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Aspire Tours Rocky Mountain National Park Full-Day Hiking Tour: My Experience

Like many others, I hopped on Aspire’s Rocky Mountain National Park Full Day Hiking Tour to get a bit out of my comfort zone. When it comes to enjoying the great outdoors, count me in! But scaling a 14er? Not really my speed. I'm all about savoring nature, wildlife, and soaking in the views without pushing my limits to the max. Living in Colorado, it's a balancing act, and Aspire Tours nailed it with their Rocky Mountain National Park Full Day Hiking Tour. This day was a perfect blend of stunning vistas, insightful knowledge, just the right amount of hiking, and unforgettable moments. If you're looking to experience the best of the Rockies in a single day of fun, this tour is a must.

Our adventure kicked off at Union Station, where we met our guide, Joshua. As we headed to Boulder to gather the rest of our group, Joshua regaled us with fascinating Denver history, from its origins to the Colorado Gold Rush and more. The drive along Route 36 treated us to views of the Flatirons and glimpses of the looming Rocky Mountains awaiting us. As we gained elevation into the mountains, we had our first wildlife encounter: adorable Pikas alongside the road.

Once we hit Lyons, things started to feel a whole lot more “mountainy.” We took a quick coffee break in this adorable mountain town. While to many, a coffee shop line may be a bad thing, I see it as a sign that the coffee is actually really good, and naturally, I was right. Estes Park was only about a ten minute drive from Lyons and if you haven’t been, make a plan to go. We checked out the Stanley Hotel, the hotel that inspired The Shining , and made our way into the park. 

The views driving through the park are spectacular, awesome, wondrous, and every other epic adjective you can throw at them, but really, it’s impossible to do it justice. You absolutely must see it for yourself. After a twenty-minute drive into the park, we at Bear Lake. Joshua handed out sandwiches while we threw on our jackets, made sure we had full waters, and trekked across the parking lot to the Bear Lake trailhead. There, we were greeted by the picturesque alpine lake. After a brief photo op, we were on our way down the Alberta Falls trail. 

Picture your quintessential forest trail: babbling streams, rustic bridges, leaves crunching beneath your feet, and fellow hikers sharing warm smiles. The route alternated between pine forests and aspen groves, each turn offering a new, visually pleasing vista.

We approached a canyon gorge, snapped some pictures, and then rounded the corner to see the sight we were all waiting for: Alberta Falls. The scenic 30-foot waterfall cascades down a narrow gorge on Glacier Creek, and offered an ideal picnic destination. I ate my turkey sandwich on a large boulder right beside the top of the falls. 

I have a busy life. Between work, family, friends, chores, errands, pets, and everything else that goes into city life, I rarely get a moment’s peace. But at the waterfall, I enjoyed a unique moment of serenity. As I ate, squirrels scurried around me and the constant hum of the waterfall underneath the blue sky allowed for a meditative, peaceful moment – the kind only nature can provide. I was reminded why I love the outdoors, why I should use every spare moment to enjoy all that Mother Nature has to offer, and how I’m so dang lucky to live so close to such incredible wonders. 

After about 45 minutes of enjoying the falls, we trekked back to Bear Lake to complete our group hike. The 1.5 mile hike back was a bit more difficult than the 1.5 miles to the falls, but we bonded over the walk, making the experience all the more fulfilling.

When back at the trailhead, Joshua left us with a choice to either walk the ¼ mile around Bear Lake together or individually. While I really enjoyed our group, I was on a bit of a high from my solo nature time, and glad to take this fabulously scenic stroll alone. I figured out why they call these the Rocky Mountains. The pictures don’t do it justice, but I tried my best to capture the majesty. 

We loaded back into the van and Joshua handed out well-deserved cookies. We drove through Morraine Park, a valley carved by ancient glaciers, and made a quick stop at the visitor center for souvenirs and to check out the exhibits inside. As we drove out of the park, we lamented at the lack of large wildlife sightings, but the animals of the park must’ve heard us, because they made a point to be known. 

Over the next 15 minutes, a large herd of elk crossed the road directly in front of us, including an enormous male with mature antlers. We passed by a large female moose just to our left, and a pack of deer pranced by on our right. I know this sounds fake, but the park is magical, I swear. 

All in all…

I would absolutely, 10,000% recommend this tour if you fit any of the following descriptions:.

