Visiting Estes Park in the Winter With Kids
Estes Park is such a legendary mountain town in Colorado. It’s the main entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park and holds the lore of the Stanley Hotel. Despite what you may have read or seen in The Shining, Estes Park isn’t actually inaccessible in the winter. In fact, Estes Park is one of our favorite winter getaways! Here are all the things to do while visiting Estes Park in the winter with kids!
Where to Stay in Estes Park: YMCA of the Rockies
We stayed at the YMCA of the Rockies for our winter getaway in Estes Park. We could not have been happier with this location. It was the perfect place for our kids to both enjoy the winter weather in Estes Park and have little cozy retreats to warm up!
This resort is located less than 10 minutes from downtown Estes Park and is a great place to stay for families and also large groups. There are small one-family cabins, large cabins for family reunions and a few hotel-style rooms available in the winter. In the summer, there are also yurts and tent-camping spots available.
Cabins at YMCA of the Rockies are perfect for winter getaways
When we visited the YMCA of the Rockies, we stayed in a two-bedroom cabin. The kids loved the bunk beds in their room and we enjoyed having a room to ourselves with enough space for the baby in his crib. We also loved having a wood-burning fireplace for curling up and reading or playing card games in the evening. And the kitchen made it easy to have breakfast and lots of snacks ready to go for our kids.
Activities and Amenities at the YMCA of the Rockies
The best part of staying the the YMCA of the Rockies is having access to all of the activities and amenities at the resort. We loved having a morning at the indoor pool, enjoying the water slide and swimming and playing together as a family. We also frequently visited the craft center while the baby was napping to paint and make crafts.
Winter activities also include roller skating, playgrounds, indoor rock climbing, the Dorsey Museum where kids can learn about local wildlife, miniature golf more. Most of these activities are included in the price of staying at the resort. Some activities require additional fees, such as renting ice skates or tickets for the rock climbing.
The YMCA of the Rockies also has lots of outdoor winter snow activities for kids that will be covered in the next section.
If you aren’t staying at the YMCA of the Rockies, you can purchase a day pass to come and enjoy all of the activities. The day passes are $25 for adults, $10 for children 6-12 and free for children 5 and under.
Snow Play: Visiting Estes Park in the Winter with Kids
Of course, if you are visiting Estes Park in the winter you must pack all of your snow gear! We brought our snow bibs and jackets, hats and gloves, sleds and snowshoes! There are so many things to do around Estes Park on a snowy day that you could spend the whole day outside!
Sledding and Snowshoeing at Rocky Mountain National Park
If you are looking for a unique way to experience a National Park, you should definitely visit Rock Mountain National Park during the winter. There are so many opportunities to enjoy the snow. You can ski or snowboard, but I don’t recommend it with kids because you have to do a lot of trekking up hills to be able to do that!
Instead, I recommend sledding and snowshoeing! The sledding hill located in the park is at Hidden Valley, a former ski area. Hidden Valley is the only place in RMNP that sledding is allowed and you have to bring your own sleds. No sleds with metal runners are allowed. There are two sides to the sledding hill: the left side is smoother and great for younger kids and the right side has some bumps and is faster and a little more daring!
Make sure to head in early, as the parking at Hidden Valley gets very busy.
If your family enjoys snowshoeing, you can snowshoe on most trails in the park. You can rent snowshoes in Estes Park or bring your own from home. I will say that snowshoeing is really best after fresh snow. Otherwise, the snow will be packed enough that normal hiking boots with spikes are sufficient. Winter hiking and snowshoeing is such a unique experience, I definitely recommend trying it out at least once!
More information about all of the winter activities in Rocky Mountain National Park, check here.
Sledding and Snowshoeing at the YMCA of the Rockies grounds
If you want to experience the sledding and snowshoeing, without heading into Rocky Mountain National Park, there are snowshoeing trails and a sledding hill at the YMCA of the Rockies. My boys loved these hills and trails just as much as RMNP and it was nice to have another outlet without the drive into the park and the crowds.
