Denver, CO (USA)
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Booked flights to Denver for a 3 week family (with 2 teenage daughters) road trip arriving 3rd July. Will ask for some travel advise elsewhere (don't want to spam this thread). First thing to figure out is where to spend 4th July. Tempted to go somewhere smaller and charming, and perhaps 1 or 2 days Denver on the way back. The current idea is Wyoming, Idaho, Utah and back to Colorado, but only started planning.
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@Tobi I am in Utah - I would really try and make Zion and Moab part of your trip. They're glorious.
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@Tobi you should go to Lander, Wyoming for 4th of July. It’s incredible. Very small, cowboy style , western town. They have a rodeo, a parade, all the fireworks you could hope to want to see and light off yourself. Totally legal to have fireworks there. It’s a literal blast!!
I had a couple British friends visiting a few years back and we went to Lander. They thought it was the coolest Wild West experience. We talk about it to this day. We were partying with local firefighters, drinking whiskey with them and blowing off huge fireworks. It was incredible!! Totally family friendly, very small town. It’s about 5 1/2 hours from Denver.
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@indigostiff I know, our last US trip 2 years back included Zion NP. We are also very tempted to go back to Sedona (been there 3x now), but we want to explore new things. With kids in the car we also want to avoid real epic (in terms of distances) road trips..
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I would drive to the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness via 285 at some point. It's only a couple of hours from Denver and you get to see gigantic 14k foot mountains. Could hike Red Rocks Park on the way out.
There are some hot springs you can visit and you can go whitewater rafting on the Arkansas river. It's gorgeous there and a great drive on 285. Check out Buena Vista and Salida. You can stay at Surf Hotel in BV or get an AirBnb in Buena Vista, Salida, Nathrop, or some other place in the area. You can loop back through any combination of Twin Lakes, Turquoise Lake (fun for day camping, picnic, boating, fishing), Leadville, Breckenridge, Frisco, then back on I70.
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@Mizmazzle thanks! will check out Lander, but too far a drive on the 3rd July evening after a 9h flight from Island (we have a stopover there). I once drove at night from LA international to Big Bear Lake after a 15h trip.. not a good idea
I was more thinking perhaps Boulder for the 4th... -
@mclaincausey thanks! all copied to my planning list!
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@Tobi that makes perfect sense. Vacation should be relaxing.
Boulder is cool. Have you been there? It’s a college town and very beautiful. Not sure how big they go with fireworks for the 4th. They are a pretty conservative town (so liberal as to come full circle to conservative) It’s butted up against the mountains with Denver and the metro area to the southwest of it.
Idaho Springs is about 50 minutes drive from Denver. Much smaller. More a true mountain town, albeit close to the highway. They have a cool fireworks show they put on that is really cool to see the light reflecting off the mountains. They have a quaint old west downtown area. Would be a great kick off point for some hikes and mountain activities.
Granby is about 1.5 hours from Denver. Smaller true mountain town. Super beautiful. Big lake there for lake activities. That small town does a fireworks show that is great. We have some friends who have a lake house there and it’s really fun around the 4th. There’s a ski town called Winterpark near by that has lots of shops and mountain activity resources etc. good restaurants.
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@Mizmazzle Thanks, will have a look around. Fireworks not super important for 4th July. This will be our 5th time we spend the day in the US. Most memorable in Ocean Springs Mississippi and Ashland Oregon. Least nice in Desert Hot Springs (what a shithole)...
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If fireworks are important, the most amazing show I've ever seen was after the Rockies baseball game. You go down to the field to watch them directly overhead. And you get to watch a baseball game before. Tickets used to be very affordable, not sure now.
Otherwise, I like those front range town ideas too depending on exactly what you and the family want to do. Idaho springs, Frisco, maybe even Breckenridge.
Other quaint towns I'd add are crested Butte and steamboat, but those might just be slight too far. In general I'd probably want to avoid i70 as much as possible on the 3/4 July.
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@pechelman that’s a good idea. I was just going to say…stay downtown and rest a day or two. Lots of fireworks in the city. Check out the city a bit. Then get out of Dodge!!!
Rockies tix are really affordable. Great place to watch a game.
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reccs specifically for the day of the show or the days before/after? how many days? staying in denver? have a car?
My biggest "tip" for red rocks shows is to make sure to bring a picnic and something comfy to sit on depending on the type of show and when it is. First time going there I didnt know this was an option.
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@J-IV brother man!! What show are you going to??
There some cool bars and restaurants in down town Morrison. Could pregame there. It’s walkable up to the show from there if you don’t mind an uphill trek about 1.5 miles. I’ve done it plenty of times. Granted always in an altered state of mind.
Are you looking for things to do a couple days before and after the show? Or day/night of type fun?
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Check this out as some policies have changed: https://www.redrocksonline.com/plan-your-visit/permitted-prohibited-items/
Mastodon/Lamb of God?
The amphitheater is kind of remote by foot in the middle of a large park. If it’s not GA and you aren’t worried about parking, a bus from either the nearby hotel or various spots in Denver is a good option, unless someone is sober and can drive. Ubering kind of sucks there.
I can give you some good stuff to do later when I get off work.
