Each year, there are approximately non-profit groups that are selected to become the official Participating Organizations and Charities in the Duck Race Festival. The Rotary Club of Estes Park presents The Great Estes Park Rotary Duck Race handles all the administrative, operational, financial aspects of the event, and all are volunteers. During the Duck Race “season” people may “adopt” little yellow ducks for the Duck Race and designate the charity of their choice to receive the proceeds of their adoptions. The racecourse for 2026 runs down the Big Thompson River, beginning with the duck drop from Performance Park. The finish line stretches across the river at the Estes Park Visitors Center. On lookers can follow the little rubber ducks along the River Walk through downtown to the Visitor’s Centr. Volunteers at the Finish Line collect the ducks and Prizes are awarded to the adopters of the ducks that win the Duck Race. After the race, the collected funds are distributed to the Participating Organizations and Charities based on the number of duck adoptions credited to each benefiting group. Visit our Schedule page for details and directions.

At 11:00 AM, 1:00 PM, and 3:00 PM a Flight of thousands of rubber ducks, one for each paid adoption, are released from a cage and dropped into the Big Thompson River. The river runs yellow with ducks! You can follow the ducks down the Riverwalk for about 0.6 miles to the finish line. 250 ducks finsihing first from the first two flights are selected to race in the Final Flight at 3:00 pm. Depending on the condition of the river, the Race may take anywhere from 15 minutes to half an hour start to finish. After the Duck Race is over, the list of winners and prizes will be posted on this website.

The Race is held in all kinds of weather and river conditions. It’s best to dress in layers since the weather can and will vary during Race Day.

It’s easy. Complete an Adoption Form on this website. This will include selecting the charity or nonprofit you want to receive $23 for each of your adoption(s), from the list of Participating Organizations. Your adopted duck will be entered into the event on Race Day. OPTIONAL: Gift the Duck Adoption! For each adoption, you can provide Name, Email, and Phone of whose name we can put the adoption in. Great gift idea for family and friends giving them chances to win prizes! OR keep all the adoptions and chances to win for yourself by filling in your name and information for each adoption.

A single adoption is available for $25 and the local charity you select will receive $23 for each adoption. A Quack Pack allows you to adopt 5 ducks and get a 6th duck free, so you get an extra chance to win! The charity gets $23 for every paid adoption!

You can gift on-line adoptions to other people. Click on “Is this race entry for someone other than the adoption purchaser?” Then, fill in the information for whom you wish to give the adoption(s) including Name, Email, and Phone next to each adoption you want to gift. The person whose name is filled in for each adoption gets the chance to win Prizes.

You adopt a duck for a fee of $25, and $23 for every duck you adopt will benefit the charity or organization you select at the time of adoption. This is a truly impressive return ratio that reflects the Rotary Club’s efforts to minimize the Duck Race costs and return the maximum amount of money to the charities.

No. There is no limit to the number of adoptions you can purchase. The website is designed to collect your information in a simple format that makes it easy for you to enter as many adoptions as you wish.

No. Duck Adoptions are not charitable donations and are not tax-deductible for income tax purposes because it makes you eligible to win a prize, as in a raffle, lottery, or game of chance.

Prize Winners will be posted to the Prizes website after the race. In accordance with IRS Guidelines, winners of $600 or more in prizes must provide a tax identification number to the Rotary Club of Estes Park to claim their prize. All income taxes on all prizes are the sole responsibility of the winner.

Your chances depend on how many ducks are adopted and how many Prizes are to be awarded. As a rule of thumb, your chances of winning a Prize are about 1 chance in 30 but this is only an approximation and is not guaranteed.

No. All winners will be notified by email from The Great Estes Park Rotary Duck Race. Please check to be sure that our emails are not in your spam folder.

Each Charity has a unique QR Code that will help take you directly to their online Duck Adoption form for fast and easy adoption. Simply, use your smartphone camera, point it at the QR Code, and the organization’s URL will appear. Tap it and you are on the way to supporting the charity that provided you with the QR Code!

All online orders are input directly into the Duck Race database. At the completion of your online order, you will receive confirmation of the order on your web browser and in the inbox of the email you provided, that you may print out if you wish to keep a hard copy confirmation of your adoption order. After your adoption order is confirmed, your little yellow ducks are all primed and ready for the Race! NOTE! You do not need to be present at the race. You should consider attending as it is fun to race ducks in The Great Estes Park Rotary Duck Race.

We love to have people involved! Please check out our Get Involved page or contact us at <a href="https://www.epduckrace.org/contact/" and we’ll talk about it

The Estes Park Rotary Duck Race continues a tradition started in 1989 to support the local charities of the Estes Valley. In 1989, Estes Park didn’t have a United Way or any other organized way to collect and distribute funds to needy organizations in town. Then, one day, four businessmen in town, Stan Pratt, Nick Kane, Mike McDonald, and Steve Nagl were having coffee and were discussing that very issue. They were also brainstorming on ideas for extending the shoulder season in Estes so that the merchants could have a better business season. Stan mentioned that he had seen a neat duck race up in Oregon and it seemed like it was a lot of fun and a good way to bring the tourists to town for a festival. Not only that, seemed like a good way to raise money for the charitable organizations in town. Looked like a natural winner. Mike said. “Well, we’ve got a river that runs right through the main part of town.” Nick chimed in with, “We could start the race at my restaurant.” And Steve added,”The finish line could be at my place.” That’s how the Duck Race started. From its humble beginnings, The Great Estes Park Rotary Duck Race has become one of the top five duck races in Colorado. Currently, over 10,000 ducks are adopted, and hundreds of prizes are awarded to the lucky winners. Our Duck Race has become the second oldest continuing Duck Race in the United States!

When purchasing duck adoptions, if the organization or charity has individual sellers that are benefiting from the adoptions, make sure to credit them as you check out. Only when you choose an organization with this option will you see, “Is there a seller who should get credit for your purchase?”. Please fill in the name of your seller and that name will appear on the report provided to the organization. As an example, if you selected Eagle Rock School, and the name that you wish to credit is Jane Doe, Jane Doe’s name will be associated with your generous adoption. This feature supports organizations that wish to recognize their sellers’ efforts. If you don’t know or don’t have a seller’s name, your donation will still go to the organization you selected.