March 20, 2025 • 20 mins
Saddle up for the ultimate motorcyclist's guide to Rocky Mountain National Park from a true local expert with nearly three decades of riding experience in northern Colorado. As both an avid rider and part-time tour guide in Rocky Mountain National Park, I'm pulling back the curtain on the region's most spectacular routes, hidden gems, and insider strategies for avoiding the tourist crowds that can turn dream rides into traffic nightmares.
Did you know that over 4.3 million visitors flood Rocky Mountain National Park annually, with most arriving between June and September? I'll share why Monday through Thursday rides offer dramatically better experiences and why you should absolutely avoid the July 4th week at all costs. You'll learn the critical differences between Estes Park (the gateway town) and the national park itself, plus where to find the best coffee, burgers, and cherry pies when you need a break from the saddle.
Trail Ridge Road stands as the crown jewel – the highest continuous paved road in America topping 12,000 feet in elevation – but I'll also guide you through less-traveled alternatives that showcase stunning mountain landscapes without the traffic. From the twisting canyon roads of the Narrows along Highway 34 to the steep switchbacks of County Road 43 that reveal breathtaking views of Longs Peak, this episode maps out perfect day rides and multi-day adventures through some of America's most magnificent landscapes.
Weather at these elevations can be unpredictable – I've encountered fresh July snowfall at the highest elevations – so I'll equip you with practical knowledge about seasonal timing, gas station locations, accommodation recommendations, and alternative return routes that can transform your journey into an unforgettable loop ride. Whether you're planning your first Rocky Mountain adventure or looking to discover new paths through familiar territory, this comprehensive guide will elevate your riding experience with authentic local insights that no travel website can provide.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Ron (00:05):
I've described in past episodes how I work part-time as
a tour guide in Rocky MountainNational Park.
I work for Green Jeep Tours andwe take tourists up into the
park by jeep Three hour tourstypically but I almost always
ride my motorcycle to work rightwhen I'm coming up there.
So any number of times, like ona busy Saturday, other folks
that are coming up on theirmotorcycles.
(00:27):
They would see this local guyon his bike and they would come
up and ask me for suggestionsand I would.
I would give them, oh, justmore information that they
probably expected to get abouthow to avoid the crowds, where
are the best places to ride inand around Rocky Mountain
National Park.
I love doing that, but a yearor so ago I decided to put it
(00:49):
into this podcast.
So I created three episodesthat were targeting around Rocky
Mountain National Park and theregion all around the national
park.
So, yeah, what I've decided todo.
I thought it would be helpful.
Here we are in spring, or justalmost in spring, right, the
weather's warming up, the daysare getting longer.
I thought it'd be a goodopportunity to bring those back
(01:12):
and just share all of thatinformation with you in one
episode.
So this is it today.
So I wanted to let you know too, about something that I've been
thinking about.
If you find yourself, forexample, in the northern
Colorado area sometime duringthe spring or the summer or the
(01:33):
fall, I would absolutely love tomeet you.
If we could work that out.
I love to meet people in personand, gosh who knows, we could
take a ride together.
I have been thinking aboutorganizing a tour sometime, at
whatever time I can figure itout.
I still have a day job whichkeeps me quite busy, but there's
(01:53):
going to be a point where I'llretire and maybe do some touring
full time.
I'd love to take folks aroundmy absolute favorite places all
around Northern Colorado andSouthern Wyoming and really just
all over the Western UnitedStates.
Who knows, if you might beinterested in talking about
something like that and kickaround some ideas?
Send me an email.
I'd love to chat with you.
(02:14):
I get emails all the time, loveto correspond and we'll just
get on the phone together orover Zoom and just have a talk.
So feel free to send me a noteanytime.
It's ron R-O-N atpeacelovemotocom.
So if you have your pen and padready and your map handy, let's
start talking about RockyMountain National Park and all
(02:37):
of the wonderful places to ridehere in northern Colorado and
southern Wyoming.
Thank you so much for joiningme today.
Are you ready to go?
Let's go for a ride Recorded inbeautiful Loveland, colorado.
Welcome to Peace.
Love Moto, the podcast formotorcyclists seeking that
(02:57):
peaceful, easy feeling as wecruise through this life
together.
Are you ready?
Let's go.
Well, let's get started.
When you look at a map ofnorthern Colorado, one of the
(03:19):
first things that you'll noticeis that Estes Park is right next
to Rocky Mountain National Park.
