Estes Park Center – YMCA of the Rockies

What a view! I can never get enough of these mountains! The snow is falling and the sun is just coming up. Ok the beds are great and the room are spotless. The shower was putting out plenty of hot water. The employees make you feel like you are home. Great place to stay!

The YMCA of the Rockies is the biggest YMCA in the country, if not the world, spanning hundreds of acres of land. My partner and I stayed here for a few days in August 2015, and wow, the view was just amazing! They literally have every activity you can possibly think of.
We stayed in a private room with a balcony and had free buffet breakfasts included since my partner is a YMCA member. I could not believe how little the stay ended up costing us!
Before we went to the Y, we stayed one night at Mary’s Lake Lodge (voted one of the most romantic hotels in the state, and very popular for weddings). Mary’s was indeed beautiful and the rooms were first class but it can’t beat the Y in terms of value and everything else it offers. When I have children, I will definitely be returning to the Y of the Rockies.
Highly recommend!

A perfect family place for some serious FUN! we are Impressed… how do they pull off so many activities! Not a single boring moment, each night we just came to our room and slept as the day begins 8am and really makes you tired by 7pm. Great team of young people working at sweet memorial! We are coming back in summer again :-)

This place is awesome. The lodge room we stayed in was comparable in price and quality to a good night at any hotel in the area, sans a TV. But what makes this place truly awesome is the enormous amount of free activities that come with the room. We played mini golf, went swimming, went roller skating, and enjoyed a camp fire (small fee for that). The staff were also extremely friendly and helpful! Great spot for a family event!

So good that I didn’t want to leave. We visited in October 2012 and stayed in a two bedroom cabin. The cabin was quickly surrounded by elk which frightened us at first. The kids loved watching the animals and they were no threat to us. The cabin was recently updated and extremely clean inside. It had plenty of room for the 4 of us and maybe more if you can sleep on a couch. The cabin also has a full kitchen with pots, pans, and condiments left by recent dwellers. We enjoyed walking around the camp grounds, visiting nearby parks, hayride marshmallow roast, and visiting the town of Estes Park. I definitely recommend this location for anyone at any season.

Great views. Lots of activities. No TVs.
Average rooms. Food is cafeteria food. Some days not bad. Outdoor fire places. Fun with a group. A Step up above camping. You can ask for a refrigerator for room. Elk everywhere in October. Went on a night hike very fun

Stayed here for a conference. The rooms were simple and clean. And the grounds are very nice. But I can’t get past how terrible the food was. Myself and several others got food poisoning.

Something for everybody. A secret jewel in the Rocky Mountains. Most activities are free with stay. Activities include rollerskating, tennis, basketball, minigolf, activities for all ages!

A really nice family vacation. I recently described to a friend as a cruise ship in the RMNP. Kids have loads of different activities to satisfy their various interests. Adults and children have activities from crafts, to hiking, to learning about nature, stars and sports. I can only direct you to their website so you can get an idea of what are the possibilities.
Food is generic and edible and very convenient. Estes Park offers better options for eating.
Have been twice and will return again next year as the kids and wife almost demand it. I really enjoy this special place in the Rockies

Wonderful place for a family vacation. Great rustic cabins, fun day camp for kids, numerous activities for everyone with other great kids and families everywhere you turn. And of course, minutes from the hiking trails of Rocky Mountain National Park. Even beautiful when an afternoon rain rolls in and kids keep playing because they love this place so much.

Awesome place. Got a four bedroom cabin called Thanksgiving for three nights and the views were breathtaking. Nice fire place giving off heat. Able to ask for pack n play and high chair for free. Fridge, stove, oven, microwave, dishwasher, coffee maker. Lots of patio furniture to sit outside and have cup of coffee with breakfast. Only thing could make it better is jacuzzi and later check out time. Word to the wise, do not try to check in before 6, it was super annoying to arrive at 4 after a long drive with my seven mos old baby and be told the cabin isn’t ready, then sit in their lobby for an hour and it’s still not ready, we just left and went to dinner and came back after 6.

This place is great for a day trip or a week stay in a cabin. They have tons of space: many many cabins, mini-​golf, crafts, tennis, horseback riding, and many other activities.
The best part of the YMCA of the Rockies is the access to great hiking in the Rockies.

First off, lets start with the cafeteria. Don’t bother even trying. The dinner was horrendously horrible. Way over priced! $ 15 bucks for hot salad bowls, warm cups for
drinks, very small selection of food, overcooked meats, flavorless fish, moist croutons, restrictions of ice cream cups, hard rolls, and gross desert. Seriously bad food and over priced crap. Not anyone in the party of 40 people enjoyed the food. Two years ago we had the same terrible tasting experience.
Checking in was also a nightmare. Arrived at 4 and room wasn’t ready till 9:30. They overbooked guests and cut staff due to «off-​season» (seriously during elk season and fall leaves?), and over 100 different parties waiting to check in. This is a planning problem the YMCA management doesn’t care about and are greedy to not pay a few extra staff to alleviate the crowds.
Sure, lots of activities to do and cabins are decent, but not a good place to de-​stress.

Overall this is a great place to stay and the food is good for camp food. The location is gorgeous and there are a lot of activities.
If you are traveling with small children (particularly those who need naps during the day) it is best to not stay in the lodge but get a cabin. The lodges tend to be full of loud teenagers and other groups that seem to forget they aren’t the only ones there.

