Rocky Mountain National Park is a great drive. If it's open take Old Fall River road to the top and ride Trail Ridge Road back down to the bottom. Their is a number of great hikes you can do with in the park if you got the time. If you have time in the park. Take the Bear Lakes road drive. It's a fun drive through some very beautiful sites and really shows off a lot more of the park. The backside of the park going towards Grand Lake also tends to be the best sitings for Mouse. Where as the Estes side is the best for Elk and Sheep. Not to mention the resident herd of Elk that live in town.
Visit the Stanley hotel and take the hourly history tour. It's usually full for the next couple hours and takes about 90mins. So plan to get there early or make reservations online. They will take you all over the hotel, tell you stories about the hotel, it's history and the history about the Stanley family. As well as info and stories about The Shining and Dumb and Dumber. The Ghost Tour is fun as well but is always booked up and only happens at night. It's not as historical but fun none the less if you can do it.
Stop in Lyons along the way from Denver to Estes. It's a little town at the intersections of HWY 36 and HWY 72 (These two highways are great scenic drives and I'd recommend taking both if you can). There is a vintage pinball museum that you can play every one of them. It's also home of Oscar Blues brewing. So a good place to eat or just grab a drink. There is also Spirit Hound Distillery just as you come into town on the south side of the hwy. They have great cocktails and spirits, Richard's Decaf Coffee Liquor is the shit.
If you have time, take the Peak to Peak HWY (Byway maybe?). This is a combination of HWY's 7, 72, and 119. It runs from I70 north to Estes. If you can't afford the whole thing. The Lyons to Allenspark (HWY 72) route to HWY 7 is your best bang for getting part of it. This will take you right by Longs Peak. One of the most well known and beautiful 14's around. As you come into Estes form the south, there is also Lily Lakes and Twin Sisters Peaks. Which both have some small fun hikes/walks. If you're also an avid beer fan, as myself. Lumpy Ridge Brewing is a fun stop as you come into town. It's in an old converted gas station with the auto garage. Have Nick show you his setup, old dairy equipment setup.
Downtown Estes is a fun walk around town. The Barrel is a great place to drink from a very large collection of beers. Skip eating at Wild Rose. If you end up a Estes Brewing; drink the beer, skip the food. There is also a gondola (Estes Park Aerial Tramway) you can ride that will take you to the top of one of the peaks and yields some great views. There is also a adventure park next door and another great Brewery (Rock Cut).
Also to note HWY 34 from Loveland to Estes is closed for repair work from the floods back in 2013. So plan to take one of the other HWYs into town from Denver.
