The Estes Park Museum

Summer Hours - Open Daily!  Through October, the Museum will be open from 10am until 5pm Monday through Saturday, and 1pm-5pm on Sunday. 

Train Songs and Tales of the Westward Rails presented by David Seay. What is it about trains that so easily engages one's imagination? Climb aboard with David Seay as he weaves tales of the westward expansion of the railroad in the mid-1800s with a variety of popular train-inspired songs. This upbeat excursion features storytelling, banjo, harmonica and whistles. Free, 7:00 p.m. at the Museum.  Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Co-sponsored by the Estes Park Public Library Foundation and the Estes Park Museum, and funded by the Xcel Energy Foundation.

International Museum Day celebrates museums as institutions in service to society.  The Estes Park Museum will extend its Sunday hours to 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.  Admission is always free.

The Estes Valley Historic Tour with Jim Pickering.  Back by popular demand.  The tour takes place from 9:00 a.m. until approximately 1:00 p.m. Cost is $5 for Estes Park Museum Friends & Foundation members and $15 for non-members. Some carpooling and a Rocky Mountain National Park pass will be necessary.  Call 970-586-6256 for reservations. 

The Estes Valley Historic Tour with Jim Pickering.  Back by popular demand.  The tour takes place from 9:00 a.m. until approximately 1:00 p.m. Cost is $5 for Estes Park Museum Friends & Foundation members and $15 for non-members. Some carpooling and a Rocky Mountain National Park pass will be necessary.  Call 970-586-6256 for reservations. 

Diego Martin, el vaquero presented by Angel Vigil. Diego Martin, el vaquero, is a true American hero. He was the first cowboy to ride the open ranges and sleep under the stars; to tame wild horses of the plains and deliver herds of cattle across wide distances and the first to master the basic cowboy skills of riding and roping. El vaquero was the repository of practical and Spanish wisdom and experience in the ways of horses and cattle, developed over generations on the open plains of European Spain and New Spain in the Americas. Free, 7:00 p.m. at the Museum.  Doors open at 6:30 p.m.. Co-sponsored by the Estes Park Public Library Foundation and the Estes Park Museum and funded by the Xcel Energy Foundation.    

Historic Homes & Lodges Tour sponsored by the Estes Park Museum Friends & Foundation.  Call the Museum  at 970-586-6256 for more details! 

The Coolest Car Show in Colorado is fun for everyone in Bond Park, downtown Estes Park. The show opens at 10:00 a.m. and lasts until 4:00 p.m. This is your opportunity to check out more than 100 vintage cars from the 1920s and beyond, enjoy chatting with the car owners and vote for your personal favorite. Cost of admission and close-up inspections is $4 per adult, $2 for children, $2 for students and free for children under 6. Or bring the whole family for just $10. For a registration fee of $30 (before June 15), car owners can become a part of the show and help visitors reminisce about automobile heritage in America. Sponsored by the Estes Park Museum Friends & Foundation and the Estes Park Car Club. Proceeds benefit the Estes Park Museum Friends & Foundation. Call 970-586-6256 for more information.

The Wigwam Teahouse Tour with Ken Jessen. In 1905, the Reichardt Stage Road was constructed as a direct route from Estes Park to Lily Lake.  In 1907, homesteader Ann Wolfram settled on the land along this route.  She received the title in 1915.  Wolfram constructed the teahouse in approximately 1913 for passing travelers where she sold Indian handicrafts as well as refreshments. Her small homestead cabin still stands. Join us for a tour of this early roadside tourist business along Aspen Brook The tour begins at 9:00 a.m. and ends at approximately 12:00 p.m. Cost is $6 for members of the Estes Park Museum Friends & Foundation and $8 for non-members.  Transportation from the Estes Park Museum is included.  Call 970-586-6256 for reservations beginning May 1.  Sponsored by the Estes Park Museum Friends & Foundation.