This is an awesome place to vacation. We started going here more than 20 years ago and still find it to be the perfect place to unwind from your job.
We left 100 degree weather behind in San Antonio and woke up with 44 degree weather in Estes Park. What a way to beat the heat.
With the exception of 1 year, we have always stayed in a cabin. This year, we had a vacation home on the Summit, which is located across the highway from the main campus.
So why the 5 star rating?
1. Privacy — like having your own place in the mountains
2. Cabins have all the conveniences of home
3. Unbelievable beauty out every window
4. Entertainment — everything from olympic size in-​door pool to putt putt golf
5. Access to Rocky Mountain National Park
6. Access to multiple outdoor activities such as fly fishing, mountain climbing, and horseback riding
7. Pet friendly
8. Kid activities too huge to list them all
The only negative about the YMCA of the Rockies — due to enormous demand, it is very hard to get in when you want, & sometimes is impossible to get in at all. If you become a member, it improves your chances.

Good and bad. .
We just had a family reunion here about 45 of us. There are incredible things to do at this beautiful location. The craft house was amazing. The activities are endless.
A few things to be aware of though. First is the rooms. We stayed in mt. Yipson lodge which is in dire need of a remodel. The stains on the carpet are terrible, beds are very uncomfortable. Rooms barely have any room for luggage. There was no housing option for us that could hold just the two of us so we were in a room with a full size bed and a bunk bed. I don’t see how a family of four could move in the room with any luggage.
BEWARE of the food! ! I have never had such terrible cafeteria food in my life! Breakfast was a mix of bagged mushy eggs, frozen heated up omlettes, biscuits and gravy, stale churros, grits, and some fresh fruit. Lunch and dinner always had a very limited salad bar (canned veggies with lettuce). Lunch and dinner was chicken fried steak, boiled hard steaks, some kind of fish that was frozen and heated up in a sauce, hamburger and hotdogs. It was very difficult to eat anything half way healthy. I gained 6 pounds in 4 days! And I tried to eat healthy! For what it costs to add a meal plan, we were all very disappointed! If we go back we will be renting a cabin and cooking ourselves.
Also beware that there is a lot of walking to get anywhere. We went to the climbing wall and they said it was a 13 minute walk but it was a significant hike. We were ok but it would have been nice to have a heads up.
Overall ok.

We just had a large family reunion here and it was a wonderful experience! There are so many activities onsite, for people of all ages. Our family enjoyed the free hikes, mini-​golf, campfires, ping pong, and swimming. Our favorite paid activities were the onsite horseback riding and Sasquatch Fly Fishing.
The arts and crafts center was also amazing! You pay for whatever materials you want to use and they have staff there to teach you for free. Our favorites were making mosaic picture frames, stamping leather belts, and tie-​dying t-​shirts.
For about $ 70 per person a night, including our meals, it was a great deal! The meals were not extravagant, literally camp buffets, but there were always fresh fruits and vegetables. It was also nice that we didn’t have to worry about cooking or buying groceries.
Such a relaxing place to reconnect with family and nature!

When you think of the YMCA you think of a gym or community rec center. The Estes Park center exceeds all expectations.
I had my wedding here in March and we made a family retreat out of it. My group had the 8 bedroom cabin and a 4 bedroom cabin. The whole weekend I got nothing but comments about how beautiful the facilities are and how comfortable the cabins are. They come fully equipped with just about everything you may need during your stay. We did get about 10 inches of snow one night and the snow plows came through in the late morning to clear the roadways.
For the wedding, the YMCA has so many facilities to chose from. We held the ceremony in the Ponder chapel and the reception was in the walnut room. (Thankfully they are not far from each other.) The chapel was beautiful and had a place where I could get ready downstairs. The walnut room was very large and it was decorated very nicely with everything I was hoping for. Both the chapel and reception room had an electric fireplace as well as both cabins which was very nice to have.
As for the food, we did the buffet style. We had the herb roasted chicken and brisket. I cannot express how manny comments I got on the brisket. It was out of this world! I have never had brisket that good in my life! For about $ 25 per plate it would have been nice to have the option to take home the left overs (Our mom’s would have liked that) but I was very impressed at the quality of food that was offered.

I never dealt with the YMCA until I moved to Colorado and met my current group of friends that use them almost exclusively. Though I’d camped at an area right down the road from this YMCA, I had never even driven through this location.
For Valentines day my husband and I decided to do a weekend up here. It was sooo worth it! We got to our lodging late, after work and a snow storm blew in it was a slow drive up to Estes Park, but rarely are things more beautiful.
We first booked at lodge room, book 2 nights and get 1 free, can’t beat that for a weekend away. AND you get breakfast for free (up to 2 people) and you are doing well.
The food was decent, the view was amazing and NO TV, NO interruptions, nothing but my husband and I. We napped, we hung out, drove into Estes Park and had dinner. It was a great way to have a romantic weekend in the mountains.
Close enough to Estes to get a lot of walking around and touristy things done, and then you can head back to the quiet lodge, sleep, take a shower and relax without the hustle and bustle going on.

I still can’t believe this resort is a YMCA. It was spectacular for a winter stay — quiet, serene, exceptionally clean, and our cabin had a stunning view as well as a fireplace to cozy up to. The cabin also is independently heated (i.e. fireplace not necessary for heat), and there was enough hot water for three women to each take a shower. This is the perfect place to stay if you would like to go into the Rockies to cross-​country ski, hike, or snowshoe in the winter. It’s also still close enough to Estes Park for supermarkets, liquor stores, restaurants, etc.
I’m not sure what it’s like in the summer, though there are a million things for kids to do, so I imagine it’s wonderful for families, if not a bit crowded. For the winter, however, this place is ace!