Estes Park, Colorado | |
|---|---|
| Town of Estes Park[1] | |
-104A4568.jpg) West Elkhorn Avenue in downtown Estes Park | |
 Flag  Logo | |
 Location of the Town of Estes Park inLarimer County, Colorado. | |
  Estes Park Location of the Town of Estes Park in theUnited States. | |
| Coordinates:40°22′38″N105°31′32″W / 40.377117°N 105.525514°W /40.377117; -105.525514[2] | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Colorado |
| County | Larimer[1] |
| Settled | 1859 |
| Incorporated | April 17, 1917[3] |
| Government | |
| • Type | Statutory town[1] |
| • Mayor | Gary Hall |
| Area | |
• Total | 6.897 sq mi (17.862 km2) |
| • Land | 6.822 sq mi (17.668 km2) |
| • Water | 0.075 sq mi (0.194 km2) |
| Elevation | 7,523 ft (2,293 m) |
| Population | |
• Total | 5,904 |
| • Density | 865/sq mi (334/km2) |
| • Metro | 359,066 (151st) |
| • Front Range | 5,055,344 |
| Time zone | UTC−07:00 (MST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−06:00 (MDT) |
| ZIP Code[5] | 80517 |
| Area code | 970 |
| FIPS code | 08-25115 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0204674 |
| Website | estespark |
Estes Park (/ˈɛstɪs/) is astatutory town inLarimer County, Colorado, United States.[1] The town population was 5,904 at the2020 United States census.[4] Estes Park is a part of theFort Collins, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and theFront Range Urban Corridor. A popular summer resort and the location of the headquarters forRocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park lies along theBig Thompson River. Landmarks includeThe Stanley Hotel andThe Baldpate Inn. The town overlooksLake Estes andOlympus Dam.
Before Europeans came to the Estes Park valley, theArapaho Native Americans lived there in the summertime and called the valley "the Circle." When three elderly Arapahoes visited Estes Park in 1914, they pointed out sites they remembered from their younger days. A photograph at the Estes Park Museum identified the touring party as Shep Husted, guide; Gun Griswold, a 73-year-old judge; Sherman Sage, a 63-year-old chief of police; Tom Crispin, 38-year-old reservation resident and interpreter; Oliver W. Toll, recorder; and David Robert Hawkins, a Princeton student.[6]
In the 1850s, the Arapaho had spent summers camped around Mary's Lake, where their rock fireplaces, tipi sites, and dance rings were still visible. They also recalled building eagle traps atopLongs Peak to get the war feathers coveted by all tribes. They remembered their routes to and from the valley in detail, naming trails and landmarks. They pointed out the site of their buffalo trap, and described the use of dogs to pack meat out of the valley. Their recollections included a battle withApaches in the 1850s, and fights withUtes who came to the area to hunt bighorn sheep, so all three of those tribes used the valley's resources.[7]
Whites probably came into the Estes Park valley before the 1850s as trappers, but did not stay long. The town is named after Missouri nativeJoel Estes,[8] who founded the community in 1859.[9] Estes moved his family there in 1863. One of Estes' early visitors wasWilliam Byers, a newspaper editor who wrote of his attempted ascent of Longs Peak in 1864, publicizing the area as a pristine wilderness.[10]
Griff Evans and his family came to Estes Park in 1867 to act as caretakers for the former Estes ranch. Recognizing the potential for tourism, he began building cabins to accommodate travelers. It became adude ranch in Estes Park, with guides for hunting, fishing, and mountaineering;[11] whenIsabella Bird arrived in 1873, Evans already had nine men and women as guests.[12]
The 4th Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl, a youngAnglo-Irishpeer, arrived in late December 1872 under the guidance ofTexas Jack Omohundro, subsequently made numerous visits, and decided to take over the valley for his own private hunting preserve.[13] Lord Dunraven's 'land grab' didn't work, but he controlled 6,000 acres before he changed tactics and opened the area's first resort, the Estes Park Hotel, which was destroyed by fire in 1911.[14]
Bird, the daughter of anAnglican minister, came overland to Colorado, where she borrowed a horse and set out to explore the Rocky Mountains with a guide, the notoriousJames Nugent, aka 'Rocky Mountain Jim'. She wroteA Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains, a memoir of their travels, including the breathtaking ascent of Longs Peak, where she was literally hauled up the steep pitches "like a bale of goods."[15]
On June 19, 1874, Rocky Mountain Jim and neighbor Griff Evans (see above) had an argument. Having had bitter history with each other, Nugent and Evans hated each other and were deep personal rivals when it came to tour guiding tourists. The argument escalated until Evans blasted Jim in the head with his rifle shotgun. Evans then traveled to Fort Collins to file an assault charge against Nugent, but he was arrested and tried for first degree murder when Jim Nugent died on September 9, 1874, of the bullet wound. Evans was put on trial, but the case was soon dismissed due to the lack of witnesses to the shooting. On August 9, 1875, the Loveland court-house acquitted Evans of any charges in the case.
