Homestead Creations

We didn’t have a lot of time in Denver, but we had two top priorities while we were there. Take a train ride and Rocky Mountain National Park. I have more pictures from our day in Denver than I do of the three days leading up to this point of our trip combined. These two stops were magical and majestic and everything we had hoped for and more!

There are a lot of great train options in Denver and I’m sure you can’t go wrong with any of them when it comes to the views because Colorado is just beautiful everywhere. We based our decision on cost and the amount of time we had to ride a train and take in the beauty. Georgetown Loop was the perfect choice for us! The train ride is about 1hr 15min, but you will need to account for how long it takes to get there and getting there early enough to not miss boarding. Devils Gate Depot, which is where our train departed from, is about 45 minutes from Denver so take that into consideration when booking the train and/or the hotel.

If you leave from Devils Gate Depot, you will take the train through a scenic pathway in the Rocky Mountains to Silver Plume Station where you will be able to stretch your legs for a bit, take a bathroom break if needed, and look around the cute historic station. They will blow the train whistle when it is time to come back to the train and you will retrace your tracks back through the mountain to return to Devils Gate Loop.

One of the highlights of the trip, is riding over the Devils Gate Bridge on the way up and down from the mountain.

I mean the view from the top of the bridge is not an ugly one.

The views the entire time are 360° of breathtaking beauty!

There are so many cute little places to see along the way. Tiny camp sites, old entrances to mines, old carts used in mines, and more. The picture above is only one of many.

One of my favorite parts was seeing all the workers dressed up and playing the part. They were full of interesting stories, funny jokes, and radiated enthusiasm for trains and the history of this loop. It was infectious and made the experience that much more fun.

You know it is something special when even your 5 year old holds still and takes in all the scenery!

Silver Plume was a cute little stop. We didn’t have much time there, but I do think they give you more time when the museum is open. Since it wasn’t when we were there we just walked around the buildings and looked inside and used the restroom real quick before heading back to the train. Back in the day, Silver Plume was the place to go for a great day trip. It was common to head up the mountain, stop in Silver Plume for lunch, and then head back down. You could feel and see the history all around you there which is a favorite of ours.

The view heading back down the mountain to Devils Gate Depot. If you zoom in, you can see Devils Gate Bridge in the distance.

Where we got on and off at Devils Gate Depot. All in all this was a fantastic stop. It was beautiful, educational, and fun which is our favorite trifecta! We went in mid-May and I will warn there was still snow on the ground which gives you an idea of how cold it was. With that being said, we were in light jackets and fine. I’m sure the weather and colors improve as you go further into the summer but the crows do too so choose your preference.

Next stop was Rocky Mountain National Park and our first stop there was Lily Lake.

I want to start by saying this lake is GORGEOUS and none of these pictures (which I’m posting very few of what we took) come close to doing it justice. I probably should’ve taken the time to edit them to make them look closer to what they actually look like in person, but I don’t have the time and I want to get this trip documented so you’ll just have to picture everything at least twice as pretty as what you see.

There are bathrooms just as you come up to the lake, so if you need a potty break, that would be the time. There is a loop that goes all the way around the lake; at one point about half way around the lake you will come to a cross in the road where you can continue to loop around at lake level or you can take a slight left turn to take the trail that will go up a bit and allow you to view the lake from a higher viewpoint before coming back down where you started. If you want to do that route, you will want to start walking around the lake by heading to your LEFT after arriving at the lake from the parking lot.

Before we started on the trail, we just took some time to take in the views and watch for wildlife in the water and we were not disappointed.

We watched what I believe was a beaver busy at work, birds, squirrels, and fish. I didn’t take a bunch of pictures of the birds and squirrels but the beaver was pretty exciting since we don’t see those in the neck of our woods. The most exciting wildlife we saw though came once we started the walk around the lake…

As we began walking on the boardwalk portion of the trail, we looked ahead and saw what looked like moose. Our first thought was to turn around and go the other way, but when we saw there were Park Rangers there and still allowing people to walk slowly and quietly by we knew we had to take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity.

I’m not zoomed in, that is just how close they were! It was AMAZING. Everyone was so quiet and respectful and no one was trying to get any closer, but we all just stood there taking it in and watching them in their natural habitat. As we talked to the park rangers we learned they are a mother and her calf but the mother is not protective anymore because they are beginning to separate. They predicted they would no longer be near each other within the week. They had been keeping a close eye on them for sometime now and had many fun facts to share and answers to give. It was such a cool experience!

I didn’t take very long after seeing the moose to come up to the Lily Ridge Trail turn off where you will now go up just a bit and view the lake from above. To the right of where I am standing (taking the picture) is the trail you would take to continue walking at lake level.

As you walk up you have rocks to your left…

and that view to your right. Not too shabby, right?! The trail itself is not as smooth as the lower trail, but you definitely aren’t scaling rocks like the girls were in the picture above. They were off the trail doing that. There are some rock stairs on your way down to the trailhead so keep that in mind when decided if this is the right trail for you.

Distance wise going on the ridge trail doesn’t add too much, but time wise it will take a bit longer. Our 5 year old (being held in the above picture) walked the whole thing herself, so that should help give you a good idea of the difficulty of the trail.

It’s 100% worth any extra effort for that view!

Next stop was driving further up the mountain to the actual entrance of Rocky National Park.

At this point we noticed it was getting considerably colder than before but didn’t think too much of it and kept driving to our first stop: Bear Lake.

Turns out Bear Lake was still frozen over. 🙂

The snow was high enough in places that it was covering the handrail that usually goes to my husbands hip…we would just see little tips of the handrail posts and realize how high the snow had gotten there. It was crazy slippery and people were slipping and sliding and trying to help each other all around us, but we decided to push through and still try to walk to the lake.

The whitest lake we’d ever seen 🙂 Gorgeous area all around it though so if you go when its not still frozen and the snow has thawed, the loop at Bear Lake must be incredible!

While there, we decided to at least work on the Junior Ranger Program rather than just jump right back in the car and leave. All the other hikes I had planned were even further up the mountain so we decided to just head back down since they would probably be too hard for us to do in our Arizona attire. Next time we do Rocky Mountain National Park when know to go with the crowds in the middle of the summer or wear snow boots! 🙂

Cute little store on our way down where we stopped for snacks to hold us over until we got to our hotel.

Colorado is certainly a wonderland full of beauty and adventure and we can’t wait to go back!