Exploring Grand Lake

This is Grand Ave, where the Boardwalk is located

Introduction

I’m an aspiring journalist who wishes to become a travel writer. I have been lucky enough to travel with my family for the past 16 years, and these experiences have instilled a passion for travel in me. I am excited to explore new cultures, food, etc., and that’s when I knew I wanted to make a career out of it. With that, I want to be able to show people different places from around the world in hopes of convincing them to get out there. However, there are some challenges like people being too nervous to travel or how expensive it can be, but I want to be able to show them that it can be easy to do and how to do it cheaply. My overall goal is to encourage people to explore what our world has to offer, and I will be able to do that with my very own travel blog. I’m currently a senior at Colorado State University who will be graduating in May and this blog will give me a head start into that travel writing career. The blog will consist of the history of the place chosen, why I chose that specific place, an itinerary, my overall experience, etc. It will also contain visual elements, such as photography, that will go along with each section.

Place Chosen

The place I chose to travel to was Grand Lake, Colorado. As someone who grew up in Estes Park, which sits at the entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park, my family and I would visit Grand Lake often. Not only was the drive beautiful and very scenic on Trail Ridge Road, but we also enjoyed fishing and would rent a boat during the summers to do so. I decided to go back and visit Grand Lake as the town holds many memories for me. With that being said, the information and pictures provided are from my recent trip.

A view of the Waterfront

History

Grand Lake is quite popular as it has a variety of outdoor activities and according to the Grand Lake website, it houses the largest and deepest (400 feet deep) natural lake in Colorado. The lake houses a variety of fish such as trout and salmon. The land was first discovered in the 1800s by Europeans but was permanently settled in 1867. The residents were made up of miners and hunting guides, and after finding silver in the rivers, the economy boomed. However, the economy suffered soon after that as silver was no longer a renewable resource, but many miners stayed and built hotels despite the hardships. The residents enjoyed fishing and hiking so much that visitors started to come and see what all the fuss was about. During the 1930s, Trail Ridge Road was constructed to allow people to travel from Grand Lake to Estes Park, and tourism has increased since then.

A view of the dock

Activities

I went on this trip on March 16th, 2024, but decided to go alone as both my family and friends were unavailable at that time. As a broke college student, my budget was very low and limited, and I was only able to spend one day in Grand Lake. I would’ve liked to stay multiple days to experience the different activities they had to offer, but that was just not possible for me because of work, etc.

What my drive looked like on I-70

Even though my time was limited, I tried to make the best out of it. My original plan was to spend the night with family in Estes Park as the drive would’ve been shorter, but Trail Ridge Road is closed for the winter season, so I left from my home in Fort Collins. The drive was about three hours, so I started my journey around 9 am and arrived around noon. If you are coming in from the Denver International Airport, the drive is about two hours. I was very appreciative of the nice weather and my goal was to be outside as much as possible.

Boardwalk

I wanted to take advantage of the nice day with the sun somewhat out. I decided to walk around downtown, also known as the boardwalk, and visit the shops which are all on one main road. I didn’t remember what they had, so walking around felt relatively new for me. The town offers a variety of things for tourists such as art galleries and boutiques. As someone who likes jewelry, I went into Altitude Jewelry to check out the hand-crafted necklaces and rings they had. I didn’t buy anything as it was out of my budget, but they had a beautiful selection.

Something I do remember from coming with my family was an ice cream shop called Ceaira’s Sweet Shop. They offered a variety of sundaes, ice cream sandwiches, and snow cones. It’s one of my favorite places in the world and I visited them with no hesitation (it’s never too cold for ice cream). As a peanut butter cup lover, I got the “Moose Poop” sundae, the small size was about $5.75, and it had chocolate ice cream, peanut butter cups, chocolate chips, marshmallows, and chocolate syrup.

The ice cream brought back memories of my family and how fun our time together was. This trip alone was for a work assignment, and while there are benefits of that quiet reflection, it reminds me of the travel writer Lindy Alexander who acknowledges feelings of loneliness one can feel when traveling. In her website article, “What no one ever tells you about being a travel writer” published in 2019, she highlights the aspects of the job that not everyone talks about. This includes the long hours, the cost of travel, and the loneliness. I think it’s important that everyone knows this information as it can help them better understand what is to come when they do decide to go out and travel.

https://www.grandlakelodge.com/activities/

To come out of my loneliness, I decided to take a stroll down by the lake. I headed over to the waterfront.

Waterfront

This is about a block or so from the boardwalk. There’s no path around the lake, so I sat on a bench by the water and dock. I enjoyed the view as I finished my sweet treat. The lake is the main attraction for many tourists as it has a public beach where you can swim, fish, and picnic. I’ve never swam in the lake, but I would always put my feet in to cool down during the summer.

Next to the lake is the Headwaters Marina and I’m pretty familiar with the place as this is where my family usually goes to rent boats. There were no boats docked or on the water as they are only open during the summer. According to the Headwaters Marina website, when they are open you can rent pedal boats starting at $30 an hour and pontoon boats starting at $140 an hour. They also offer a variety of one-hour scenic lake tours and cruises starting at $25.

The cool air blew through my hair as I sat and admired the snow that covered the lake. I was the only one there, so it was quiet while I took pictures.

Another view of the dock - the water was frozen over so no boats were out.

I started to get hungry for actual food and went back to the boardwalk to check out a place I hadn’t been to before.

Sagebrush BBQ & Grill

I was really in the mood for some barbeque and decided to go back to the boardwalk and go to Sagebrush BBQ & Grill. I was surprised by their wide selection as they offered a variety of BBQ platters as well as breakfast foods, seafood, steaks, burgers, and sandwiches.

The restaurant was quite big and had a bar on one side of the room. There was outside seating, but it was getting chilly, so I decided to sit inside. I noticed that everyone was having a good time, as they were laughing and enjoying their meals. I was a bit hesitant about coming in as I felt weird eating alone, but everyone was very welcoming and checked in on me.

I went with the “1 Meat Combo,” which is about $22.99, that came with my choice of meat and two sides. I chose beef brisket with mashed potatoes and coleslaw. There are not a lot of good barbeque places where I come from, and I have to say, this was by far the best brisket I’ve had. It was juicy and tender, and it just melted in my mouth. The mashed potatoes were also very delicious as they were creamy, which is how I prefer them. It was a lot of food, so I was able to save some as leftovers.

The sun was still out but it was about to get dark soon, so with a full belly, I hopped back in my car and prepared for the long drive back home.

Conclusion

Though I only spent one day in Grand Lake, I was glad I was able to revisit old memories and make some new ones. I’ve always been afraid of traveling alone as I’m an introvert, but I was able to put myself out there and enjoy some me time. There was a lot more I could’ve done, but I think the boardwalk and waterfront highlight what makes up this small mountain town. As someone who comes from the small mountain town of Estes Park, I could see the similarities between the two, in terms of their tourism. With a low budget and limited time, I was still able to achieve my goal of getting to experience Grand Lake once again, and I can’t wait to go back.

The view on my drive up US-40