Now some folks think that Estesis within Rocky and Estes Park
is the same thing as RockyMountain National Park.
Well, they're two differentthings.
Estes Park is a little villageor a little town, and then Rocky
or Rocky Mountain National Parkis a national park.
(03:39):
It's actually owned by you andme, the taxpayer, and it's
managed by the National ParkService.
So when you leave the EstesPark city limits on either
Highway 34 or 36 going west, youimmediately reach either the
Beaver Meadows entrance, alittle bit to the middle of the
park, or to the northern edge ofthe park.
(04:00):
You can also reach Fall Riverentrance.
Those are the two mainentrances from the east side of
the park.
So as you exit the park on thewestern side, those two roads
combine together and then you'llenter the sister village of
Estes Park, which is calledGrand Lake.
We'll talk more about that alittle bit later, but let's
begin with when to be there, andI'm just going to hit to the
(04:22):
highlights on that.
These are some primary tips Iwould say to have the most
enjoyable trip by motorcycle.
Avoid holidays.
Full stop there.
Avoid holidays.
The full-time population ofEstes Park is about 6,000 people
.
Rocky Mountain National Parkreceives about 4.3 million
(04:44):
visitors each year and the greatmajority of those visitors
arrive in Estes Park.
The vast majority of those 3.4million visitors will come
between June and September everyyear.
Holidays during this span,especially the week of July 4th
that's the big one.
(05:05):
Avoid July 4th.
Anytime around that date.
Either weekend around thatMidweek is almost always less
crowded.
I always recommend visiting thearea Monday through Thursday,
if you can.
In Estes you'll have theopportunity to talk with the
locals and in Rocky you'll haveplenty of opportunity to talk
(05:27):
with the rangers and it'llpretty much be traffic free,
especially early in the morningsand late in the evenings.
That's really the best time tobe out in the national park.
The reason early mornings andevenings are the best also is
because that's where thewildlife are going to be out and
about most of the time, reallyearly in the morning around
sunrise and then late in theevening as the sun begins to set
(05:48):
.
That's when the wildlife aremost active.
In general, be watchful ofstorms.
Really any time of year upthere, getting into the higher
elevations, a storm can turninto ice or it can turn into
snow any month of the year.
I've actually been in snow onthe higher elevations in Rocky
Mountain National Parks in Julyyes, fresh snow in July, so that
(06:10):
can absolutely happen.
Let's talk about now about whereto ride.
Now it's going to definitelydepend on the season because
Trail Ridge Road, which is thehighest road in Rocky Mountain
National Park.
It actually reaches anelevation of over 12,000 feet.
Now when you get up into thosekind of elevations you can have,
(06:32):
like I said, ice and snow justabout any time of year.
But they typically won't openTrail Ridge Road at its highest
elevations until about May andthen, depending on the season
between the weather, it'llgenerally be closing again.
That road will close in thehigher elevations sometime
(06:53):
around October, something likethat.
But just wanted to point thatout.
Like I mentioned, though, one ofthe highlights of going into
Rocky Mountain National Park bymotorcycle is Trail Ridge Road.
It's the highest continuousroad, continuous paved road in
the United States, and it isabsolutely wonderful.
(07:14):
When you cross over from EstesPark on Trail Ridge Road, all
the way across the National Park, you'll eventually reach Grant
Lake, which is considered thesister city of Estes Park,
eventually reach Grand Lake,which is considered the sister
city of Estes Park.
You'll find the deepest lake,the deepest natural lake in all
of Colorado, there at Grand Lake.
The population of Grand Lake isabout 400 people, but it
(07:35):
certainly swells during thesummertime.
It's a very peaceful settingout by the lake, excellent
restaurants and coffee shops,and they also have a hidden gem
there in Grand Lake.
It's called the Rocky MountainRepertory Theater, and maybe
I'll talk a little bit moreabout that later on.
But for the Repertory TheaterI'd recommend getting a
(07:58):
reservation, and it's also agood idea just to go ahead and
spend the night, because usuallythe shows at the Repertory
Theater go into the evening andyou really don't want to be out
on the mountain roads atnighttime.
You especially don't want to beout on Trail Ridge Road with no
guardrails, at 12,000 feet atnight.
Don't want to do that.
So get out your map and let'sbegin our journey.
