Rocky Mountain National Park is an U.S. National Park located approximately 76 mi northwest of Denver International Airport in north-central Colorado, within the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The park is situated between the towns of Estes Park to the east and Grand Lake to the west. The eastern and western slopes of the Continental Divide run directly through the center of the park with the headwaters of the Colorado River located in the park’s northwestern region. The main features of the park include mountains, alpine lakes and a wide variety of wildlife within various climates and environments, from wooded forests to mountain tundra. (Source: Wikipedia)
Established: January 26, 1915
Size: 265,807 acres
Rank: 26
#Visitors in 2018: 4,590,493
(Visited September 2014)- My boyfriend (at the time, and now husband) and I visited Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park for a few days before we were meeting up with family in Breckenridge. I booked a beautiful B&B in Estes Park as a birthday gift for my boyfriend. https://www.romanticriversong.com/. It was the perfect place in a perfect location for visiting the park.
Our first full day in the park was spent hiking Bear Lake Trail. We hiked to Emerald Lake and back, stopping often to photograph the alpine lakes, streams and mountain vistas.
On our way back to our B&B in Estes Park, we drove by Moraine Park where we saw herds of elk laying in the meadow. We had a close encounter with a herd of elk; a large bull elk and several females on the road leading to our B&B.
On our 2nd full day in the park, we drove down to the Wild Basin area and hiked the Wild Basin Trail to Ouzel Falls and back (5.4 miles r/t). We spent all day along this trail, full of waterfalls and streams…. one of my favorite subjects to photograph.
Later that same day, we did a sunset shoot in the Moraine Park area. We saw a beautiful bend in the river near an area that was temporarily fenced off in order to protect the elk during mating season. We could hear the loud sounds of bulls bugling in the distance. This was one of my favorite photographs of this trip.
On our last partial day in the park, we drove the Trail Ridge Road to the Alpine Visitor Center and then continued out the west side of the park to continue our trip to Breckenridge. We encountered a wide range of weather conditions; starting out partly clear and ending in heavy fog and drizzle. We saw a beautiful rainbow near the visitor center. This was also the place where I lost my cell phone. I was able to locate my phone later using Find My Phone on my iPad. A nice stranger found my phone and turned it into the Alpine Visitor Center. They then sent it to the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center which is the central collection point for Lost and Found. I was able to send payment to the local FedEx office who picked up and shipped my phone. It arrived at our home after our trip. I was so heartened by all the wonderful, honest strangers.
We only saw a small part of this large, beautiful park- a return trip is a must! We did, of course see a lot more of the beautiful Rocky Mountains during our extended stay in Colorado, including Breckenridge, Loveland Pass, and St. Mary’s Glacier area.