Managing Editor:
James Perry

The park's rich scenery typifies the massive grandeur of the Rocky Mountains. Trail Ridge Road crosses the Continental Divide and looks out over peaks that tower more than 14,000 feet high. Wildlife and wildflowers call these 415.2 square miles (265,727 acres) of Colorado's front range home.

The snow-mantled peaks of Rocky Mountain National Park rise above verdant subalpine valleys and glistening lakes. One-third of the park is above the tree line, and here tundra predominates - a major reason these peaks and valleys have been set aside as a national park. The first Europeans to see this area were French fur traders. In 1859 Joel Estes and his son, Milton, rode into the valley that bears their name. Few others settled in this rugged country. About 1909 Enos Mills, a naturalist, writer and conservationist, began to campaign for preservation of this pristine area. Mills' campaign succeeded, and the area became Rocky Mountain National Park in 1915.

A noticeable feature of the park is the marked differences found with the changing elevation. At lower levels, in the foothills and mountain ecosystem, open stands of ponderosa pine and juniper grow on the slopes facing the sun, while on cooler northern slopes you'll find Douglas fir. Gracing the stream sides are blue spruces intermixed with dense stands of lodgepole pines. Groves of aspen pop up here and there and wildflowers dot meadows and glades. Higher still, forests of Englemann spruce and subalpine fir take over. Openings in the cool, dark forests produce wildflower gardens of rare beauty where blue Colorado columbine reigns. At the upper edges of this zone the trees are twisted, grotesque, and hug the ground. Then the trees disappear altogether, in an alpine tundra - a harsh, fragile world. Here more than one-quarter of the plants you will see can also be found in the Arctic.

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General Information

Visitation:

3.1 million visitors in 1994, with the highest concentrations in July and August; lowest in December.

Location:

Estes Park, Colorado

Address:

Headquarters: Rocky Mountain National Park
Estes Park, CO 80517

Telephone:

(970) 586-1206, for general information.
(970) 586-1333, phone recorded message.
(970) 586-1319, TDD.
(970) 586-1242, backcountry information.
(970) 627-3471, West Side information.

Operating Hours, Seasons:

Open 24 hours a day, year-round.

Climate & Recommended Clothing:

In summer, you'll find sunny mornings with possible afternoon thunderstorms, and cool nights. Winter brings cool to blizzard conditions with extreme temperature variations. Weather conditions change quickly in mountainous areas and snow is possible year-round. Wear appropriate dress for each season. Wear comfortable clothing, dress in layers, bring rain gear, and sunscreen.

Directions:

Visitors traveling from the north or south on Interstate 25: use exit Highway 34 or Highway 36, westbound to Estes Park. Continue on Highway 34 to the north entrance, or Highway 36 to the south entrance, where park headquarters is located.

Visitors traveling from the east or west on I-70: use exit Highway 40 north to Granby, north on Highway 34 to Grand Lake and continue on Highway 34 to the west entrance.

Transportation:

To Park: access by state highways 34, 36, and 7.

In Park: personal vehicle, bicycle, shuttle bus service on Bear Lake Road in the summer and public transportation, tour buses.

Fees, Costs & Rates:

$10 per private vehicle, and $5 per bicyclist, motorcyclist or pedestrian;

An annual pass for Rocky Mountain National Park is also available for $20.

Backcountry permit fee is $15.

Golden Eagle Passport

The Golden Eagle Passport is an entrance pass to any national park, monument, historical site, recreation area, and national wildlife refuge that charges an entrance fee. It is a great convenience for those who plan on visiting several different areas that charge special fees. It is valid for one year from the purchase date. A Golden Eagle Passport may be purchased for $50 at any National Park Service entrance fee area or by mail. To order by mail, send check or money order (no cash, please) to:

National Park Service
1100 Ohio Drive, SW
Room 138
Washington, DC 20242
Attention: Golden Eagle Passport

Where entry is by private vehicle, the Golden Eagle Passport will admit the passholder as well as any passengers. Where entry by private vehicle is not possible, the pass will admit the passholder, spouse, children and parents.

The Golden Eagle Passport will not reduce use fees, such as those for camping, swimming, parking, boat launching, or cave tours. It covers entrance fees only.

Golden Age Passport

The Golden Age Passport is a lifetime entrance pass for those United States residents 62 years or older. These may be purchased at any National Park Service entrance fee area for a one-time processing fee of $10. The Golden Age Passport cannot be purchased by mail or telephone. Proof of age and citizenship or permanent residence must be shown at the time of purchase.

The Golden Age Passport will admit the passholder and any passengers in a private vehicle. When entrance is not via private vehicle, the pass will admit the passholder as well as children, spouse, and parents.

The Golden Age Pass grants a 50% discount to the holder on any federal use fees charged for things such as camping, swimming, parking, boat launching, or tours. It does not, however, reduce the price of special recreation permit fees or fees for concessions.

