Bustang Denver Union Station to Estes Park/Rocky Mt Nat Park

[tgstubbs1]

I've been reading some about the Bustang Denver - Estes Park route , 2024 being it's first year in operation.
Two buses depart daily at 7:00 and 8:00 am weekends and some holidays thru the end of September.

There are free shuttles in Estes Park and RMNP. One advantage of using the shuttles to enter the park is a lower entry fee and no worries about the timed entry permit.

I know the CZ is sometimes late getting to Denver from the east and the timing isn't good anyway, but a layover in or near Denver should work for a next day connection.

https://ridebustang.com/estes-park/#bustang_to_estes

https://www.visitestespark.com/plan/getting-around/free-shuttle-buses/

 

[Willbridge]

I've been reading some about the Bustang Denver - Estes Park route , 2024 being it's first year in operation.
Two buses depart daily at 7:00 and 8:00 am weekends and some holidays thru the end of September.

There are free shuttles in Estes Park and RMNP. One advantage of using the shuttles to enter the park is a lower entry fee and no worries about the timed entry permit.

I know the CZ is sometimes late getting to Denver from the east and the timing isn't good anyway, but a layover in or near Denver should work for a next day connection.

https://ridebustang.com/estes-park/#bustang_to_estes

https://www.visitestespark.com/plan/getting-around/free-shuttle-buses/

And there are a lot of alternatives for what to do. There just was an ad on my radio for their wine festival. Of course, there's the national park...

 

[railiner]

Very nice! Would be even nicer, if it continued over Trail Ridge Road (US-34), all the way through Grand Lake to the Amtrak station at Granby.
I used to love the old Gray Line “Big Circle” tour that left Denver in the morning, headed west into the Rockies via the tunnels of Clear Creek Canyon (US-6), then diverged onto US-40 and climbed over the continental divide at Berthoud Pass, past Winter Park to Granby, then turned north on US-34 to Grand Lake. After a brief stop at the historic Grand Lake Lodge, entered the west entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park, and continued up Trail Ridge Road, recross the continental divide at Milner Pass, and make a brief stop at the Alpine Visitor Center, in the aptly named Never Summer Mountains. Snow squalls can briefly close the road even in July! The high point of that road is 12,183’, making it the highest continuous paved road in America. You then drop down into the town of Estes Park, for a brief stop, before continuing east through the beautiful Big Thompson Canyon, then pass through the city of Loveland, and then turn south on I-25 to make the last lap back to Denver.

I rode the Gray Line tour once, and then whenever I had out of town visitors, would drive them the same route. Did it many times thru the years…

 

[tgstubbs1]

Very nice! Would be even nicer, if it continued over Trail Ridge Road (US-34), all the way through Grand Lake to the Amtrak station at Granby.
I used to love the old Gray Line “Big Circle” tour that left Denver in the morning, headed west into the Rockies via the tunnels of Clear Creek Canyon (US-6), then diverged onto US-40 and climbed over the continental divide at Berthoud Pass, past Winter Park to Granby, then turned north on US-34 to Grand Lake. After a brief stop at the historic Grand Lake Lodge, entered the west entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park, and continued up Trail Ridge Road, recross the continental divide at Milner Pass, and make a brief stop at the Alpine Visitor Center, in the aptly named Never Summer Mountains. Snow squalls can briefly close the road even in July! The high point of that road is 12,183’, making it the highest continuous paved road in America. You then drop down into the town of Estes Park, for a brief stop, before continuing east through the beautiful Big Thompson Canyon, then pass through the city of Loveland, and then turn south on I-25 to make the last lap back to Denver.

I rode the Gray Line tour once, and then whenever I had out of town visitors, would drive them the same route. Did it many times thru the years…

This looks like a fantastic route. Too bad the Bustang routes are more limited, but I bet the Bustang routes to Craig and Crested Butte have great scenery, as well as the routes to Grand Junction and Durango.

I found a document on the CDOT web site a graph w" Amtrak Top 10 Long-Distance Station Pairs Including a Small Community, 2019 " (https://www.codot.gov/programs/tran...[{"num":122,"gen":0},{"name":"XYZ"},52,405,0]) showing Glenwood Springs-Denver.

I noticed the Amtrak coach fare DEN-GSC is $102, while the Bustang fare is only $28!

 

[Willbridge]

The Denver <> Salida <> Gunnison <> Crested Butte route from Union Station is an Amtrak Thruway service with lots of scenery. It's on a schedule with a mellow connection to Train 6 and from Train 5 in Union Station.

2001 - bear has just run across US285 between Salida and Denver.