Denver 5-Day Trip (No Skiing) ⛰️

Route: Denver → Estes Park → Colorado Springs → Indian Hot Springs → Denver 📍 Rocky Mountain / Estes Park Visited in November — no ticket reservations needed, just bought at the gate and drove to Bear Lake Trailhead. Trail route: Bear Lake → Nymph Lake → Dream Lake → (Haiyaha Lake). Trail is well-maintained and signposted, no worries about getting lost. Winter not ideal for Haiyaha Lake — try Emerald Lake instead. Summer photos of Haiyaha are gorgeous, but winter views are less impressive, plus the last stretch involves climbing over rocks. Weather when we went: warm at the base (~ above freezing, just a sweater needed), light snow up top, very cold ❄️. Once snow melted and refroze, trails got super slippery — I wore grippy boots and still fell three times 😅. Recommend renting microspikes from a mountain shop before hiking — ~$15/day. Stay here at least one night to explore more lakes — truly beautiful! 🏞️ 📍 Pikes Peak Cog Railway / Colorado Springs Book Window Seat A if possible 🚞. Summit reaches ~14,000 ft (~4,270 m) — if you’re worried about altitude, grab oxygen boosters from Walmart or a mountain shop. Our day had heavy snow at the top — couldn’t see much, but the ride up was scenic and the guide was enthusiastic 🗣️✨. Afterward, stopped at a café in Manitou Springs — got preached at by the owner 😳. Turns out this town has a lot of unusual history and legends. Otherwise, not much else to do in Colorado Springs — wouldn’t recommend staying overnight. 📍 Indian Hot Springs Tried their cave hot springs — perfect after hiking in the snow! Water is very hot, so you can’t stay in too long 🥵. Note: No phones allowed inside 😅. Recommend staying overnight so you can soak throughout the day — super relaxing 🧖‍♂️💆‍♂️. #DenverTravel #RockyMountains #EstesPark #PikesPeak #HotSprings #WinterHiking #ColoradoTravel #NoSkiNeeded #TravelGuide #USATravel 🏔️