(08:26):
Let's begin in the beautifullittle town of Loveland,
colorado, which is my hometown.
Loveland is a great place tostay outside of the tourist
traffic.
If you choose not to stay inEstes Park, that's where I
recommend anyway.
So now there are many hotelsand restaurants in the eastern
portion of Loveland near Highway25, but I really really
(08:47):
recommend escaping the trafficthat can be over there and the
busyness and make your way intothe old, original portion of
Loveland.
We have a new hotel right inthe heart of downtown and it's
called Town Place Suites byMarriott.
It's within easy walkingdistance of the historic 4th
Street, where you'll findlocally owned and operated
(09:08):
restaurants and pubs and don'tmiss Mary's Mountain Cookies.
Those are really really good.
Another hotel option that Ireally super duper recommend in
Loveland is the La Quinta Innand Suites in West Loveland,
right on Highway 34.
That's actually not too farfrom my home actually.
This is a very quiet locationand gives you a great jumping
(09:31):
off point to head to Estes Park.
It's also close to my favoritecoffee shop in Loveland that's
called Jamocha Joe's, which isowned and operated by my friend
Christine.
This is a drive-thru littlecoffee shop, little hippie shack
you might say that hasbeautiful shade trees out there
and vintage 1970s chairsunderneath the shade tree.
(09:53):
So get your espresso or latteand just go chill and have a
little chat with Christine.
Okay, let's head to Estes Parkfrom Loveland.
We'll follow the Big ThompsonRiver, so we're going to take
Highway 34, which is just westfrom Jamocha Joes.
We stay on the Highway 34 forabout 12 miles or so.
(10:14):
We immediately enter thefoothills of Colorado from there
, going through this amazing anddeep portion of the road which
we call the Narrows as itfollows the Big Thompson River,
going west, as soon as you exitthe twisties of the narrows, on
your left you'll see a beautifullittle shop.
It's called the Colorado CherryCompany.
Stop in there for a cherry pie,pocket or juice and while
(10:37):
you're listening to classictunes and even polka sometimes.
By the way, my beautiful wifeKaren is the store manager.
So we are there quite a lot andit is a great, great little
shop.
So you're going to continue onon Highway 34 and then you'll
finally reach a point of alittle town called Drake, tiny
(10:58):
little village.
There's a small restaurant anda campground there.
It's here where you want to turnright on County Road 43.
Don't miss this turn.
It's really really easy to missit.
But be looking for County Road43.
Here we're going to turn'sreally really easy to miss it,
but be looking for County Road43.
Here we're going to turn towardEstes Park, but we're going to
follow the less traveled LittleThompson River.
(11:18):
We'll continue on County Road43 through the little village of
Glenhaven and there's going tobe this amazingly sharp and
steep twisty turn that you'regoing to be going up and over.
Just be careful here.
It's perfectly fine for streetbikes, no need to have a dual
sport or anything like that, butit is quite steep, so just be,
(11:42):
yeah, know what you're doingwhen you're going up that one
steep portion of that road andthen you'll crest the top of the
road and then out in front ofyou will be one of the most
beautiful sights you've everseen.
You'll see Longs Peak, which isthe highest peak in Rocky
Mountain National Park, and theContinental Divide.
Down below both of those peaksis the village of Estes Park.
(12:05):
Estes Park is a beautiful, coollittle village and it's very
popular.
Like I said, I really, reallyrecommend visiting Estes really
any time of year, but Mondaysthrough Thursdays is when you're
going to see a lot less crowdsand a lot less traffic Going
into Estes Park.
This is a point where I highlyrecommend that you fill up with
(12:28):
gas.
There are not a lot of gasstations around that area and
there are certainly no gasstations in Rocky Mountain
National Park, so it's a goodtime to top off with gas there,
let's see.
I recommend stopping in thesister store of the Colorado
Cherry Company which is in thelower level of the Stanley Hotel
, lower level of the StanleyHotel.
(12:53):
Get a snack and take your snackand latte or whatever you want,
up on the porch and have awonderful view of the
Continental Divide Going downinto the village of Estes Park.
I so enjoy stopping by a littleplace called Inkwell and Brew.
It's very close to the historicMcDonald's bookstore.
Another favorite coffee shop,there is Kind Coffee and if
you're interested in a guidedtour, I highly recommend Green
Jeep Tours and that's where Iwork part-time.