William Henry Jackson photographed Estes Park in 1873.[16]
Alex and Clara (Heeney) MacGregor arrived soon after and homesteaded at the foot ofLumpy Ridge. The MacGregor Ranch has been preserved as a historic site. In 1874, MacGregor incorporated a company to build a new toll road fromLyons, Colorado, to Estes Park. The road became what is todayU.S. Highway 36. Before that time, however, the "road" was only a trail fit for pack horses. The improved road brought more visitors into Estes Park; some of them became full-time residents and built new hotels to accommodate the growing number of travelers.[17]
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In 1884,Enos Mills (1870–1922) left Kansas and came to Estes Park, where his relativeElkanah Lamb lived. That move proved significant for Estes Park because Mills became a naturalist and conservationist who devoted his life after 1909 to preserving nearly a thousand square miles of Colorado asRocky Mountain National Park. His advocacy is exemplified in his bookWild Life on the Rockies which includes his 1909 photo and description of the valley fromMount Olympus[18]. He succeeded and the park was dedicated in 1915.[19]
Enos Mills' younger brother Joe Mills (1880–1935) came to Estes Park in 1889. He wrote a series of articles about his youthful experiences forBoys Life which were later published as a book. After some years as a college athletics coach, he and his wife returned to Estes Park and built a hotel called The Crags on the north side ofProspect Mountain, overlooking the village. They ran that business in the summer while he continued his coaching career in winters at University of Colorado in Boulder.[20]
Many early visitors came to Estes Park in search of better health. The Rocky Mountain West especially attracted those with pulmonary diseases, and in Estes Park some resorts catered to them, providing staff physicians for their care.[21]
In 1903, a new road was opened from Loveland through theBig Thompson River canyon to Estes Park, increasing access to the valley. In 1907, three Loveland men established the first auto stage line from Loveland to Estes Park with three five-passenger touringStanley Steamers. The following year, Mr. Stanley built nine-passenger steam busses and opened a bus line between Lyons and Estes Park.[22]
By 1912, Estes Park had its own seasonal newspaper, theEstes Park Trail, which provided advertising for the local hotels and other businesses. It was a year-round weekly by 1921.[23]In 1949,Olympus Dam was finished, creatingLake Estes, giving the town its main source of drinking water.
Land was still being homesteaded in the area in 1914, when Katherine Garetson (1877–1963) filed on land near the base of Longs Peak. She built a cabin and started a business known as the Big Owl Tea Place. She proved up on herhomestead claim in 1915, and left a memoir of her years there.[24]
In 1916 the Estes Valley Library was founded by the Estes Park Women's Club. It originally formed part of the old schoolhouse and contained only 262 printed works.[25]
Estes Park was also the site of the organization of theCredit Union National Association, an important milestone in the history of Americancredit unions.[26] In 1992, members of the modernAmerican militia movement attended the three-dayRocky Mountain Rendezvous in Estes Park, which focused on "guns, resisting the federal government, andwhite supremacy".[27]
The town suffered severe damage in July 1982 from flooding caused by the failure ofLawn Lake Dam, "after years of disrepair and neglect."[28] The flood'salluvial fan can still be seen onFall River Road. The downtown area was extensively renovated after the flood, and a river walk was added between the main street, Elkhorn Avenue, and the Big Thompson River.
BothU.S. Highway 36 andU.S. Highway 34, the major routes into town, were severely damaged. Hundreds of Estes Park residents were also isolated by the destruction of sections of Fish Creek Road and all nine crossings across Fish Creek. Damaged sewer lines dumped raw sewage down the creek and into the Big Thompson River.[29]
Estes Park sits at an elevation of 7,522 feet (2,293 m) on the front range of theRocky Mountains at the eastern entrance of theRocky Mountain National Park.[30] Its north, south and east extremities border theRoosevelt National Forest.Lumpy Ridge lies immediately north of Estes Park.
