Moab or Durango/RMNP?
Next summer my family (myself, wife and 3 daughters ages 12, 10, 5) will be going cross country. We are leaving from Vermont with our first major stop being at Estes Park. I know it'll be crazy busy...
Forum Discussion
I'm a little late to this party since I've been in Moab for the last week. As usual, the advise I will give is heavily weighted toward making sure your kids have a great time. You can do the "adult tour" once the kids are out of the house!
Be warned, a lot of the destinations you have on your agenda will be crazy busy as you are going at the height of the tourist season. Make sure you have your reservations figured out early so you can make then as soon as they open. Fourth of July will be the toughest. Also be aware that July 24th is a state holiday in Utah and lots of Utah families plan week long vacations around that time.
Some observations on your latest iteration:
From St. Louis, plan to drive to Salida or Buena Vista (Upper Arkansas River Valley) rather than Colorado Springs. Higher up so cooler, plus much more in the mountains. Colorado Springs isn't someplace I'd take my out-of-state guests to visit. In and around Upper Arkansas River, there's great river rafting for all ability levels, ghost towns (head up to St. Elmo), hot springs, fishing, mountain biking, hiking, etc. Most years we spend a week or more in this area and never run out of things to do. Downtown Salida is really neat. Great park, great local artists galleries (what kid wouldn't like to visit the Bungled Jungle?), interesting restaurants, and places to wade or tube down the river right through town.
As noted, an overnight at Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP is worth the side trip. Very dark up there at night. Deer in the CG during the day. Totally different type of canyon than those in UT and AZ. Make sure to do a side trip down the East Portal road to see the canyon from the bottom looking up. But leave the trailer on top as the grade is very steep (though paved).
During your time in Ouray, plan on renting a jeep to see some of the back country sights not visible from the highway. Also do a day trip to Telluride. The creek through town is a popular place to tube and one can take the town bus back upstream to repeat as needed. Nice mountain biking trails here too. (We may be on the geriatric tour when we mountain bike, but we still love it!)
While in Mesa Verde, plan on time in Durango, specifically on the Durango to Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. An all day affair. Steam powered train through some of the most amazing mountains in Colorado. Silverton is a real honest to goodness western town that still has dirt streets and wooden sidewalks (and plenty of souvenir shops to take your money!). I'm not a big fan of big tourist draws, but I've done this ride several times and will again.
Instead of Park City as an intermediate stop, maybe someplace around Vernal Utah or up by Flaming Gorge. Kids get a kick out of Dinosaur National Monument, and the "Bone Wall" is impressive even to adults. In town, the Utah Field House of Natural History has several dinosaur skeletons and lots of other fossils. Meshes well with the trip to the monument.
You might consider only one night in the Badlands and two nights in Cody if you need more time for some of the suggestions above.
Probably the most time stressed destination will be Yellowstone. Each section of the park takes at least a day and traffic can be quite slow, due to both the numbers of people and the amount of wildlife that people stop (in the middle of the road) to photograph.
Be warned, a lot of the destinations you have on your agenda will be crazy busy as you are going at the height of the tourist season. Make sure you have your reservations figured out early so you can make then as soon as they open. Fourth of July will be the toughest. Also be aware that July 24th is a state holiday in Utah and lots of Utah families plan week long vacations around that time.
Some observations on your latest iteration:
From St. Louis, plan to drive to Salida or Buena Vista (Upper Arkansas River Valley) rather than Colorado Springs. Higher up so cooler, plus much more in the mountains. Colorado Springs isn't someplace I'd take my out-of-state guests to visit. In and around Upper Arkansas River, there's great river rafting for all ability levels, ghost towns (head up to St. Elmo), hot springs, fishing, mountain biking, hiking, etc. Most years we spend a week or more in this area and never run out of things to do. Downtown Salida is really neat. Great park, great local artists galleries (what kid wouldn't like to visit the Bungled Jungle?), interesting restaurants, and places to wade or tube down the river right through town.
As noted, an overnight at Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP is worth the side trip. Very dark up there at night. Deer in the CG during the day. Totally different type of canyon than those in UT and AZ. Make sure to do a side trip down the East Portal road to see the canyon from the bottom looking up. But leave the trailer on top as the grade is very steep (though paved).
During your time in Ouray, plan on renting a jeep to see some of the back country sights not visible from the highway. Also do a day trip to Telluride. The creek through town is a popular place to tube and one can take the town bus back upstream to repeat as needed. Nice mountain biking trails here too. (We may be on the geriatric tour when we mountain bike, but we still love it!)
While in Mesa Verde, plan on time in Durango, specifically on the Durango to Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. An all day affair. Steam powered train through some of the most amazing mountains in Colorado. Silverton is a real honest to goodness western town that still has dirt streets and wooden sidewalks (and plenty of souvenir shops to take your money!). I'm not a big fan of big tourist draws, but I've done this ride several times and will again.
Instead of Park City as an intermediate stop, maybe someplace around Vernal Utah or up by Flaming Gorge. Kids get a kick out of Dinosaur National Monument, and the "Bone Wall" is impressive even to adults. In town, the Utah Field House of Natural History has several dinosaur skeletons and lots of other fossils. Meshes well with the trip to the monument.
You might consider only one night in the Badlands and two nights in Cody if you need more time for some of the suggestions above.
Probably the most time stressed destination will be Yellowstone. Each section of the park takes at least a day and traffic can be quite slow, due to both the numbers of people and the amount of wildlife that people stop (in the middle of the road) to photograph.
TenOC wrote:Ignore this advise. I can't imagine travelling half way across the US to spend a 1/2 day at any of the NP's. The time you have allotted is great, as it allows you to really see the parks yet gives the kids a little time to just be kids. We live in this part of the world and still revisit these areas time after time and always find more to do.
Unless you hike a number of the locations you mentioned can be seen in a 1/2 day.