• You’re visiting and you need someone to show you where to go.
• You want to visit Rocky Mountain National Park, are short on time, and don’t know where to even begin.
• You just moved to Colorado and you want to appreciate the state like a native.
• You’ve lived here forever, but you have yet to venture out to Rocky Mountain National Park. 

Or, any of these:

• You want to learn about Colorado wildlife.
• You want to learn about Colorado ecology.
• You want to learn about Colorado scenery.
• You want to learn about Colorado history. 
• You want to learn about Colorado, period.

This tour offers something for everyone, and I could not be more satisfied with how this day went. 

Now, it’s your turn. Sign up for your Rocky Mountain National Park hike today.

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Rocky Mountain National Park - Great Experience!

I am traveling solo and decided to book a full day tour of Rocky Mountain National park. I’m so glad I did - the tour was so much fun! Dylan, our tour guide, was excellent. He gave us a lot of great info and history about the area as we were touring and took us to all the best stops. I thought we had a good amount of time to enjoy each stop and the van was comfortable. I’d book again with this company the next time I’m in the area.

Hi Janice, Thanks for taking the time to leave Dylan (and ourselves) such kind words! We put a lot of effort into our tour offerings, and your recognition is greatly appreciated!

It was a lovely and relaxing trip! The sights were beautiful and interesting, and there was time to shop, or get coffee, ice cream, and food. The guide was also very knowledgeable and shared history and fun facts along the way.

Hello! Thank you for spending your day with us! We're happy to hear that you enjoyed the easy-going pace, and were able to treat yourself as well!

Our guide, Izzy, was wonderful! The trip was well planned, the sights were gorgeous, and it was a good mix of group activities and the freedom to choose your own adventure. Highly recommend going in the fall - the colors were beautiful!

Hi Rachel! We've been lucky with how pretty our leaves have been this fall, we're glad you were able to make it out here to see them yourself!

Booked this tour last minute and couldn't have been happier. Izzy was an amazing tour guide. She was upbeat, knowledgeable, and her taste in music was 100%. I would definitely recommend.

Well organised, good comfortable transport, beautiful scenery, good care taken of the group members, recommended!!

Amazing tour. It was the right amount of walking around and sightseeing on the bus. Ty was a very informative and nice tour guide. Had extra water for us and the picnic lunch was great. Highly recommend!

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Rocky Mountain National Park

Gentry was the best guide, she talk to us all day and educated the group on the Rocky Mountain National Park. She made sure we were always comfortable during the all day tour. Bring a backpack for incidentals and a water container. She will fill up your water through out the day. There are plenty of restroom stops before, during and after being in the park. She stopped at a really good coffee shop half way to the park where you can get coffee and some breakfast. Lunch was supplied too. I would absolutely do more tours with Aspire Tours and would always ask for Gentry!! Tip her well, she earns it!!

We greatly appreciate you joining us on tour of the National Park with Gentry! And we hope to see you again!

Great experience and value for money. Nick the tour guide was great and quite knowledgeable about the natural and geological history of the areas we were visiting. I'd never seen anything like the Garden of the Gods so definitely worth a visit particularly if you're not from the area, and the cog railway was a completely unique experience which I enjoyed even though I got some altitude sickness. Before booking this trip I looked into doing the cog railway by itself and hiring a car to travel from Denver. Even aside from enjoyment of the tour commentary, this was absolutely good value in terms of not having to worry about driving, getting a pass for Garden of the Gods, parking etc. Thanks Nick and copilot Hornsley the stegosaurus (I think...) for a great day! Nick gave some good recommendations for places to visit in Denver that were also appreciated.

Thank you so much for this feedback and joining us on this beautiful tour! We're happy this was a positive experience.

Amazing full day hike in the Colorado Rockies. Super easy to set up. A great day hiking in the Rocky Mountains while in Denver. Our guide Jerry was super cool, helpful and chose a great trail for us. Amazing views.

We're so happy you enjoyed the hike, and we hope you'll come visit us again!

Izzy was our guide and she was very helpful, pleasant, and knowledgeable. We learned so much from her about the areas we were visiting as well as tips and recommendations. Take a water bottle to hydrate. Beautiful views!

Sounds like an exciting tour, thank you for the trust!