(13:15):
We have just wonderful,wonderful guests and I just work
there every once in a while.
But you'd be free to ask for meif you'd like.
I'm Ron Francis.
As for restaurants in EstesPark.
If you want a really reallygood hamburger, stop by
Penelope's on Elkhorn Avenue.
As far as other details abouttouring within Rocky Mountain
(13:35):
National Park, I put a lot ofdetail in the first three
episodes talking about touringin Rocky Mountain National Park,
the episodes that begin withthose titles, so I'm not going
to repeat that so much here.
I'll let you go back and listento that on your own.
But just keeping in mindprobably the number one thing
that I want to relay is thatavoid holidays and avoid the
(13:57):
crowds.
If you can, again, avoidholidays, such as July 4th
especially, and the ideal timeto be in the park is Monday
through Thursday, any timebetween, let's say, june and
September.
Those are usually the besttimes.
As I mentioned, I publishedthree episodes on Rocky Mountain
(14:22):
National Park, which have awhole lot of detail in those
three separate episodes, but I'dlike to stress right now, as we
begin to wrap up this section,where to go from Grand Lake.
Now, once you've reached theother side of Rocky Mountain
National Park, from Estes Park,there's Grand Lake right there,
the little village, and you caneither come straight back,
coming back east, and comeacross the park again, or, if
(14:45):
you have extended time, you cantake other options to return
yourself back to Loveland.
So option one for example, fromGrand Lake you go west on
Highway 34, and that's the samehighway that goes through Rocky
Mountain National Park.
That's also Trail Ridge Road.
So from Grand Lake you've gotan opportunity to go back across
(15:06):
Rocky Mountain National Park onthe same road that you came
over to Estes Park, if you wantto.
But if you have additional time, you have other options that
are just completely amazing.
So, for example, from GrandLake, you can continue on going
west and reach the little citycalled Granby, and from Granby,
by the way, it's a good place totop off with gas again From
(15:29):
Granby, you can take a right andactually cross the Continental
Divide one more time.
You've already crossed it whenyou were on Trail Ridge Road,
but you'll cross it one moretime.
Going north, you'll head over to, eventually, the little village
of Walden, which is, out there,just beautiful.
Out there, those are flatspaces that were made by the
(15:50):
glaciers during the ice ages andcompletely surrounded by
mountains, no traffic whatsoever, and it's just wonderful
straight stretch of just uh,serenity, I guess you might say
it's just wonderful.
From there You'll eventually,as you go North, you'll
eventually get to Walden, agreat place to grab a bite to
eat or top off with gas there ifyou need to.
(16:11):
From there you'll take a righton Highway 14, and Highway 14
will take you over what's calledCameron Pass at 10,000 feet.
You'll follow the KachalaputaRiver all the way down for
roughly about 100 miles andeventually reach the town of
Fort Collins, and then you gofrom Fort Collins, you'll go
(16:33):
south and then you'll reachLoveland once again.
So one other option I just wantto throw out there as well going
back to Grand Lake.
So from Grand Lake again, goout to Granby and instead of
turning right to go north,you'll turn left to go south.
From there you're going tofollow out the road and you'll
eventually cross through thevery famous ski resort called
(16:54):
Winter Park.
You'll pass that.
You'll do an amazing climb upwhat's called Berthoud Pass,
with some amazing views up there.
From Berthoud Pass you'llcontinue on down where it'll
eventually connect up withHighway 70.
Now, from Highway 70, as you'recoming back towards
civilization, coming back east,you've got all sorts of options
(17:15):
to work your way back toLoveland.
You can work your way backthrough Nederland or through,
actually, the city of Boulder,which is quite popular, and then
, yeah, you'll work your wayback down to Loveland following
the foothills there.
There's just too many detailsand too many options to possibly
be able to describe.
I know I went really fast withthis description of riding in
(17:47):
and around Rocky MountainNational Park and different
options there, but there's justso many options.
I've literally ridden in thisarea for almost 30 years now
well over 25, almost 30, I guess, collectively and I love it.
I just absolutely love it.
I love the terrain, thewildlife, the history, the
(18:08):
people.
There are just so many thingsabout this area that I really
really love.
Sometimes the easiest thing,quite frankly, is just talk with
a local in order to find outthe best places to go, and I'm
quite the experienced motorcyclerider around here.
