Rocky Mountain National Park: All You Need to Know

Rocky Mountain National Park is one of America's most visited parks but not often the most talked about. The park itself spans the Continental Divide and encompasses towering mountains, vast forests, and alpine tundra. It's known for its scenic Trail Ridge Road and Old Fall River Road as well as the Keyhole Route which is a climb up vertical rock faces that lead up Longs Peak, the park's tallest mountain. It comprises countless overlooks, trails, and lakes which provide for some of the most inspirational and beautiful views you will ever encounter when it comes to the Greater Rockies.

As part of our current cross country road trip we recently were in Denver, CO for this past weekend. From Denver we spent a day driving up to and exploring Rocky Mountain National Park on Saturday. We left Denver around 8AM and arrived to Rocky Mountain National Park around 10:30 or so.

We began our drive through the Rocky Mountain National Forest via the Trail Ridge Road from one of the eastern park entrance stations. We stopped at an overlook or two for some scenic views and photo opportunities along the way and pulled off approximately 15 miles or so into the drive at a small parking area (enough room for only ~9 vehicles or so) where we stumbled upon part of the Ute Trail. The small parking lot prevents this trail from becoming crowded. We hardly encountered others during our entire hike which made the hike itself and the views even more outstanding not having to fight crowds as well as having uninterrupted views for prime photo opportunities.

The Ute trailhead begins ~2 miles past Rainbow Curve before you reach Forest Canyon (coming from the east.) A small information kiosk explains the history behind the trail including how it was used by Arapaho and Ute Indians on their way between winter and summer hunting grounds on the Great Plains.

Once on the trail you encounter a short climb across Tombstone Ridge but then the trail flattens out for about the first mile opening up to some gorgeous views of the mountains. At this point you then encounter a second less steep climb where you begin to encounter even more commanding views before topping out and flattening back out again. Once you are about 2 miles into the trail the area opens up with views of the mountains to your right with a deep valley down below. You can catch a glimpse of Fern, Odessa, and Cub Lakes if you look closely down towards the base of the mountains. Here you will have some of the most stunning views in my mind of Stone's Peak all the way down to Long's Peak (the highest peak in the park.) The trail basically follows a ridge line which allows for these uninterrupted and unbelievable views of the mountain range, the valley below, and to your left a raised rock line where we intermittently saw some deer and elk as well as multiple marmots.

We turned around just shy of probably two miles but just before turning around we also ran into a bighorn sheep, albeit at a far distance down into the valley. We hung around for a while enjoying the views as this trail was extremely inspirational and unbelievably beautiful. All together hiking the trail and stopping at multiple points along the hike for pictures while also taking our time to just enjoy the views took us around 3 hours or so for just under 4 miles. One piece of advice if hiking the Ute Trail is be prepared for lots of sun as there is absolutely no shade throughout the entire hike and it is fully exposed to both the sun and the wind, since you are hiking along the top of a ridge you are also exposed to some moderate winds at times.

We made our way back down the trail to where we parked and decided to drive just a little further up Trail Ridge Road before turning around at the Alpine Visitor Center. We didn't go any further up Trail Ridge Road only due to the fact that at this point it was already around 3PM and we had reservations to get down into Bear Lake Rd as the park is currently requiring a pass to enter this stretch of road. Thankfully we bought our pass a couple months ahead of time and our window for entry was between 2-4 PM. We arrived to Bear Lake Rd entry point just before 4. We made our way to the end of the road where Bear Lake sits. From here you can hike around the lake (.8 mile round trip) where you can enjoy views of the lake from every angle.

We decided to take the Alpine Falls Trail which starts from Bear Lake and is a 1.5 mile round trip hike up to the Alpine Falls and back. This hike does have some fairly good elevation changes so be prepared for a lot of ascents up to the top and descents on the way back down. We saw some elk along the hike and the environment is beautiful as you trek deep into the forest. Once you reach the Falls you won't be disappointed. You can climb up some rather large rocks and make your way to where the water comes rushing just around the bend right before the water begins to drop down into the falls. You can really get a feel for the pure power of the water as it rushes around the bend and down the falls at an exhilarating rate. It was a rather hot day so we hung around the falls for a little bit and enjoyed the light mist coming off of them before making our way back down to the trailhead and to the car.

Between the scenic drive along Trail Ridge Road, the Ute trail hike, the Bear Lake Rd drive, and the Bear Lake and Alpine Falls trails we spent about 7 to 8 hours all together in the park. At this point we were all getting hungry so we left Rocky Mountain National Park and made a few stops along the way back to Denver where we were staying again for the night.

Rocky Mountain National Park was more than I ever thought or dreamt it would be. This Park by far surprised me in many ways. It may not be one of the most popular and well-known National Parks in America; however, it definitely can compete with the Yellowstone's, Yosemite's, and Grand Canyon's out there. I would highly recommend a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park. We unfortunately only had one day in the park but I am hopeful to return in the future and spend a few days in and around the park exploring more trails inside as well as more of the small towns that surround the park.

For more photos from our time in Rocky Mountain National Park click here.