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The Story of Estes Park
YOUR TRIP TO ESTES PARK CONTINUES A LONG TRADITION of visitors who have discovered this beautiful place and settled in to enjoy for a day, a week, a month or a lifetime.
Paleo Indians traveled to these mountains to escape the summer heat and to hunt the  abundant wildlife, including deer, elk, bison, and bear. Later the Ute and Arapahoe hunted those and smaller animals or visited sacred sites to trap eagles.
The first settler in the area was Joel Estes, a Kentuckian with wandering ways. Scouting for game one fall, he and his son climbed a high promontory that gave them a view of a breathtakingly beautiful valley. In 1860, Estes moved his family into a new home in the area now know as Estes Park.
Winters proved too harsh for cattle, so six years later the Estes Family sold out for a yoke of oxen. The Estes cabin was soon converted into guest accommodations, and from 1867 on the number of visitors to this area grew steadily.
The Rockies continued to attract the adventurous, including the great explorer John Wesley Powell, who conquered the summit of Longs Peak in 1868. Just five years later, Anna Dickinson became the first woman to succeed the climb.
Isabella Bird, an Englishwoman whose extensive travels and writings earned her the first female membership in the Royal Geographic Society, visited Estes Park in the fall of 1873. She fell in love with the area and, incidentally, with Jim Nugent, a well-educated mountain man whose violent death is shrouded in mystery. Several motives for his death surfaced, but his reputation as a hostile gate keeper to the park was the most accepted. His cabin stood at the prime entry point to the park and he was know to shoot at trespassers.
Bird's book, A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains, attracted many people to the area, as did Frederick Chapin's, Mountaineering in Colorado. So while much of the West was attracting homesteaders, the Rockies were also establishing themselves as a tourist mecca.
The Earl of Dunraven, an Irish lord, tried to buy the entire area for himself as a private hunting reserve. Enough families had settled in the area to try ranching or farming by the mid-1870s to keep him from achieving that goal.
Soon those families were providing accommodations for people who wanted to spend the summer months in a beautiful and relaxed atmosphere. With news of the ascent of Longs Peak by John Wesley Powell and a party of newspaper reporters, mountaineers began to arrive.
In 1903, F.O. Stanley, inventor of the Stanley Steamer automobile, came to Estes Park for his health. Impressed by the beauty of the valley and grateful for the improvement in his health, he decided to invest his money and his future there. In 1909, he opened the elegant Stanley Hotel, a classic hostelry exemplifying the golden age of touring.
Largely due to Stanley's efforts, the Estes Park Protective and Improvement Association was established to protect local wildflowers and wildlife and to improve roads and trails. "Those who pull flowers up by the roots will be condemned by all worthy people, and also by the Estes Park Protective and Improvement Association," they warned. It was the start of a conservation ethic that has become increasingly important and complex.
Even more important to the future of the area was Enos Mills, who came to the Longs Peak area in 1884 when he was 14 years old. A dedicated naturalist, he wrote eloquent books about the area's natural history. Not long after his arrival, Mills bought the Longs Peak Inn and began conducting local nature trips. |
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The Baldpate Inn
4900 S. Hwy 7, Estes Park
(866) 577-5397
(970) 586-5397
Adjacent to Rocky Mountain National Park, this 1917 inn is just 7 miles from Estes Park. Gourmet breakfast & homemade snacks. The mountain lodge rooms & cabins feature handmade quilts and great views. |
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Outlets at Loveland
5661 McWhinney Blvd., Loveland
(970) 663-1916
Your outlet for guilt free shopping! 30% to 70% off retail prices every day! |
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The Village Goldsmith Inc.
235 W. Elkhorn Ave., Estes Park
(970) 586-5659
Exclusive to the Village Goldsmith - The Estes Park Bracelet and the Estes Park Ring. For 30 years, the handcrafted artistry has excited clientele worldwide. |
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Rocky Mountain Gateway
(970) 577-0043
Included in the Rocky Mountain Gateway Center, The Gift Shop, the largest variety of gifts and souvenirs in the area. Trailhead Restaurant, a full service restaurant with top-notch food and service. Visitor Center offers outstanding wildlife exhibits and a spectacular view of the park. |
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Boulder Brook on Fall River
(800) 238-0910
"It would be hard to find a more beautiful setting for a lodging establishment." - Frommer's Comprehensive Travel. Pamper yourself in a beautifully decorated spa or one bedroom suite. |
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