General information about the National Park
As its name suggests, Rocky Mountain NP protects a part of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. The Continental Divide runs through the park and it is home to the spring of the famous Colorado River.
Current 2024: In 2024, you will still need a permit to visit the park between May 24 and the end of October. You can choose between the normal access road and the access road including the Bear Lake corridor. Permits can be purchased online on the website of recreation.gov .
Number of visitors
In 2023 Rocky Mountain NP ranked 5th in the most visited national parks visitor statistics.
Best time to visit: Between May and October. During this time it is best to come in the morning if you want to have a parking space somewhere.
Our visits:
So far 2 visits in October 2012 and June 2017
Entrance fees and opening hours
- 35$/car and all passengers valid for 7 days
- Covered by the Anual Pass*
- Open 24h all year round. Some roads are closed in winter.
*The Anual Pass is so to speak the "flat rate" for all Parks managed by the National Park Service. The pass costs a one-time fee of $80 and can be purchased at the entrance to each National Park, National Monument, etc. The pass is valid for 13 months.
Trail Ridge Road
Description: Depending on the weather, Trail Ridge Road is usually open from Memorial Day to mid-October. It is about 50mi long and connects the small towns of Estes Park and Grand Lake. The road winds its way up to 12181ft.
Our rating: If you've driven through the Alps before and then expect something similar here, you might be a little disappointed. You can't say we were really disappointed on our first drive, but we kind of expected the Rocky Mountains to have similar spectacular rock formations as the Alps. Although it's much higher up here, it's a bit like driving through our low mountain ranges. Despite this, we found the ride very interesting, if only for the reason that you can experience the effects of altitude on the human body in a very impressive way. If you've always wanted to know what thin air means, you can find out here.
Bear Lake
Description: Bear Lake is the last lake on Bear Lake Road. There is a flat, 0.5mi long, trail around the lake. Snow can still be here until mid-June. Since this is a very easy place to reach, it is accordingly well frequented. If you are looking for loneliness, you won't find it here.
Our rating: Quite nice mountain lake. However, for us it was not the real highlight, but may also be due to the fact that the weather was not really good. In the area of Bear Lake Rd. there are several other lakes, witch we are not able to visit because of the bad weather. If we are in the area again, this will be on our schedule.
Alluvial Fan
Description: An enormous flash flood was triggered by a dam burst at Lawn Lake (July 1982). This raced through the Roaming River Valley and was only slowed down at the Fall River in Horseshoe Park. The flood thus spread out and has since formed the Alluvial Fan.
Our rating: Nice stop, especially because of the history behind the creation. For us, a worthwhile destination in the park.
Colorado River Trail
Description: The trail leads upstream to the spring of the Colorado River. This is a several mile hike. Due to time constraints, we only hiked the trail about 2mi in one direction.
Our rating: The trail was interesting to us because we wanted to see the Colorado River shortly after its spring. It was also very interesting to see how tiny the river that formed the Grand Canyon is here. The trail itself is not very spectacular, you hike in the woods along a little stream, if it wasn't the Colorado, this would be a nice little trail in the mountains of Colorado.
Coyote Valley Trail
Description: The Coyote Valley Trail is a 1mi long, flat trail which leads along the Colorado over a plateau. With a little luck you are able to observe moose.
Our rating: We hiked the trail because we hoped to see a moose. We had gotten the tip from a ranger. The place is certainly suitable for moose, but of course there were none when we went there. The trail itself I not particularly spectacular, but offers a few nice photo motifs.
An important and always very fun part are the animals that you can observe in their natural habitat, especially in the national parks. Here at Rocky Mountain NP we were able to spot the animals shown below.