So I would love to talk withyou Again, kind of thinking
around the idea of creating atour if you may be interested in
(18:31):
something like that one ofthese days, but still thinking
about that.
But again, I would love to talkwith you, whoever may be
listening and interested in justfinding out more information
about riding around this area ormaybe taking a tour at some
point.
So feel free to send me a noteAgain.
My email is ron atpeacelovemotocom.
(18:55):
I love what I do in regard tothis podcast.
This has just been a joy.
I love it more all the time,and especially now that we're
getting the warmer weather, andI got in a nice ride today too,
about 200 miles up in the kindof cool wind, but it was just
completely awesome, as always,and I'm so excited to have
(19:16):
spring right around the cornerand summer ahead, and I'd love
to meet you as well as always.
Thank you so much for listening.
If you enjoy the podcast,please tell your friends.
I really appreciate that.
So until we meet again.
I wish you peace.
I wish you love, thank you.
I've described in past episodes how I work part-time as
a tour guide in Rocky MountainNational Park.
I work for Green Jeep Tours andwe take tourists up into the
park by jeep Three hour tourstypically but I almost always
ride my motorcycle to work rightwhen I'm coming up there.
So any number of times, like ona busy Saturday, other folks
that are coming up on theirmotorcycles.
(00:27):
They would see this local guyon his bike and they would come
up and ask me for suggestionsand I would.
I would give them, oh, justmore information that they
probably expected to get abouthow to avoid the crowds, where
are the best places to ride inand around Rocky Mountain
National Park.
I love doing that, but a yearor so ago I decided to put it
(00:49):
into this podcast.
So I created three episodesthat were targeting around Rocky
Mountain National Park and theregion all around the national
park.
So, yeah, what I've decided todo.
I thought it would be helpful.
Here we are in spring, or justalmost in spring, right, the
weather's warming up, the daysare getting longer.
I thought it'd be a goodopportunity to bring those back
(01:12):
and just share all of thatinformation with you in one
episode.
So this is it today.
So I wanted to let you know too, about something that I've been
thinking about.
If you find yourself, forexample, in the northern
Colorado area sometime duringthe spring or the summer or the
(01:33):
fall, I would absolutely love tomeet you.
If we could work that out.
I love to meet people in personand, gosh who knows, we could
take a ride together.
I have been thinking aboutorganizing a tour sometime, at
whatever time I can figure itout.
I still have a day job whichkeeps me quite busy, but there's
(01:53):
going to be a point where I'llretire and maybe do some touring
full time.
I'd love to take folks aroundmy absolute favorite places all
around Northern Colorado andSouthern Wyoming and really just
all over the Western UnitedStates.
Who knows, if you might beinterested in talking about
something like that and kickaround some ideas?
Send me an email.
I'd love to chat with you.
(02:14):
I get emails all the time, loveto correspond and we'll just
get on the phone together orover Zoom and just have a talk.
So feel free to send me a noteanytime.
It's ron R-O-N atpeacelovemotocom.
So if you have your pen and padready and your map handy, let's
start talking about RockyMountain National Park and all
(02:37):
of the wonderful places to ridehere in northern Colorado and
southern Wyoming.
Thank you so much for joiningme today.
Are you ready to go?
Let's go for a ride Recorded inbeautiful Loveland, colorado.
Welcome to Peace.
Love Moto, the podcast formotorcyclists seeking that
(02:57):
peaceful, easy feeling as wecruise through this life
together.
Are you ready?
Let's go.
Well, let's get started.
When you look at a map ofnorthern Colorado, one of the
(03:19):
first things that you'll noticeis that Estes Park is right next
to Rocky Mountain National Park.
Now some folks think that Estesis within Rocky and Estes Park
is the same thing as RockyMountain National Park.
Well, they're two differentthings.
Estes Park is a little villageor a little town, and then Rocky
or Rocky Mountain National Parkis a national park.
(03:39):
It's actually owned by you andme, the taxpayer, and it's
managed by the National ParkService.
So when you leave the EstesPark city limits on either
Highway 34 or 36 going west, youimmediately reach either the
Beaver Meadows entrance, alittle bit to the middle of the
park, or to the northern edge ofthe park.
(04:00):
You can also reach Fall Riverentrance.
Those are the two mainentrances from the east side of
the park.
So as you exit the park on thewestern side, those two roads
combine together and then you'llenter the sister village of
Estes Park, which is calledGrand Lake.
