The long way to Estes Park

For years, friends and I escaped unseasonably warm spring days by traveling from the Front Range of Colorado to the cold gray breath of mountains still cloaked in winter. We started in the old mining town of Lyons, at the old brick and sandstone buildings that house antiques stores, and headed up one of the two canyons that link Lyons to Estes Park in a lopsided triangle. The northern route would have been faster, but we preferred this less trafficked way. Chances are, so will you.

Starting in Lyons, north of Boulder, drive west on U.S. Highway 36, following the North St. Vrain Creek on its course past slabs of the dull, burnt-red Lyons formation sandstone named after the town. Proceeding up the canyon past steep, biscuit-colored hills, you'll arrive in Pinewood Springs, where the country expands into a plateau boxed in by mountains whose trees still shine with snow in May.

Farther north the canyon walls close in as the road threads through the rock cleft that frames Estes Park. Beyond town you'll see 14,255-foot Longs Peak and 13,911-foot Mt. Meeker - both part of the Mummy Range of Rocky Mountain National Park, whose jagged peaks resemble a reclining woman. Beyond these, the Never Summer Mountains loom in the distance.

In Estes Park, look for climbers scaling the Twin Owls, an oval rock formation that draws alpinists from afar. (Binoculars are a must.) From there, take State 7 south past the stone St. Catherine's chapel, where Pope John Paul II stopped in 1993.

If you're feeling flush, stop about 15 miles south of Estes Park in Allenspark for a meal at the Fawn Brook Inn, one of Colorado's best restaurants. The Austrian-influenced menu focuses on local game, including elk the chef dresses himself. Afterward, if the trip home seems like too much, stay at the Allenspark Lodge Bed and Breakfast, just up the road (rooms from $60).

From Allenspark, rejoin State 7, bearing east at the intersection with State 72, then continue down the steep, serpentine road to the bottom of South St. Vrain Canyon.

WHERE: From Lyons, follow U.S. 36 west 21 miles to Estes Park; at the park, take State 7 southeast 37 miles to Lyons.

DISTANCE: 58 miles round trip.

CONTACT: Estes Park Chamber Resort Association; (800) 443-7837. Rocky Mountain National Park; (970) 586-1206. Fawn Brook Inn; (303) 747-2556. Allenspark Lodge; (303) 747-2552.

COPYRIGHT 1999 Sunset Publishing Corp.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group