At the2020 United States census, the town had a total area of 4,414 acres (17.862 km2) including 48 acres (0.194 km2) of water.[4]
Estes Park was home to a number of now defunct ski areas:[31]
Estes Park vicinity was also the home of other resorts and tourist attractions.[31]
Estes Park has ahumid continental climate (Koppen:Dfb). Summers are typically warm, sometimes hot, while winters are usually cold, with lows dropping into the teens and sometimes the single digits.
| Climate data for Estes Park 3 SSE, Colorado, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 2001–2021 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 60 (16) | 57 (14) | 69 (21) | 74 (23) | 85 (29) | 93 (34) | 94 (34) | 91 (33) | 89 (32) | 79 (26) | 66 (19) | 59 (15) | 94 (34) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 50.6 (10.3) | 51.4 (10.8) | 61.1 (16.2) | 68.0 (20.0) | 76.1 (24.5) | 87.1 (30.6) | 88.3 (31.3) | 85.6 (29.8) | 82.0 (27.8) | 71.5 (21.9) | 60.4 (15.8) | 51.5 (10.8) | 89.4 (31.9) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 37.1 (2.8) | 37.5 (3.1) | 45.0 (7.2) | 51.5 (10.8) | 61.2 (16.2) | 73.9 (23.3) | 80.2 (26.8) | 77.7 (25.4) | 69.6 (20.9) | 56.6 (13.7) | 44.1 (6.7) | 36.2 (2.3) | 55.9 (13.3) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 26.6 (−3.0) | 26.6 (−3.0) | 33.1 (0.6) | 38.8 (3.8) | 47.9 (8.8) | 58.3 (14.6) | 64.2 (17.9) | 62.0 (16.7) | 54.4 (12.4) | 43.4 (6.3) | 33.8 (1.0) | 26.3 (−3.2) | 42.9 (6.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 16.1 (−8.8) | 15.8 (−9.0) | 21.2 (−6.0) | 26.1 (−3.3) | 34.7 (1.5) | 42.6 (5.9) | 48.2 (9.0) | 46.4 (8.0) | 39.2 (4.0) | 30.2 (−1.0) | 23.5 (−4.7) | 16.4 (−8.7) | 30.0 (−1.1) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | −7.5 (−21.9) | −7.2 (−21.8) | 3.3 (−15.9) | 12.6 (−10.8) | 21.1 (−6.1) | 35.5 (1.9) | 42.6 (5.9) | 39.1 (3.9) | 28.9 (−1.7) | 13.1 (−10.5) | 3.1 (−16.1) | −7.1 (−21.7) | −13.1 (−25.1) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −19 (−28) | −27 (−33) | −18 (−28) | −3 (−19) | 6 (−14) | 28 (−2) | 36 (2) | 31 (−1) | 20 (−7) | −10 (−23) | −20 (−29) | −22 (−30) | −27 (−33) |
| Averageprecipitation inches (mm) | 0.82 (21) | 0.68 (17) | 1.58 (40) | 2.26 (57) | 2.27 (58) | 1.37 (35) | 2.55 (65) | 1.71 (43) | 1.65 (42) | 1.12 (28) | 0.74 (19) | 0.67 (17) | 17.42 (442) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 9.8 (25) | 13.3 (34) | 18.8 (48) | 19.3 (49) | 9.5 (24) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.5 (1.3) | 9.1 (23) | 11.0 (28) | 12.7 (32) | 104.0 (264) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.01 in) | 6.3 | 9.3 | 8.9 | 10.1 | 12.4 | 9.4 | 14.1 | 13.4 | 8.8 | 7.3 | 6.0 | 6.9 | 112.9 |
| Average snowy days(≥ 0.1 in) | 7.4 | 10.3 | 9.5 | 8.0 | 3.7 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 3.8 | 5.8 | 8.6 | 57.5 |
| Source: NOAA (mean maxima and minima 2006–2020)[36][37] | |||||||||||||
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1930 | 417 | — | |
| 1940 | 994 | 138.4% | |
| 1950 | 1,617 | 62.7% | |
| 1960 | 1,175 | −27.3% | |
| 1970 | 1,616 | 37.5% | |
| 1980 | 2,703 | 67.3% | |
| 1990 | 3,184 | 17.8% | |
| 2000 | 5,413 | 70.0% | |
| 2010 | 5,858 | 8.2% | |
| 2020 | 5,904 | 0.8% | |
| 2023 (est.) | 5,824 | [38] | −1.4% |
| U.S. Decennial Census | |||
In August 1900, Estes Park[39] had a population of 218 in 63 households. Many (73) were born in Colorado. Eighteen were born in other countries: Canada (4), England (4), Germany (4), Finland (3), and one each from the Netherlands, Scotland, and Ireland. Eighty had been born in midwestern states, and thirty from states in the northeast.[40]
As of thecensus[41] of 2010, 5,858 people, 2,796 households, and 1,565 families resided in the town of Estes Park. Thepopulation density was 929.5 inhabitants per square mile (358.9/km2). There were 4,107 housing units at an average density of 570.6 per square mile (220.3/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 91.0%White, 0.3%African American, 0.5%Native American, 1.2%Asian, 2%Pacific Islander, 5.5% fromother races, and 1.4% from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino of any race were 14% of the population.
