Estes Park HQ
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Above the Trees and Down the Mountain: Estes Park’s Tram and Mountain Coaster

Quick answer: The Estes Park Aerial Tramway carries riders 1,060 vertical feet to the 8,700-foot summit of Prospect Mountain in about five minutes, offering panoramic views without any hiking required. The Mustang Mountain Coaster is a gravity-driven, rider-controlled alpine coaster on a historic ranch just outside town, sending riders down roughly 2,000 feet of track through the pines at speeds up to 25-30 mph. Both are open seasonally, both work for a wide age range, and both offer a genuinely different way to experience Estes Park beyond hiking trails.

Not every great Estes Park experience involves a trailhead. These two attractions are consistently mentioned by visitors as some of the most memorable things they did in town — one slow and scenic, one fast and a little adrenaline-fueled — and together they make a great pairing for a day when your group wants something different from another hike.

Estes Park Aerial Tramway: A 70-Year Estes Park Tradition

The Estes Park Aerial Tramway has been carrying visitors to the summit of Prospect Mountain since it opened in July 1955, built by cable car pioneer Robert Heron using a free-span design — meaning the cable stretches 2,630 feet with no support towers in between, which makes for an unusually smooth ride. Since opening, it’s carried more than three million passengers, and the historic red tram cars remain one of the most recognizable sights in town.

The ride itself takes about five minutes and climbs roughly 1,060 vertical feet to the upper terminal at 8,619 feet, with the summit reaching close to 8,900 feet. Most visitors spend around an hour at the top, where there’s a gift shop, the Hungry Chipmunk Cafe (now serving beer and wine alongside sandwiches and treats), picnic areas, chipmunks eager to be fed, and a short, optional hike to the West Summit — about a 15-to-20-minute, three-quarter-mile walk on easy terrain for those who want to stretch their legs and extend the views. The tramway is fully ADA compliant at both terminals, and wheelchairs can ride up in the tram, making it one of the more accessible high-elevation experiences in Estes Park for visitors who can’t or don’t want to hike.

The tram is privately owned and sits outside Rocky Mountain National Park boundaries, so no park entrance reservation is needed to ride it — a detail worth knowing if your group has already used up a park entry window for the day. It typically operates from early May through late October or early November, generally 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in peak summer, though hours shift seasonally. Reservations are made in timed entry slots online in advance, which is worth doing since popular time slots sell out, especially midday in July and August.

Mustang Mountain Coaster: A "Horseless Trail Ride"

The Mustang Mountain Coaster, which opened in May 2021 on the historic Walker family ranch (a property that’s offered tours since 1959), takes a completely different approach to mountain scenery: instead of riding up, you ride down, fast. It’s an alpine coaster — a single-rail track built into the mountainside, with individual sled-like cars that riders control themselves using a hand brake, rather than a fixed-speed ride. The track runs about 2,000 feet (roughly 623 meters) through ponderosa pine forest, and riders can go as fast or as cautiously as they’re comfortable with, since the ride is entirely gravity-driven and computer-monitored to prevent any car from catching up to the one ahead.

Riders control their own experience from a slow, scenic coast to a genuinely thrilling run with sharp turns and quick drops, all while getting elevated views over the surrounding ranch and mountains along the way. It’s family-friendly enough for kids as young as about 3 years old to ride tandem with an adult, and thrilling enough that repeat riders often say the first run is about learning the brakes and the second or third is where the real fun starts — which is why most visitors buy a multi-ride pass rather than a single ticket. The ranch also sells on-ride photos captured by cameras along the track, a nice souvenir for families who want to remember the moment without trying to hold a phone during the descent.

The Mustang Mountain Coaster operates year-round, weather permitting, which makes it one of the few Estes Park attractions worth considering even outside the traditional summer season.

Pairing Them Into a Day

Because the tram and the coaster deliver such different experiences — one contemplative and scenic, the other fast and hands-on — they pair naturally into a single day that doesn’t require any hiking at all. A morning tram ride with a leisurely hour at the summit, followed by lunch downtown, followed by an afternoon at the mountain coaster, gives a reunion group a full day of activity that works for grandparents, teenagers, and younger kids alike, without anyone needing to be in serious hiking shape.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a Rocky Mountain National Park pass to ride the tram or the coaster?
No — both attractions are privately owned and located outside the national park boundary, so no park entrance reservation is required to visit either one.
The tram is generally the gentler experience and better suited to toddlers or anyone uneasy with speed, while the Mustang Mountain Coaster allows kids as young as about 3 to ride tandem with an adult, with the option to go as slow as the rider wants using the hand brake.
The tram ride itself is about five minutes each way, with most visitors spending roughly an hour total including time at the summit. The mountain coaster ride takes a few minutes per run, and most visitors purchase a multi-ride ticket to make a full outing of it.
The Mustang Mountain Coaster generally operates year-round, weather permitting. The Estes Park Aerial Tramway is seasonal, typically running from early May through late October or early November.

Part of the Estes Park HQ things-to-do series. See also: Downtown Estes Park: A Local’s Guide to Shopping, Dining, and Fun and A Weekend in Estes Park: The Perfect Itinerary for First-Timers.