Ice skating at Dorsey Lake at the YMCA of the Rockies
Outdoor ice skating is such a unique and fun winter activity. The YMCA of the Rockies, allows for ice skating on Dorsey Lake during the winter from early December through February. There are free ice skate rentals at the Resort for guests, or for anyone using a day pass.
Snowball Fights and Playing in the Snow
Little kids especially, just love playing in snow! There are lots of easy places to play in the snow in Estes Park. The YMCA has lots of open space to build snowmen and have snowball fights. In town, Bond Park near the Town Hall has lots of open space. Depending on weather, you can find snow at most playground, parks and open spaces to play! Just take a drive and find a fun spot!
Downtown Estes Park: Visiting Estes Park in the Winter with Kids
You definitely want to spend at least an afternoon in downtown Estes Park. There are great restaurants, lots of fun shops, several playgrounds and a really fun small mountain town feel.
Seeing the Elk on Main Street
Now, this may sound weird. But you have to be on the lookout for a heard of elk in the middle of Estes Park. It’s so fun! There is a heard of about 30 elk that call the town home. We have seen them every time we drive through Estes Park. Sometimes they are at Bond Park near Town Hall and other times, in neighborhoods or open spaces surrounding the town. Here is a Youtube video if you want to see more.
Where to Eat
If eating elk after seeing them all over town is something that interests you (to be honest, I didn’t think much about it until writing this section just after the previous section!), you definitely need to eat at Penelope’s Old Time Burgers where you can get an elk burger. Penelope’s has a really fun diner atmosphere and serves elk burgers, beef burgers, bison burgers and more.
The Egg of Estes is also a must-visit. The breakfast food ranges from big delicious sugary waffles to savory omelettes. They also have an extensive kids menu.
Lastly, any time of year you visit you have to visit at least one of the ice cream and candy shops! Ice cream and candy shops are a staple of mountain towns and I can’t imagine not enjoying a cone while walking down Elkhorn Avenue. We recommend Hayley’s Ice Cream, Flavor of the Rockies or Danish Cone Factory. All are located along Elkhorn Avenue on the main drag of Estes Park.
Estes Park Library and Visitors Center
Other fun kid-friendly spots to drop in and warm up during a winter visit to Estes Park include the Estes Valley Library. The Estes Valley Library is a cute little small town library where you can hop in to warm up and read a few children’s books. The elk also love to hang out outside the library, so you may get a visit while you are there!
I also recommend visiting the Estes Park Visitors Center to stop in and get information about any local events during your trip. You can also grab maps and brochures for anything you want to check out!
Estes Park Museum
The Estes Park Museum in downtown Estes Park shows the history and culture of the area as well as the natural landscape. The museum is open Wednesday through Saturday and is free!
Other Things to Do and See in Estes Park in the Winter
There are a few other activities that I can recommend for a winter getaway in Estes Park with kids. These are totally optional depending on the time you have in town and your individual interests.
Visit the Stanley Hotel Grounds
The Stanley Hotel is a place of history and lore as the inspirational setting for the Stephen King novel, The Shining. I know there’s a movie too, but I’m more of a book person and loved the book!
The Stanley Hotel offers both day tours and night tours (possibly haunted?!). The tours are only for ages 8 and up, so I don’t really recommend them for families with kids. But I do recommend visiting the grounds. Not only is the hotel gorgeous, there is a fun hedge maze in the front and great views of Estes Park. My kids also loved peaking into the lobby of the hotel where you can view vintage cars and other old hotel relics.
Scenic Drive through Rocky Mountain National Park
Whether you have babies and toddlers who need a car nap, or you just want a scenic drive, I definitely recommend driving through the majority of Rocky Mountain National Park to see the winter sites. There are a few routes listed here. We enjoyed driving through after visiting Hidden Valley for sledding.
