Colorado in August

B

BOSS

100+ Posts
I'm thinking about taking a trip to Colorado during mid-August and wanted to get some suggestions on places to stay and things to do.

The reason I would like to go is to enjoy cooler weather than the 95 degree heat and 80% humidity that I will be facing in Houston at that time. I'd like to do some whitewater rafting and whatever else may come up.

We'll be taking a vacation during that time and spending about a week wherever we end up.

I'd appreciate suggestions and/or recommendations on other places that we could stay that would offer better options
 
Go to SalidaBuena Vista...do Brown's Canyon on the Arkansas River, the full day float. It's awesome. There's camping along the river, or up at Turquoise Lake. From there, we went to Crested Butte and camped along the Taylor River. The flyfishing was awesome. Went over to Glenwood Springs for an afternoon at the Hot Springs, then down to Durango.
Stopped at Santa Fe on the way home. Good Summer road trip, except for the $4 a gallon gas.


Overnight lows in August got down to 35 degrees. Daytime highs were in the 70's. They do get some afternoon showers in the high country, but that was no problemo.
 
Aspen is a fun place in the summer, too - if you can afford it (still pretty expensive, even in August). Lots of great hiking, softball leagues with movie stars playing, and some of the best music and bars west of Sixth Street. Not too far to go rafting, or you can try balloon rides, horseback riding, jeep trips into the back country, whatever. The gondolas will take you to the top of the ski lifts, and you can walk down, if you don't feel like hiking both ways. Good food, cool weather, nice people that like the outdoors a bunch. Check the web to see what is going on - they have music festivals, food festivals, etc. Lots of ski bums work there all summer, just so they can ski all winter. Aspen in the winter is too crowded and too upper class for me (I'd rather ski somewhere else) - but I love it there in the summer!
 
I also like the Salida/Buena Vista area. You could also stay in Leadville which is higher and cooler.

The Durango area has a lot of the same activities and probably more resort/hotel options. Plus you can spend a day at Mesa Verde if you like that sort of thing. Durango also has the Durango to Silverton narrow gauge railroad which is also a good family all day trip.
 
all of these are great suggestions, you know why? because the rockies kick *** during the summer. we used have a place in beaver creek and vail/bc is awesome during the summer. if you mountain bike, head over to keystone for their mountain bike park. they convert their mountain into a full on mountain bike amusement park.
 
My Fantasy Football league held our draft in Breckenridge 2 years ago at the end of August. We did a rafting trip on Friday that was very slow, because water levels are down at that time of year. In fact, if it hadn't been for the encouraged water fights between boats, we probably wouldn't have gotten wet at all.

There was also golf and fly fishing on Saturday afternoon. The weather was great and the town is fairly small and walkable. We rented a house (12 guys) about 150 yards from the parking lot at the base of the mountain. We'd have to drive down to town to do things, but it was good for us.

hookem.gif
 
That's a good point about rafting. The best rafting is in early summer. If the area has had little snow the rafting can really be poor by August. So you may want to check conditions before you schedule a trip.

On the other hand, if you've got little ones, it won't really matter to them and just being on the water will be fun.
 
Mrmyke, while I certainly respect your opinion I distinctly remember a trip in June we took where the river was way low. I remember thinking that if the river was that low in early June it would too low for rafting by August. Checking the USGS website it looks like the historical average peak flow for the Arkansas is just over 2,000 cfs which is in mid June. The average flow drops to half that by August.

Checking the records for 2002 the peak flow for the year was 650 cfs in May, by mid June was down to 450 and was 215 by mid August. That was the year I remembered. We skipped rafting that year but went back and rafted in June '05 and had a great time.

Here's where I went to check the flows. USGS Surface Water data I'm looking at Arkansas River flows at Nathrop which looked to be the closest measurement to Brown's Canyon.

Click the Go button next to "Available Data on this site" to get more specific data.
 
I would also recommend the Estes Park / Rocky Mountain National Park area also. EP is a little touristy but still fun, and there is unlimited hiking in RMNP. You can try Long's Peak if you are up for a challnge. I know their is rafting on the Cache La Poudre River, but could not say how it rates with other rivers in the state.
 
I have heard that Estes Park and Rocky Mt, nat'l park are crazy crowded in August. Is it crazy crowded and if it is, is it still worth it.

I loved it back in the 70s.
 
I went to EP/RMNP last summer around the beginning of August. It was pretty crowded in town and at the more popular hike trailheads (Bear Lake & Longs Peak) but I still really had a good time. If you hit some less popular trailheads it should not be that bad. Getting an early start (before 8:00am) should help a lot also.

I did Longs Peak and the parking lot was already filling up by 2:30am. If you start late in the morning at Bear Lake or Glacier Gorge, expect to have tor ride the shuttle bus in (which is actually not that bad). I also did a hike starting at Milner pass, and there were just 3 other cars in the lot when I started around 10:00am.

We went all thru the 70s also; it has changed a lot but I still enjoyed myself enough that the wife and I are going back this summer. There is actually a nice riverwalk in the town now, along which many of the restaurants and bars have outdoor seating in back. Maybe it is just the sense of comfort of being in a place I associate with all my childhood summer vacations.
 
i agree with the Estes Park / RMNP sentiment. Beautiful, beautiful area.

So many great trails. Just start early in the morning. Get in a 4 to 5 hour hike. Then enjoy the rest of your day in Estes Park or get in a well earned afternoonnap; after all you are on vacation!

Also, a word of advice. Don't be too ambitious on the first day. The altitude adjustment takes a bit of getting used to. Even for relatively fit people.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Recent Threads

Prediction Results Threads

2024 Schedules

Back
Top