The Best Estes Park Hikes

By the CMC Shining Mountains Group, with Ward Luthi

• Hikes chosen and reported on by experienced members of the Colorado Mountain Club
• A wide variety of hikes, from family- and wheelchair-friendly to challenging treks
• Fits in your pocket or daypack and features color photos and maps throughout the book

The Best Estes Park Hikes continues the series of best-selling pack guides published by CMC Press during the past five years. The trails range from short, scenic, and wheelchair accessible hikes near Estes Park to moderately difficult and even seriously challenging adventures.

This fit-in-your-pocket guide will take you from the summit of Twin Sisters Peak, at 11,428 feet—with great walking through fragrant pine forests—to the gently meandering paved trail around Lake Estes, which affords panoramic views of Long’s Peak, Rocky Mountain National Park’s most famous landmark.

With this guide, you will have the opportunity to sample wild raspberries along moderate trails crossed by rushing mountain streams, marvel at butterscotch-scented Ponderosa pines, and test your legs and endurance on a 13-mile loop through fir and pine forests. You will linger for lunch at Gem Lake, ponder the lives of early explorers and homesteaders at Homestead Meadows, soothe your feet in cold mountain streams, and survey your surroundings with a trek to the 11,000-foot Estes Cone.