Golden Access Passport

The Golden Access Passport is a free entrance pass to any national park, monument, historic site, recreation area, and national wildlife refuge for those who are blind or permanently disabled. The Golden Access passport may be obtained at any National Park Service entrance fee area. Proof of a medically determined disability and eligibility for receiving benefits under federal law is necessary at purchase.

The Golden Access Passport will admit the passholder and any passengers in a private vehicle. Where entrance is not by vehicle, the pass will admit the passholder, spouse, children and parents.

The Golden Access Passport also provides a 50% discount on any federal use fees charged for services and facilities. It does not cover special recreation permit fees or fees charged for concessions.

All passes described above are non-transferable.

Facilities & Opportunities:

Visitor Center/Exhibits:

Headquarters Visitor Center and Kawuneeche Visitor Center offer park orientation exhibits and movies. They are open daily, but closed December 25. The Moraine Park Museum has "The Making of a Landscape" and geology exhibits; open daily, May through mid-October. Alpine Visitor Center, "The Land of No Trees", alpine tundra ecosystem exhibits; open daily, Memorial Day through mid-October. Combination forest service and park service exhibits explore the Longs Peak area at the Lily Lake Visitor Center; open daily, June through August. The Never Summer Ranch examines historical dude ranching; open mid-June through Labor day. Corral Creek information station is open daily; mid-June through Labor Day. Sheep Lakes information station; open daily, mid-May through mid-August.

Trails, Roads

There are 355 miles of trails ranging from easy to strenuous. There are 82 miles of paved roads, and 28 miles of unpaved roads. Trail Ridge Road (Highway 34) crosses the park and rises to 12,183 feet, with 10 miles of road above tree line. Trail Ridge Road is open Memorial Day through mid-October. Fall River Road, one-way uphill only, is 9 miles of gravel road and meets Trail Ridge Road at Fall River Pass. Fall River Road is open July 4 through mid-October. Bear Lake Road, Highway 36, and lower sections of Highway 34 are open year-round. Roads close temporarily due to weather conditions.

Programs/Activities:

Ranger-led activities take place daily during the summer and on weekends during the winter. Special programs are held year-round.

Lodging and camping facilities:

Lodging outside the park is available in Estes Park and Grand Lake.

Five campgrounds (577 sites) are located in Rocky Mountain National Park. Longs Peak, Aspenglen and Timber Creek are first come, first served. Moraine Park and Glacier Basin are reservation campgrounds. Please call Biospherics, Inc. at (800) 365-2267 beginning in March to make reservations for summer camping. Longs Peak, Moraine Park and Timber Creek campgrounds are open year-round. Group sites are available at Glacier Basin.

Backcountry camping is by permit only in designated backcountry sites (269) and zoned areas. There is a $15 permit fee during summer, with reservations suggested. Permits are required for bivouacs.

Food/supplies:

Available in Grand Lake or Estes Park, and a snack bar is located at gift shop at Fall River Pass.

Other Concessions/NPS-Managed Visitor Facilities and Opportunities:

In summer, youll find horse stables and a gift shop. The Rocky Mountain Nature Association operates book centers in each visitor center.

Special Needs:

Parking areas at the Alpine Visitor Center and Colorado River Trailhead are available for buses. Many other overlooks can accommodate buses depending on traffic volume. Shuttle bus operates on Bear Lake road during summer.

Recommended Activities & Park Use:

Scenic driving tours, hiking and bicycling, camping, backcountry camping, skiing and snowshoeing, limited snowmobiling, picnicking, ranger-led activities, wildlife and wildflower viewing and birdwatching.

Reservations & Permits:

Summer camping reservations for Moraine Park and Glacier Basin campgrounds can be made starting in March by calling Biospherics, Inc. at (800) 365-2267. For backcountry camping and bivouac permits, call (970) 586-1242.

Reservations for outreach school programs must be made in advance. Environmental Education fee waivers for school groups should be made two weeks in advance, (970) 586-3777.

Commercial filming permits are required, (970) 586-1278.

Basic Visit Recommendations:

You can take day trips for scenic driving tours, or spend several days to a week to explore all of the hiking, camping, and wildlife opportunities.

Special Events & Programs:

Ranger-led programs are offered daily through the summer and frequently during the remainder of the year. Evening campfire programs are offered at campgrounds, and special lecture series and programs occur year-round. The Rocky Mountain Nature Association offers summer seminar programs, (970) 586-1258. Both the towns of Grand Lake and Estes Park hold special activities.

Visitor Impact:

Information regarding road closures, trail conditions and park closures is provided at visitor centers.

Adjacent Visitor Attractions:

Shops, stores, lodging, food and restaurants are available in Estes Park and Grand Lake.

Additional Information:

Write to Superintendent, Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park CO 80517, or call (970) 586-1206. Theres also the Estes Park Chamber of Commerce (1-800-443-7837), and the Grand Lake Chamber of Commerce (1-800- 531-1019).