We'll talk more about that alittle bit later, but let's
begin with when to be there, andI'm just going to hit to the
(04:22):
highlights on that.
These are some primary tips Iwould say to have the most
enjoyable trip by motorcycle.
Avoid holidays.
Full stop there.
Avoid holidays.
The full-time population ofEstes Park is about 6,000 people
.
Rocky Mountain National Parkreceives about 4.3 million
(04:44):
visitors each year and the greatmajority of those visitors
arrive in Estes Park.
The vast majority of those 3.4million visitors will come
between June and September everyyear.
Holidays during this span,especially the week of July 4th
that's the big one.
(05:05):
Avoid July 4th.
Anytime around that date.
Either weekend around thatMidweek is almost always less
crowded.
I always recommend visiting thearea Monday through Thursday,
if you can.
In Estes you'll have theopportunity to talk with the
locals and in Rocky you'll haveplenty of opportunity to talk
(05:27):
with the rangers and it'llpretty much be traffic free,
especially early in the morningsand late in the evenings.
That's really the best time tobe out in the national park.
The reason early mornings andevenings are the best also is
because that's where thewildlife are going to be out and
about most of the time, reallyearly in the morning around
sunrise and then late in theevening as the sun begins to set
(05:48):
.
That's when the wildlife aremost active.
In general, be watchful ofstorms.
Really any time of year upthere, getting into the higher
elevations, a storm can turninto ice or it can turn into
snow any month of the year.
I've actually been in snow onthe higher elevations in Rocky
Mountain National Parks in Julyyes, fresh snow in July, so that
(06:10):
can absolutely happen.
Let's talk about now about whereto ride.
Now it's going to definitelydepend on the season because
Trail Ridge Road, which is thehighest road in Rocky Mountain
National Park.
It actually reaches anelevation of over 12,000 feet.
Now when you get up into thosekind of elevations you can have,
(06:32):
like I said, ice and snow justabout any time of year.
But they typically won't openTrail Ridge Road at its highest
elevations until about May andthen, depending on the season
between the weather, it'llgenerally be closing again.
That road will close in thehigher elevations sometime
(06:53):
around October, something likethat.
But just wanted to point thatout.
Like I mentioned, though, one ofthe highlights of going into
Rocky Mountain National Park bymotorcycle is Trail Ridge Road.
It's the highest continuousroad, continuous paved road in
the United States, and it isabsolutely wonderful.
(07:14):
When you cross over from EstesPark on Trail Ridge Road, all
the way across the National Park, you'll eventually reach Grant
Lake, which is considered thesister city of Estes Park,
eventually reach Grand Lake,which is considered the sister
city of Estes Park.
You'll find the deepest lake,the deepest natural lake in all
of Colorado, there at Grand Lake.
The population of Grand Lake isabout 400 people, but it
(07:35):
certainly swells during thesummertime.
It's a very peaceful settingout by the lake, excellent
restaurants and coffee shops,and they also have a hidden gem
there in Grand Lake.
It's called the Rocky MountainRepertory Theater, and maybe
I'll talk a little bit moreabout that later on.
But for the Repertory TheaterI'd recommend getting a
(07:58):
reservation, and it's also agood idea just to go ahead and
spend the night, because usuallythe shows at the Repertory
Theater go into the evening andyou really don't want to be out
on the mountain roads atnighttime.
You especially don't want to beout on Trail Ridge Road with no
guardrails, at 12,000 feet atnight.
Don't want to do that.
So get out your map and let'sbegin our journey.
(08:26):
Let's begin in the beautifullittle town of Loveland,
colorado, which is my hometown.
Loveland is a great place tostay outside of the tourist
traffic.
If you choose not to stay inEstes Park, that's where I
recommend anyway.
So now there are many hotelsand restaurants in the eastern
portion of Loveland near Highway25, but I really really
(08:47):
recommend escaping the trafficthat can be over there and the
busyness and make your way intothe old, original portion of
Loveland.
We have a new hotel right inthe heart of downtown and it's
called Town Place Suites byMarriott.
It's within easy walkingdistance of the historic 4th
Street, where you'll findlocally owned and operated
(09:08):
restaurants and pubs and don'tmiss Mary's Mountain Cookies.
Those are really really good.
Another hotel option that Ireally super duper recommend in
Loveland is the La Quinta Innand Suites in West Loveland,
right on Highway 34.
