Estes Park, located at an altitude of 2,300 meters in a wide valley. From Estes Park you can explore the Rocky Mountain National Park, which is why it is called the gateway to the Rocky Mountain National Park.
If you want to explore something, go to Longs Peak (4,346 meters), this is the highest peak in the area. There are few motorways in the park, but there are more than 750 kilometers of hiking trails. From Estes Park it is approximately 16 kilometers along the Bear Lake Road to Bear Lake. The road is narrow and winding and goes along beautiful lakes and ends at Bear Lake. Many walks start from here.

From Steamboat Springs we drive over the U> S. Highway 40 into the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests, in the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests rugged mountain tops alternate with forests, cool lakes and narrow streams. Just before Kremmling, the 1st place we visit you will pass the Wolford Mountain Reservoir, this is a reservoir in Grand County. The reservoir and its dam form part of the Wolford Mountain Recreation Area. Here you also get acquainted for the first time with the Colorado River, this is a 2334 kilometer long river in the southwest of the United States and the north of Mexico. It originates in the American state of the same name and flows through Utah, Arizona, Nevada and California before it flows into the Gulf of California on the border between Baja California and Sonora.

We continue to follow the Colorado River for the time being and this takes us to the next town we visit, Hot Sulfur Springs, this town is best known as one of the oldest, largest and most beautiful natural hot springs and resorts in the country. You can admire the Pioneer Village Museum, early tools from Grand County residents, pioneer clothing and historical Grand County artifacts displayed at the museum at the original Hot Sulfur Springs school. After the stop we drive on and pass Lake Granby, this was founded in 1950 by the establishment of Granby Dam as part of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project. Time for a short stop to take some pictures.

Then follows the 77-kilometer Trail Ridge Road. There are viewpoints and other places of interest here. The road is usually open from the second half of May to October. The route rises to more than 3,700 meters. It is possible that you will suffer from altitude sickness due to a rapid rise. You notice this by pressing headache or nausea. Along the way you will pass the Farview Curve viewpoint. From here you have a view of the Never Summer Mountains and the start of the Colorado River, which makes its way through the Kawuneechee Valley. Then you come to the Alpine Visitor Center. At the Alpine Visitor Center you are at 3,595 meters altitude. This is the highest visitor center of all national parks. You are surrounded by mountain peaks, glacier valleys and vast tundra. You can walk to the viewpoint 300 meters higher here. Finally you will pass Many Parks Curve, this viewpoint that you should definitely not miss. At 2,938 meters altitude it is one of the most spectacular viewpoints on the Trail Ridge Road.

Another 18 KM and then we are in Estes Park, where you will first have to refuel before you drive to your hotel, where you will once again process all the impressions you have made along the way.

In this 4-star route you will drive along beautiful good roads, you will make several stops along the Trail Ridge Road, where your Forest Canyon Overlook & Many Parks Curve should not be missed.

History:
The history of Estes Park begins with the powerful geological forces of tectonic elevation and glacial erosion that have formed a beautiful mountain valley and the surrounding peaks in the heart of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado for millions of years. Together they have given us the beautiful and unforgettable landscape and ecosystem that we like to share with millions of visitors from all over the world and around the world every year.
Archaeologists tell us that our human history, at least on a seasonal basis, goes back some ten thousand years to the ancestors of today's American Indians. Until the end of the 18th century, the Utes dominated the mountain area in the west and were increasingly forced to share their territory with the Arapaho, Comanche, Shoshone, and even, as suggested, with itinerant bands from Apache.
The word "Park", in the language of the mountains, means high valley. The name "Estes Park" (or "Este's Park" as it was first called) was given in the valley by William Byers, founder of the Rocky Mountain News. Rocky Mountain National Park was established in January 1915. Two years later, in April 1917, the formal establishment of the city of Estes Park and the start of the local government came to lead the affairs of a fast-growing community.