Hotels in Estes Park, Colorado

A little about Estes Park...

Estes Park is a town in Larimer County, Colorado (USA) on the Big Thompson River. The population was 5,413 at the 2000 census. As of a 2005 census estimate, the population has risen to 5,812. The town is named after Jœl Estes, who founded Estes Park in 1859. The town is a popular summer resort and headquarters for Rocky Mountain National Park.

Rocky Mountain National Park features majestic mountain views, a variety of wildlife, varied climates and environments—from wooded forests to mountain tundra—and easy access to back-country trails and campsites. The park is located north-west of Boulder, Colorado in the Colorado Rockies, and includes the Continental Divide and the headwaters of the Colorado River in its land area.

The park has five visitor centers. The park headquarters, Beaver Meadows Visitor Center, is a National Historic Landmark, designed by the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture at Taliesin West.

The park is accessed by three roads, U.S. Highway 34 and 36, and Colorado State Highway 7. State Highway 7 enters the park for less than a mile, where it provides access to the Lily Lake Visitor Center. Highway 36 enters the park on the east side, where it terminates after a few miles at Highway 34. Highway 34, known as Trail Ridge Road through the park, runs from the town of Estes Park, Colorado on the east to Grand Lake, Colorado on the south west. The road reaches 12,183 feet (3,183 meters) in elevation, and is closed in the winter due to snow.

The town's outskirts include The Stanley Hotel. Once a fine example of Edwardian opulence, the 1906 building had Stephen King as a guest, inspiring him to change the locale for his novel The Shining from an amusement park to the Stanley's fictional stand-in the Overlook Hotel. Estes Park is also recognized as the birthplace of the American credit union movement.

Trail Ridge Road, the highest continuous highway in the United States, runs from Estes Park westward through Rocky Mountain National Park, reaching Grand Lake over the continental divide.