Meet Martha Maxwell: Pioneer Naturalist with Linda Batlin. Nicknamed the "Colorado Huntress" in the mid-nineteenth century, Martha Maxwell was Colorado's first taxidermist. Linda Batlin presents the story of Martha Maxwell's love of animals and the natural world along with her artistic abilities and how they led her to create displays we now know as dioramas, and to establish a natural history museum. Free, 7:00 p.m. at the Museum.  Doors open at 6:30 p.m.. Co-sponsored by the Estes Park Public Library Foundation and the Estes Park Museum, and funded by the Xcel Energy

Rocky Mountain National Park Pictorial History program and book-signing reception with Ken Jessen.  From 5:00 - 6:00 p.m author Ken Jessen will give a slide presentation based on his new book Rocky Mountain National Park Pictorial History. From 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. there will be a free reception with wine and hors d'oeuvres while the author signs books. All events are free and open to the public. Sponsored by the Estes Park Museum Friends & Foundation and the Town of Estes Park. Copies of the book will be available in the Museum Shop.  Members of the Estes Park Museum Friends & Foundation receive a 10% discount on all purchases.  

Boulder County Ghost Town Tour with Ken Jessen.  The tour begins at 7:30 a.m. and last until approximately 5:30 p.m. Board our 14-passenger van at the Museum and travel back in time to the towns of Salina, Wall Street, Sunset, Mont Alto Park and Gold Hill. We’ll stop for lunch at the general store and visit the Gold Hill Museum. Cost is $18 for Estes Park Museum Friends & Foundation members and $22 for non-members. Cost includes transportation; lunch on your own. Call the Museum at 970-586-6256 for reservations after June 1. Sponsored by the Estes Park Museum Friends & Foundation.

Capt. Jepp and the Little Black Book with co-authors Flint Whitlock and Terry Barnhart. Aviation pioneers such as Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, John Glenn and Chuck Yeager are well known among the general public, but the name Elrey Jeppesen, also known as "Capt. Jepp" is familiar only to those in the aviation community. Capt. Jepp's claim to fame is the system of aerial navigation he devised. Join Flint Whitlock and Terry Barnhart as they tell the story of this man who began flying in the Roaring '20s. Free, 7:00 p.m. at the Museum.  Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Co-sponsored by the Estes Park Public Library Foundation and the Estes Park Museum, and funded by the Xcel Energy Foundation.

The     Cheley Camp Tour. Estes Park was a sleepy mountain town in 1921 when Frank Cheley founded Cheley Colorado Camps as the Bear Lake Trail School at Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. By 1927, the camp outgrew the available space and the Cheley Colorado Camps moved to its present location off of Fish Creek Road, where it hosts more than 1,000 campers annually. Join us for a tour of the historic Cheley Colorado Camp from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. This program is free for members of the Estes Park Museum Friends and Foundation and $5 for non-members. Reservations are required and can be made after August 1 by calling 970-586-6256.

Rocky Mountain National Park Historic Lodges & Homesteads Tour with Ken Jessen. Board our 14-passenger van and tour the sites of lodges and homesteads from the past in Rocky Mountain National Park. We will begin at the Fall River Inn Site and travel to numerous historic sites including those of the Horseshoe Inn, the Hupp graves and homestead and Sprague’s resort in Moraine Park. The tour begins at 9:00 a.m. and lasts until approximately 1:00 p.m. Cost is $8 for members of the Estes Park Museum Friends & Foundation and $10 for non-members. Tickets available at the Museum beginning August 1. Call 970-586-6256. Sponsored by the Estes Park Museum Friends & Foundation.

The Playground Trail: To and Through the National Parks of the West.  In 1920, after World War I, Americans set out to explore the country by automobile. The National Park Service, established in 1916, opened several national parks. Stephen Mather, the first director of the National Park Service, envisioned a continuous paved highway connecting National Parks and opening the West to automobiles. A slogan of the National Park-to-Park Highway Association raised the question “You sing ‘America,’ why not see it?” On Friday, October 3, the Estes Park Museum will welcome authors Lee and Jane Whiteley to bring life to the history of the highway with a slide-illustrated program based on their book The Playground Trail.  Emphasis will be given to the first leg of the 1920 Park-to-Park Dedication Tour which began in Denver and passed through Lyons en route to Estes Park, the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park.  The Whiteleys also authored The Yellowstone Trail and an upcoming book on early US Highway 40 from Kansas City to Denver. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for the 7:00 p.m. program. Free to the public and sponsored by the Estes Park Museum Friends & Foundation.

Annual Meeting of the Estes Park Museum Friends & Foundation. Check back for more details soon.