Estes Park

Estes Park sits at about 2,300m in the Colorado Rockies, more than a day's drive from any coast, so there is nothing here for a beach vacation. Lake Estes and the alpine lakes in the national park are fed by snowmelt and stay very cold even in midsummer. People paddle, fish and walk along their shores rather than swim. If swimming matters, it means a hotel pool or the town's indoor aquatic centre.

Eating out here is the food of a mountain gateway town. Expect burger and barbecue places, elk and bison on the menu, family diners for a big breakfast before the trail, a handful of craft breweries and a distillery or two, and the saltwater taffy and fudge shops on Elkhorn Avenue that have been part of a visit here for generations. It is hearty and pleasant after a day outdoors. It is not a food destination, though: the range is narrow, quality is uneven along the main strip and many kitchens close early or cut back outside summer. Visitors who want serious dining usually save it for Boulder or Denver.

The town's one landmark known beyond Colorado is the Stanley Hotel. It is a white Georgian Revival hotel built by the steam-car inventor F.O. Stanley on a rise above the valley, and it is famous as the inspiration for The Shining. Visitors can tour its public rooms and hear its history and ghost stories. Beyond it the sights are small and local: the Estes Park Museum on homesteading and the early days of mountain tourism, and the MacGregor Ranch, a historic working cattle ranch at the foot of Lumpy Ridge. They fill a rainy afternoon. People come for the mountains, not for the town's heritage.

Evenings in Estes Park are early and quiet. A few brewery taprooms and saloon-style bars along Elkhorn Avenue fill up after a day on the trails, and there is a drink to be had with dinner, but there are no clubs and little happens much past ten. Most visitors are up before dawn for wildlife or a long hike, and the town keeps to that rhythm.

This is the reason Estes Park exists. Rocky Mountain National Park begins a few minutes from town, and the landscape rises from meadows and ponderosa forest to alpine tundra and the granite of Longs Peak at 4,346m. Trail Ridge Road climbs above 3,700m with long views over tundra, and hundreds of kilometres of trail lead to lakes such as Bear, Dream and Emerald, to waterfalls and to high summits for the fit and acclimatised.

Wildlife is part of daily life: elk graze on golf courses and in town, and their autumn rut fills the meadows with bugling at dusk. Bighorn sheep, moose and marmots are common sights. Summer brings wildflowers and afternoon thunderstorms, autumn golden aspens, and winter snowshoeing in a quieter park. Fly fishing, climbing at Lumpy Ridge and horse riding round it out, though there is no ski resort close by.

The places worth a day out lie down the canyons on the plains. Boulder is about an hour away, with its university campus, the Pearl Street pedestrian mall and the Flatirons behind it. Fort Collins, a similar drive, has a well-kept historic Old Town and a deep brewery scene, while Denver, about an hour and a half, brings big-city museums and neighbourhoods. The small town of Lyons sits at the mouth of the canyon on the way down. In summer, the drive over Trail Ridge Road leads to Grand Lake, a lakeside village on the park's western side. It is a pleasant set rather than a remarkable one, and a car is needed for all of it.

Estes Park works well for families who like the outdoors. Children meet elk wandering through town, the national park runs junior ranger activities, and there are short, flat walks around lakes such as Sprague and Bear that suit small legs. The town adds mini golf, go-karts, horse riding stables, an aerial tramway up Prospect Mountain and a riverside walk downtown with ice cream and taffy along the way. It is small, safe and easy to manage. The limits are altitude, which can tire young children and needs a day to adjust to, long drives into the park, and the lack of zoos, aquariums or museums for rainy days.

The downtown along Elkhorn Avenue and the Riverwalk is compact and easy on foot. In the warmer months free shuttle buses link town with lodgings and the national park's Bear Lake corridor, which saves the hassle of trailhead parking. Beyond that a car is close to essential: there is no rail link, the drive up from Denver takes about an hour and a half, and Trail Ridge Road, most trailheads and the towns on the plains are reached only by road. Traffic and parking in town get heavy on summer weekends.

Shopping means a stroll down Elkhorn Avenue: T-shirt and souvenir shops, taffy and fudge makers, western wear, outdoor gear, and a few galleries selling wildlife photography, paintings and Native American-style jewellery. It is fun to browse for an hour, but there are no department stores or fashion streets, and much of what is sold is souvenirs. Serious shopping means a trip down to Boulder or Denver.

Estes Park is an expensive place to stay in summer and early autumn, when hotels, cabins and lodges near a much-visited national park fill up and charge accordingly. Eating out costs what it does in American resort towns, with tips on top. There is some relief: winter and spring rooms are far cheaper, cabins with kitchens let families cook, and once inside the park the hiking, wildlife and scenery cost nothing beyond the entrance fee. Without a car of your own, add the cost of a rental.

The performing arts are a small, seasonal affair. In summer there are free outdoor concerts at the town's riverside performance park and occasional music and ghost-story evenings at the Stanley Hotel, and the Scottish-Irish Highland Festival each September brings pipe bands, dancing and Celtic music. For most of the year there is little to attend, and anyone wanting theatre, orchestras or a proper concert hall drives to Boulder or Denver.

There is no bathing culture or hot spring here, and spa options are limited to a few resort and lodge spas and massage studios. What the town does offer is calm: a cabin by a river, mountain air, elk at dusk and very little to do in the evening. Outside the summer crowds, especially in winter and spring, it can be a quietly restorative place, but nobody comes here to be pampered.