A town this size, with a national park at its edge, leans on its nonprofits more than most. The land gets protected by a trust, the trails get fixed by a conservancy, and a family resource center helps parents find childcare. All 12 of the groups listed here are based in the valley, so you are calling neighbors, not a regional office.
I have lived in twenty small towns, and the good ones all had people who showed up for the unglamorous work. Here that is flood recovery, wildfire risk and childcare. If you want to help, call the group closest to your own worry and ask what they are short on.
Downtown
Founded in May 2019 and paid for entirely by its members, the Estes Chamber of Commerce calls itself the new chamber in town. The office is on the lower level of the Bank of Colorado building on Big Thompson Avenue, a short walk from the Visitor Center.
The Estes Park Equestrian Club is a nonprofit of riders whose stated aim is responsible horsemanship and keeping horses part of life in the Rocky Mountains. Membership runs from small kids to seniors and from first-time riders to professionals, and it leans family.
Around the valley
Out on Wildfire Road, a little under two miles from downtown and under a mile from Lake Estes Marina, Crossroads Ministry keeps a weekday office. Little else is on record about its programs, so call before stopping by.
A one-year Bible school is the core of what happens out on Pole Hill Road, about three and a half miles from downtown. Ravencrest belongs to Torchbearers International, and the teaching rests on a single idea, that Christ lives in the believer.
Trail crews, land protection and the Field Institute classes in Rocky all trace back to this office on Alpine Circle, a couple of miles from downtown. The Rocky Mountain Conservancy is the park's nonprofit partner, and memberships, donations and the Rocky Mountain license plate pay for trail work, historic preservation, education and youth crews like the Conservation Corps and the high school leadership corps.
On 18 acres off Ptarmigan Trail, a little over a mile from Lake Estes, Good Samaritan Society's Estes Park Village offers three kinds of senior housing: assisted living apartments, independent living apartments and independent living twin homes. The respite program is worth knowing about.
Estes Park is a childcare desert, by EVICS's own description, and getting affordable, safe care is the hurdle this family resource center was built around. It began as a childcare scholarship program and grew into a center that connects parents to help across the valley and Larimer County.
A quarter mile or so from Mary's Lake on Marys Lake Road, a little over two miles from downtown, the Bureau of Reclamation keeps a site. It's an office, not an attraction, and nothing published here covers public hours or visitor services, so call before assuming anyone can show you around.
Healing Waters Foundation is a nonprofit with an address on Big Thompson Avenue, the road that heads out toward the canyon, a short way from Lake Estes Marina. The office sits next to Longhorn Liquor Mart and La Cabaña Mexican Grill, near Murphy's Resort.
Nearly 10,000 acres around the valley stay open because of work this land trust has done with private landowners over more than 30 years. The tool is the conservation easement: a voluntary legal agreement that permanently limits what can happen on a piece of land while the owner keeps it and keeps using it.
The September 2013 flood is where this group starts. Residents came together to help one another and to chase down recovery projects and grants, and by 2018 the coalition had finished 14 flood restoration projects.
Out on Longs Peak Road, about seven miles from town, a music school has been running summer programs in log cabins for more than 80 years. Middle and high school students come for residential camps, college players for a summer intensive, and adults for a piano seminar.
Try another filter, or show every nonprofits and media again.
Map tiles could not load.
Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors
Start by sorting what you need into three piles. Some of these groups serve the public directly: Rocky Mountain Conservancy runs classes and tours in the park, and Rocky Ridge Music teaches students on a log-cabin campus. Others work with landowners and agencies, like Estes Valley Land Trust and Estes Valley Watershed Coalition, which grew out of the 2013 flood.
The third pile is help for people. EVICS started as a childcare scholarship program and now connects families to advocates, English classes and referrals. Good Samaritan Society offers respite stays for family caregivers, and Crossroads Ministry is in town too, though the record has no description of what it offers, so ask them directly.
Expect seasonal rhythm. Camps, retreats and youth programs at places like Ravencrest Chalet peak in summer, and small staffs may be slow to answer in the off-season. Call or email early, say what you need in one sentence, and ask who the right person is. Several of these groups are small, so a clear question gets a faster answer than a long story. Ask whether a program has a waitlist or an application date before you count on it, and whether staff can point you to another group if theirs is not the right fit.
Estes Valley Investment in Childhood Success, known as EVICS, is the one in this list. It started in 2006 as a childcare scholarship program and still centers on tuition assistance. It also has family advocates and a childcare resource specialist, so call and describe your situation.
Estes Valley Watershed Coalition formed after the September 2013 flood and now covers the upper Big Thompson watershed. Since 2019 its board has also taken on wildfire risk reduction. It brings landowners and local, state and federal agencies together, so it is a sensible first call.
Estes Valley Land Trust describes it as a voluntary legal agreement with a private landowner that permanently limits how the property can be used. The owner keeps the land and can keep using it, with some rights restricted. Call the trust to talk through what that would mean for your parcel.
Rocky Mountain Conservancy runs a Field Institute with expert-led classes in the park, including fall elk ecology tours, and it also offers bus tours. Offerings change by season, so check its current schedule or call the Estes Park headquarters before you plan around a date.
