The Stanley Hotel- Estes Park, CO

This past summer I spent some time in Colorado visiting family. During my time there, we took a trip up to Estes Park, Colorado, home of the famous Stanley Hotel.

The Stanley Hotel, in Estes Park, CO. Taken this past July.

The hotel was built in 1909 by Freelan Oscar Stanley, of the same family who built the famous Stanley Steamer. While this hotel is historically significant, I mention it today because of our recent discussion of Stephen King's The Shining.

While the Stanley is well-known as a historically significant landmark, it is also famous for its part in the creation of the 1980 film, The Shining.

Inspired by the haunted history of the hotel, Stephen King wrote the novel, The Shining on which the film was based after his stay at the hotel, in 1977.

The film was actually shot mostly in Oregon, at a hotel called the Timberline Lodge, however a few scenes from Kubrik's film, as well as the entire mini-series (also called The Shining, and yes, it is confusing) were shot on location at the Stanley.

While in Estes Park, my family and I took a tour of the haunted hotel, visiting infamous rooms, such as room 217. It is said that every room in the hotel is haunted, with supernatural events occurring everywhere. Things such as strange noises, moving objects, footsteps, and more have been reported.
In addition to being the birth place of The Shining, other films have been shot in the picturesque Estes Park, such as Dumb and Dumber and multiple episodes of Ghost Hunters. 

Overall it was a really cool experience to visit such a historic hotel. Learning about the history of both the hotel and the area was really interesting. 
Here are some pictures I took on my trip. Some were on a DSLR, and some were taken on my iPhone, but I hope you like them! See you next week... 

An aerial shot of Estes Park, CO

Room 217

Signed photo of Shelly Duval from The Shining at the Stanley hotel