That's actually not too farfrom my home actually.
This is a very quiet locationand gives you a great jumping
(09:31):
off point to head to Estes Park.
It's also close to my favoritecoffee shop in Loveland that's
called Jamocha Joe's, which isowned and operated by my friend
Christine.
This is a drive-thru littlecoffee shop, little hippie shack
you might say that hasbeautiful shade trees out there
and vintage 1970s chairsunderneath the shade tree.
(09:53):
So get your espresso or latteand just go chill and have a
little chat with Christine.
Okay, let's head to Estes Parkfrom Loveland.
We'll follow the Big ThompsonRiver, so we're going to take
Highway 34, which is just westfrom Jamocha Joes.
We stay on the Highway 34 forabout 12 miles or so.
(10:14):
We immediately enter thefoothills of Colorado from there
, going through this amazing anddeep portion of the road which
we call the Narrows as itfollows the Big Thompson River,
going west, as soon as you exitthe twisties of the narrows, on
your left you'll see a beautifullittle shop.
It's called the Colorado CherryCompany.
Stop in there for a cherry pie,pocket or juice and while
(10:37):
you're listening to classictunes and even polka sometimes.
By the way, my beautiful wifeKaren is the store manager.
So we are there quite a lot andit is a great, great little
shop.
So you're going to continue onon Highway 34 and then you'll
finally reach a point of alittle town called Drake, tiny
(10:58):
little village.
There's a small restaurant anda campground there.
It's here where you want to turnright on County Road 43.
Don't miss this turn.
It's really really easy to missit.
But be looking for County Road43.
Here we're going to turn'sreally really easy to miss it,
but be looking for County Road43.
Here we're going to turn towardEstes Park, but we're going to
follow the less traveled LittleThompson River.
(11:18):
We'll continue on County Road43 through the little village of
Glenhaven and there's going tobe this amazingly sharp and
steep twisty turn that you'regoing to be going up and over.
Just be careful here.
It's perfectly fine for streetbikes, no need to have a dual
sport or anything like that, butit is quite steep, so just be,
(11:42):
yeah, know what you're doingwhen you're going up that one
steep portion of that road andthen you'll crest the top of the
road and then out in front ofyou will be one of the most
beautiful sights you've everseen.
You'll see Longs Peak, which isthe highest peak in Rocky
Mountain National Park, and theContinental Divide.
Down below both of those peaksis the village of Estes Park.
(12:05):
Estes Park is a beautiful, coollittle village and it's very
popular.
Like I said, I really, reallyrecommend visiting Estes really
any time of year, but Mondaysthrough Thursdays is when you're
going to see a lot less crowdsand a lot less traffic Going
into Estes Park.
This is a point where I highlyrecommend that you fill up with
(12:28):
gas.
There are not a lot of gasstations around that area and
there are certainly no gasstations in Rocky Mountain
National Park, so it's a goodtime to top off with gas there,
let's see.
I recommend stopping in thesister store of the Colorado
Cherry Company which is in thelower level of the Stanley Hotel
, lower level of the StanleyHotel.
(12:53):
Get a snack and take your snackand latte or whatever you want,
up on the porch and have awonderful view of the
Continental Divide Going downinto the village of Estes Park.
I so enjoy stopping by a littleplace called Inkwell and Brew.
It's very close to the historicMcDonald's bookstore.
Another favorite coffee shop,there is Kind Coffee and if
you're interested in a guidedtour, I highly recommend Green
Jeep Tours and that's where Iwork part-time.
(13:15):
We have just wonderful,wonderful guests and I just work
there every once in a while.
But you'd be free to ask for meif you'd like.
I'm Ron Francis.
As for restaurants in EstesPark.
If you want a really reallygood hamburger, stop by
Penelope's on Elkhorn Avenue.
As far as other details abouttouring within Rocky Mountain
(13:35):
National Park, I put a lot ofdetail in the first three
episodes talking about touringin Rocky Mountain National Park,
the episodes that begin withthose titles, so I'm not going
to repeat that so much here.
I'll let you go back and listento that on your own.
But just keeping in mindprobably the number one thing
that I want to relay is thatavoid holidays and avoid the
(13:57):
crowds.
If you can, again, avoidholidays, such as July 4th
especially, and the ideal timeto be in the park is Monday
through Thursday, any timebetween, let's say, june and
September.
Those are usually the besttimes.