There were 2,541 households, out of which 20.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.3% were married couples living together, 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.4% were non-families. 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.11 and the average family size was 2.61.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 17.6% under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 29.4% from 45 to 64, and 20.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.7 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $43,262, and the median income for a family was $55,667. Males had a median income of $31,573 versus $20,767 for females. Theper capita income for the town was $30,499. About 3.2% of families and 4.5% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 4.6% of those under age 18 and 0.8% of those age 65 or over.
Estes Park's outskirts includeThe Stanley Hotel, built in 1909. An example ofEdwardian opulence, the hotel continues to provide overnight accommodation to guests to this day, offering a broad range of activities and events including daily history and ghost tours of the hotel & the Cascades Restaurant and Whiskey Bar.[42]
On May 21, 2021 the MustangMountain Coaster opened in Estes Park on the Sombrero Ranch. Built and operated by the Walker family the coaster demonstrates a diversification of outdoor adventures provided by the ranch whilst ensuring the protection of the natural landscape and is touted as the only mountain coaster located in relatively close proximity to the Denver, Boulder and Fort Collins area.[43][44]
Opening to the public in July, 1955 the Estes Park Aerial Tramway carries passengers from the outskirts of Estes Park to the summit ofProspect Mountain, boasting a ridership of over 3 million. The Tramway was built and operated by the Heron family until March 21, 2024. Controlling interest in the Tramway was sold to Gondola Ventures who reopened and have been operating the Tramway since May 25, 2024.[45]
Olympus Dam, on the outskirts of the town, is the dam that createsLake Estes, a lake which is the site for boating and swimming in Estes Park. There are some hotels on the shore.[46]
Roughly three to four million tourists visitRocky Mountain National Park each year, with 2021 seeing 4.4 million tourist visits; most use Estes Park as their base.[47] In the spring and fall,wapiti travel through the town on their migrations to and from the national park.[48]
Trail Ridge Road, the highest continuous highway in the United States, runs from Estes Park westward through Rocky Mountain National Park, reachingGrand Lake over thecontinental divide.[49]
The main airport serving Estes Park isDenver International Airport, located 75 miles southeast. Service between the airport and Estes Park is provided by local carriers.[50]
The town of Estes Park operates Estes Transit, a free shuttle during the summer months.[51]
US 34 is an east–west highway that runs fromGranby, Colorado toBerwyn, Illinois. InColorado, it connects Estes Park toLoveland,Interstate 25,Greeley andInterstate 76.
US 36 begins at the nearbyRocky Mountain National Park, running toUhrichsville, Ohio, passing throughKansas,Missouri,Illinois andIndiana. It connects Estes Park toBoulder, and Interstates25 and76, both nearDenver.
State Highway 7 begins at the junction ofUS 36 and N St. Vrain Avenue in Estes Park and runs toBoulder,Lafayette andBrighton. Its northwestern segment is part of the Peak-to-Peak Scenic Byway. | This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(August 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Estes Park's official sister city isMonteverde,Costa Rica.[citation needed]
Media from Commons
Travel information from WikivoyageMunicipalities and communities ofLarimer County, Colorado,United States | ||
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| Unincorporated communities | ||
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| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
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