Hi! Asia here! Co-founder of Black Girls Hike. I recently took a trip to hike the Rocky Mountains in Denver, Colorado with 2 things I absolutely had to do - visit a hot spring and to hike a trail. Everything else was fair game.
I try not to jam pack my itinerary for my weekend trips because my main thing is always to relax; trying to adhere to a packed schedule is just not relaxing lol. Here is my quick 3 day trip itinerary.
Quick Tip: Thursday - Sunday trips are the ideal weekend getaway breaks. In doing so, try to keep flying time less than 5 hours to give your body time to get adjusted and settled in your new surrounding (jet-lag is a real thing!)
3 nights, 2 days, Roundtrip from BWI to DEN
Thursday
3:40pm - flight leaves from BWI
5:50pm - flight lands at DEN
5:50pm - 8:00pm - Uber to and check in to Element Denver Downtown East Hotel
Quick Tip: Denver has a great public transportation! It runs pretty frequently, on time, clean, and cheaper than catching an Uber from the airport to downtown Denver. I chose to catch the train in town to Union Station. Cost me $10.50 which was much better compared to my $30 Uber! & from there I caught a $9 Uber to the hotel.
8:00pm - Morning - relax, eat dinner, check out nearby dispensaries. Pure Dispensary was a 7 minute walk from my hotel and there was another local dispensary right around the corner. Because it was late I chose the local dispensary around the corner from my hotel.
Friday
8:00am - eat hotel breakfast & plan my day.
10:00am - I visited Pure Dispensary. This is one of the best marijuana dispensaries in Denver. They have awesome prices and amazing deals like 1/2 on flowers, buy a shirt and get an individual for free, etc. Definitely check it out if you are a marijuana enthusiast.
12:00pm - I eventually went back to the airport to rent a car because the hot springs I wanted to visit was about 2.5 hours away. To my surprise it wasn't that expensive to rent a car. For a 3 day rental, including the Sunday morning I had to bring it back - $110 (not bad!)
2:00pm - explored downtown Denver a bit. Visited 16th Street Mall to get warmer clothes and to stock up on supplies for my hike. I knew Denver was cold in January but I just wasn't prepared. 16th Street Mall is an outside strip mall with lots of retail stores to visit. There is a free trolley the runs up the strip in case you want to catch a ride. I had lunch at this place called 3 Margarita which is also on the strip. If you love tacos, quesadillas, or Mexican food in general, THIS IS YOUR PLACE! I promise you they will not disappoint. I like to think of myself as a taco connoisseur and this place....*chefs kisses* 5 stars!
From here I just chatted with the locals, bar hopped a bit, drove up to the Red Rocks just to look at them and take pics. Because of COVID, the city shuts down at 10pm so I ended my night with tequila and tv.
Saturday
12:00pm - Hike the Red Rocks Trail Denver, CO. A beautiful 3.8 miles trail about 20 minutes outside of Downton Denver. The trail takes you right up the side of the mountain and gives you an amazing overview of Denver. At the top, I had sushi for lunch (California rolls is all I can handle) and took some great pics.
2:00pm - 4:00pm - drive to Northrop, CO (trust me, the drive is worth it)
4:00pm - 8:00pm - Mt. Princeton's Hot Springs $20. A great post-hike and long drive activity! Mt. Princeton cabins sits right on a natural hotspring river that is nestled deep into the mountains. Say goodbye to your cellphone service while you're here!
Hotsprings are pools of water that are geothermically heated by the earth and contains minerals and properties that are good for healing the body. It almost felt like I was taking an epsom salt bath. The outside temparture was about 20 degrees Fahrenheit while the spring water was between 70-100 degrees. I highly recommend. You can play music, they have a bar, and they are even 4/20 friendly. You have the option of sitting the in the natural hot springs or dipping into their pool which is also heated to 70-100 temperatures.
8:00pm - 10:00pm - drive back to the hotel
10:00pm - goodnight
Sunday
8:40am - flight back home
Total Cost of Trip Including Flight & Hotel - $375
Overall, I had a great trip. It was great because it allowed me time to reflect on some things that I had on my mind, get a break from all my stresses back at home, and to get lost in the mountains! I'll definitely be visiting Denver again. This time I saw mountains, next time I want to see SNOW.
-Asia.