As I mentioned, I publishedthree episodes on Rocky Mountain
(14:22):
National Park, which have awhole lot of detail in those
three separate episodes, but I'dlike to stress right now, as we
begin to wrap up this section,where to go from Grand Lake.
Now, once you've reached theother side of Rocky Mountain
National Park, from Estes Park,there's Grand Lake right there,
the little village, and you caneither come straight back,
coming back east, and comeacross the park again, or, if
(14:45):
you have extended time, you cantake other options to return
yourself back to Loveland.
So option one for example, fromGrand Lake you go west on
Highway 34, and that's the samehighway that goes through Rocky
Mountain National Park.
That's also Trail Ridge Road.
So from Grand Lake you've gotan opportunity to go back across
(15:06):
Rocky Mountain National Park onthe same road that you came
over to Estes Park, if you wantto.
But if you have additional time, you have other options that
are just completely amazing.
So, for example, from GrandLake, you can continue on going
west and reach the little citycalled Granby, and from Granby,
by the way, it's a good place totop off with gas again From
(15:29):
Granby, you can take a right andactually cross the Continental
Divide one more time.
You've already crossed it whenyou were on Trail Ridge Road,
but you'll cross it one moretime.
Going north, you'll head over to, eventually, the little village
of Walden, which is, out there,just beautiful.
Out there, those are flatspaces that were made by the
(15:50):
glaciers during the ice ages andcompletely surrounded by
mountains, no traffic whatsoever, and it's just wonderful
straight stretch of just uh,serenity, I guess you might say
it's just wonderful.
From there You'll eventually,as you go North, you'll
eventually get to Walden, agreat place to grab a bite to
eat or top off with gas there ifyou need to.
(16:11):
From there you'll take a righton Highway 14, and Highway 14
will take you over what's calledCameron Pass at 10,000 feet.
You'll follow the KachalaputaRiver all the way down for
roughly about 100 miles andeventually reach the town of
Fort Collins, and then you gofrom Fort Collins, you'll go
(16:33):
south and then you'll reachLoveland once again.
So one other option I just wantto throw out there as well going
back to Grand Lake.
So from Grand Lake again, goout to Granby and instead of
turning right to go north,you'll turn left to go south.
From there you're going tofollow out the road and you'll
eventually cross through thevery famous ski resort called
(16:54):
Winter Park.
You'll pass that.
You'll do an amazing climb upwhat's called Berthoud Pass,
with some amazing views up there.
From Berthoud Pass you'llcontinue on down where it'll
eventually connect up withHighway 70.
Now, from Highway 70, as you'recoming back towards
civilization, coming back east,you've got all sorts of options
(17:15):
to work your way back toLoveland.
You can work your way backthrough Nederland or through,
actually, the city of Boulder,which is quite popular, and then
, yeah, you'll work your wayback down to Loveland following
the foothills there.
There's just too many detailsand too many options to possibly
be able to describe.
I know I went really fast withthis description of riding in
(17:47):
and around Rocky MountainNational Park and different
options there, but there's justso many options.
I've literally ridden in thisarea for almost 30 years now
well over 25, almost 30, I guess, collectively and I love it.
I just absolutely love it.
I love the terrain, thewildlife, the history, the
(18:08):
people.
There are just so many thingsabout this area that I really
really love.
Sometimes the easiest thing,quite frankly, is just talk with
a local in order to find outthe best places to go, and I'm
quite the experienced motorcyclerider around here.
So I would love to talk withyou Again, kind of thinking
around the idea of creating atour if you may be interested in
(18:31):
something like that one ofthese days, but still thinking
about that.
But again, I would love to talkwith you, whoever may be
listening and interested in justfinding out more information
about riding around this area ormaybe taking a tour at some
point.
So feel free to send me a noteAgain.
My email is ron atpeacelovemotocom.
(18:55):
I love what I do in regard tothis podcast.
This has just been a joy.
I love it more all the time,and especially now that we're
getting the warmer weather, andI got in a nice ride today too,
about 200 miles up in the kindof cool wind, but it was just
completely awesome, as always,and I'm so excited to have
(19:16):
spring right around the cornerand summer ahead, and I'd love
to meet you as well as always.
Thank you so much for listening.
If you enjoy the podcast,please tell your friends.
I really appreciate that.
So until we meet again.
I wish you peace.
I wish you love, thank you.
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