Estes Park and Our Workamping experience
We were 10 minutes outside of Rocky Mountain National Park. We would visit there often after workamping and on our days off.
In May 2021, we made it to Estes Park, CO! Estes Park is 10 minutes outside Rocky Mountain National Park, which has timed entries until 6:00p. We’ll be here from May through the end of September and we’re able to stay this long in a resort town because of Workamping.
We workamped in exchange for a free site for the summer. We got CPR and propane certified. We had to pull lots of weeds including the mean thistles and all the yellow at the bottom right is weeds as well. We even saw locals pulling weeds in the fields to keep the weed populations down.
Workamping allows you to work in a campground in exchange for a free site. You have to commit to the whole season (May to end of September), but for your volunteer labor, you get a place for your camper with full hookup - water, electricity, and sewer.
We’re in the Mary’s Lake campground and we work 6-hour shifts: either 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. or 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. You know your schedule for the month and your shifts are either inside or outside.
We went to free concerts by Estes Lake, hiked, biked, and checked out the library. We bought 2 e-mountain bikes and enjoyed exploring.
On the Workamping Job
In order to perform all our duties, Jeff and I got propane-certified as part of our orientation. I’ve also learned to wear my hat everywhere as I am much closer to the sun at 8K ft above sea level.
Workamping is a reasonable way to go. We make sure the sites are clean, tidy up the bathroom and when we have time, pull weeds and thistles. Jeff mostly supervises me in the weed pulling. 🤣 The best part is hanging out with Jeff in the golf cart helping check campers in. We also work at the camp store, ringing up purchases of t-shirts, firewood, and other things. We welcome the new reservations and share with them the camp etiquette.
Unfortunately, two couples dropped out of their Workamping commitments so we have to work a lot of extra hours. That is tough, but for such a great deal, you have to take on some risk!
We love to bike!
Breathtakingly Beautiful
Workamping allows you to stay longer in amazing locations. Usually, there’s a limit, and at the Estes Park Campground at Mary’s Lake, there was a 2-week limit. But if you do Workamping you make a 4-month commitment and sign a contract and then you get to relax and really get to know this amazing area.
It is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. We have lots of wildlife around us. Elk and deer would walk through the campground and we got to see some coyote babies too. One night a red-tailed hawk was trying really hard to get a ground squirrel which looked a lot like a small prairie dog. I was wishing I had my real camera on me instead of my iPhone.
It’s amazing how safe I feel here. The air is clean and crisp. There are no sirens. The people are kind and friendly, and the area has a very low crime rate.
Elk would regularly go through our campground. When we arrived in late May, the elk still had their winter coats that they were shedding. We could see Twin Sisters from our campground which we later hiked.
Adjusting to the Altitude
When we took our first bike ride, these East Coast lungs were struggling with the mountain climbs in addition to the 40 mph gusts! We did 15 miles and it felt like 50. At least going around Estes Lake was fun and flat. We got to see the town elk that way.
Jeff checked out Kirk’s fly-fishing store as that was on his list of things to do. Then we headed back up the mountain to our campground. We were hoping for a tailwind, but we only felt the wind head-on, going up the mountain.
There is a farmers market in downtown Estes Park every Thursday morning. We tried to visit it as often as we could. One day we enjoyed visiting it and then we explored downtown a little. I love all the flowers and potted arrangements. We went into a shoe store that had a moose on the wall. His expression was priceless.
Estes Park is a resort town that empties out after September. It’s where The Stanley Hotel is, where Stephen King stayed decades ago. It’s exciting to be near the hotel that inspired The Shining, but it’s $25 just to walk around it. We’re spending our attention on the incredible beauty that surrounds us every day.
We loved going to the Estes Park Farmer’s Market on Thursday mornings!
Final conclusion on Workamping
We enjoyed our time workamping and the friends we made and the guests we saw. We also loved being so close to Rocky Mountain National Park and got to witness it in the spring, summer, and early fall. Being able to go to the park after work and on our days off was such an incredible experience.
Not sure if we’ll do this again anytime soon. It’s hard to manage to work on your own career and help someone else with their camp responsibilities. We ended up working 30+ hours a week together which is a lot more than we wanted to put in.
We loved walking around Lily Lake and downtown Estes Park. So many beautiful blooms.
We had friends come to see us!
Dear friends!
And we had Jeff’s youngest daughter, Melissa and her son Ronan come to visit us too!
Ronan got to learn how to fish with Pops.