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History

Since the end of the last ice age in the Pleistocene era (at least 12,000 years ago), the area that is now Colorado was home to prehistoric peoples. Sometime before that, the first migrations took place from Siberia over the Bering Land Bridge and then through Alaska and Canada to the "lower 48." All Native Americans are descendents of people who originally occupied eastern Asia (China/Siberia).

Throughout prehistoric and early historic times, seasonal use by hunters and gatherers was the predominate life-style in the park because of the harsh winters. Archeological sites in the park reflect cultural relationships to both the plains and the Great Basin, as well as indigenous peoples.

The earliest people identified by archeologists in North America are known as the Paleo-Indians, who hunted extinct big game such as the woolly mammoth (Clovis culture) and a giant bison (Folsom culture). Although most Paleo-Indian sites in the region are concentrated in the plains, projectile points (i.e. "arrowheads") reflecting Clovis (ca. 9500 to 8500 B.C.) and Folsom (ca. 8500 to 7000 B.C.) occupations have been collected from the park indicating the presence of these peoples.

The Paleo-Indian period is followed by the Archaic period. Archaic peoples were hunters of modern fauna, and gathers of plant foods. They occupied the entire state from about 7000 B.C. until about A.D. 100. Several Archaic sites are known in the park.

Game drives in the park above the timberline consisted of long lines of rocks that were used to channel animals (most likely Big Horn sheep) to an area where they could be dispatched. A very similar technique is known from the Plains where bison (sometimes in the hundreds) were driven over cliffs to their death.

Our knowledge of the Woodland peoples comes principally from the plains area from A.D. 100 to 1250. However, sites of this period are have been found within the park. Woodland peoples used the bow and arrow and pottery derived from peoples in eastern Kansas and Nebraska.

People have been using the mountains from at least 11,000 B.C. to sometime in A.D. 1300 or 1400. Although archeologists have great difficulty identifying cultural groups after this time, they suspect these early people were the predecessors of the modern Ute Tribe.

The major inhabitants of the park area in historic times were the Ute and Arapaho. The Utes may have originated in the Great Basin and/or the mountainous area of the state and may have been here for thousands of years.

The Arapaho homeland was originally in Minnesota, but they migrated into Colorado by about 1790. Several oral histories from the Ute and Arapaho tell of their many battles in the area. No fewer than 36 place names in the park are of Ute or Arapaho origin. By about 1880, the Ute had been removed to reservations in Colorado and Utah, and the Arapaho to Oklahoma and Wyoming.

If you find archeological materials, report them to a park ranger. Rangers will inform the park archeologist, who will record your find as soon as possible. This information will add to our understanding of the history of the park. The collecting and removing artifacts such as broken pottery, arrowheads and stone tools, or writing on rocks, destroys the parks heritage and makes it almost impossible to tell the story of its earliest inhabitants. Moreover, it is illegal to collect on federal and state land, and on private land without permission of the landowner.

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Reservation Information

Reservations for individuals and families for summer camping at Moraine Park and Glacier Basin campgrounds can be made starting in March. Contact Biospherics, Inc. at (800) 365-2267. Reservations can be made up to three months in advance of your stay. The cost per night at the reservation campgrounds at Moraine Park and Glacier Basin is $14. Outside the reservation period, camping fees are $12 per night per site.

During the summer, three campgrounds are first-come, first-served and fill daily, usually by mid-morning. The cost for these campgrounds, Aspenglen, Longs Peak (tents only), and Timber Creek is $12 per night.

Glacier Basin Group Campsites accommodate tents only and can be reserved for camping from June through September. Reserve group sites up to three months in advance. A small site (10 to 15 people) is $30, a medium site (16 to 30 people) is $40, and large site (31 to 50 people) is $60.

Permits are required for all backcountry camping. Permits may be obtained at the Beaver Meadows Backcountry Office or the Kawuneeche Visitor Center. Reservations are accepted beginning March 1 each year. A $15 administrative fee is charged for each backcountry permit issued. Please call (970) 586-1242 for more information or write to: Backcountry Office, Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park, CO 80517. There are 266 established sites and 48 cross-country zones in Rocky Mountain National Park. Backcountry camping requires specialized equipment and hiking skills. Pets, bicycles, and firearms are not allowed in the parks backcountry or on any trail.

A waiver of entrance fees may be granted to institutions conducting educational or scientific study related to the resources of the park. Fee waivers must be requested, in writing, at least two weeks prior to the visit. Submit a letter to Mark DeGregorio, Environmental Education Specialist, Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park, CO 80517, or call (970) 586-3777.

Snowmobiles are allowed on U.S. 34 from the Kawuneeche Visitor Center 16 miles north to Milner Pass. The speed limit is 35 miles per hour. Register first at the Kawuneeche Visitor Center.

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