Our guide Izzy was great! She was very knowledgeable about the history Denver and the Rockies despite only being a resident of Colorado for about a year. Her commentary was interesting and fun! I really enjoyed her musical playlist as well. The only suggestion I have is to omit the Idaho Springs stop as a 30 min stop. The water wheel and town are cute but 30 min is not necessary. Maybe a different stop or extend the final stop (the money shot) longer. Over all it was worth our money and we saw some amazing views.

We greatly appreciate your feedback and thank you for joining us!

First timers to RMNP and we had no idea where to start, so we took this tour. We were picked up in Boulder, which was very convenient to our hotel. Our tour guide, Christian, was excellent from start to finish, and provided us with his knowledge of the area and excellent driving skills. The ride thru the RMNP is quiet thrilling, but not sure we would want to drive our car where we went. This tour gave us the opportunity to see amazing sites, we probably would not have visited without this tour. Beautiful sites, that we appreciated, with a wonderful picnic lunch that was provided by Aspire, as we sat near a creek in the forest. Stunning, memorable, and appreciative for nature at its best. If we come back to Boulder or Denver again, we would repeat this tour, because it gave us the opportunity to see the sights without having to worry about driving or parking. You get the chance to look out the windows without looking at the road. Wonderful memories. We highly recommend taking this tour for a relaxing tour.

Thank you for taking the time to leave this detailed review of your experience with Aspire Tours in the National Park! We hope to welcome you back again soon!

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Aspire Tours - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

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• About this activity

Rocky Mountain National Park Full-Day Tour

• Free cancellation available
• Mobile voucher
• Instant confirmation
• A scenic journey to explore the Rockies' majestic sights
• Plenty of time to spot animals like moose, elk, and deer
• Stops chosen by a knowledgeable, passionate guide
• Free time at each stop for you to relax & explore
• Small group of up to 13 people for a personal experience

Activity location

• Rocky Mountain National Park, USA

Meeting/Redemption Point

• 1701 Wynkoop Street
• 80202, Denver, Colorado, United States of America

Multiple meeting/redemption points available, see location information for full list

• Tue, Apr 23 -
• Wed, Apr 24 $169
• Thu, Apr 25 $169
• Fri, Apr 26 $179
• Sat, Apr 27 $179
• Sun, Apr 28 $179
• Mon, Apr 29 $169
• Tue, Apr 30 $169
• Wed, May 1 $169
• Thu, May 2 $169
• Fri, May 3 -
• Sat, May 4 -
• Sun, May 5 $179
• Mon, May 6 $169
• Tue, May 7 $169

Rocky Mountain National Park Tour from Boulder

• Activity duration is 6 hours and 45 minutes 6h 45m 6h 45m

Live Commentary in English

Rocky Mountain National Park Tour from Denver

• Activity duration is 8 hours 8h 8h

What's included, what's not

• What's included What's included Guided tour of Rocky Mountain National Park
• What's included What's included Park entrance fees
• What's included What's included Live tour commentary provided in English
• What's included What's included Water refill - please bring reusable bottle
• What's excluded What's excluded Guide gratuity
• What's excluded What's excluded Lunch: From Nov. 1 to April 15 guests will be given time to procure lunch of choice in Estes Park

Know before you book

• Your guides will select the best spots to visit for a great experience, so tour stops may vary.
• Travelers must be 8 or older.
• Gratuity is not included and is left to individual discretion.
• All walking is at the discretion of travelers, but it should be noted that this is not a hiking tour.

What you can expect

Rocky Mountain National Park is one of the top National Parks to visit. Wildlife, solitude, and an even more dynamic environment guarantee a unique experience. This is the perfect tour for someone who simply wants ample time at each sight and a guide who treats you like family showing off their favorite spots. Disconnect for a day and immerse yourself in the beauty and solitude of these majestic mountains in an upscale vehicle with panoramic views for miles. Feel small against the vast, all-encompassing, mountains surrounding you as you take in Colorado’s 300 days of sunshine.

Please note that it is a possibility in the winter that the visibility is limited due to snow. We are flexible with our cancellation policy if snow is in the forecast and are happy to reschedule if the weather looks better on another day.

Cleaning and safety practices

Enhanced cleanliness measures.

• Vehicles and venues cleaned with disinfectants

Social distancing

• Contactless ticket redemption

Safety measures

• Hand sanitizer provided
• Masks provided
• Individually wrapped food options available
• 3073 Walnut Street
• 80301, Boulder, Colorado, United States of America