since it is 5h+ drive. Saturday seems like we will spend the whole day on the road and then Sunday is somehow empty? If we cut that drive, then we would arrive at Pikes Peak (H) Sunday morning and continue our drive to Denver in the afternoon.
Our plane leaves in the afternoon on Monday, so we plan to spend the night in Denver on Sunday and maybe do a bit more of sightseeing on Monday morning before our flight.
As I said, this is our first road trip so we are hoping it is doable and it won't be too tiresome!
The drive times on the map are reference only since stopping for eat and maybe sightseeing along the way will make the times between two points longer.
If you have any recommendations on what more to see please share!
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