July 6 – 9, 2026.
We were really just passing through Colorado to get to the Pacific Northwest. But we have trouble just passing stuff by, and Rocky Mountain National Park was so close. So we decided to visit before we headed on. Luckily, we were able to cobble together a couple of campsite reservations with just a couple of days’ lead time.
We spent the night before our reservation in a parking lot at the entrance to Estes Park, Colorado – one of the two gateway cities to the park. Rocky Mountain is a popular place, and entry is regulated with timed entry tickets. With our camping reservation, we were allowed in at 1 pm. So we spent the morning walking around Estes Park.
Estes Park is your typical mountain tourist town. Taffy and ice cream shops, wooden bears, and T-shirts. There is a riverwalk, and the shops are cute. But since we were not in the market for T-shirts or keyrings or carved statues, we just enjoyed the river, walked the streets, and had an ice cream lunch. Wandering on the edge of the business district, we found the Centennial Open Space at Knoll-Willows. A small trek leads down a dirt path and up a hill past the ruins of summer homes owned by Albert “Al” Birch, a Denver newspaper editor and early fan of the city. We felt more in our element here – snapping pics of birds and plants.
Rocky Mountain National Park
Shortly after 1 pm, we entered the park. There were two checkpoints – one to get into the park and the other to drive down Bear Lake Road. Bear Lake Road leads to Bear Lake, which appeared to be the most popular location in the park. Since our campground was located off this road, we automatically gained admittance. One of the first things we saw upon entering the park was a mule deer lounging alongside the roadway, watching cars stop and people holding little black boxes out the windows, snapping pictures.
Although we saw lots of small wildlife in the park, seeing anything this big was very rare for us. In 1976, Rocky Mountain National Park was designated as one of the first UNESCO World Biosphere Reserves. Biosphere reserves are places where people and ecosystems thrive together. I don’t think the elk, moose, or big-horned sheep signed on to this and just elected to send a mule deer or two to the road every once in a while to placate the masses.
Sprague Lake
Up early on our first full day in the park, we headed down the Bear Lake Road. As we headed to Bear Lake, a sign warned us that there was no parking and that we should go to the park and ride to take the shuttle. I hate being without our home, Periplo, so we ignored the sign and hoped a spot would open up when we got to the lake. No luck; they turned us right around.
Instead of going back to the park-and-ride, we found a parking spot at Sprague Lake. Sprague Lake was lovely, not too crowded, and had some excellent views.
After our spin around Sprague Lake, we decided to give in to the shuttle bus. We caught the bus near the lake. It took us to the park-and-ride where we had to wait for another shuttle to Bear Lake.
Bear Lake
It was lunchtime by the time our shuttle arrived at Bear Lake. We noted that there were now many open parking spots. Bear Lake is exceptionally beautiful. There are many trails that start at the lake and head up into the mountains to other alpine lakes and water features. But as we were just getting back into hiking, we decided to do the easy loop trail around the water instead of trekking up the mountainside.
Alluvial Fan
We ate trail mix for lunch as we circled Bear Lake and then took a couple of shuttles back to Periplo. We wanted to do one more easy hike so we left Bear Lake Rd and headed to another part of the park to see the Alluvial Fan.
An alluvial fan is “a triangle- or fan-shaped deposit of sand, gravel, and smaller materials called alluvium.” This Rocky Mountain National Park fan was created in 1982 when a breach in the earthen dam at Lawn Lake caused a wall of water to wash vegetation and debris down to lower elevations. This destructive event left a boulder field and a lovely waterfall.
Old Fall River Road
On our second full day in the park, I was ready for something a bit more exciting, a bit more challenging. We decided to drive the Old Fall River Rd. The park brochure described this road as one-way, unpaved, and without guard rails. This evoked images of the many rugged roads through Latin America that we had traversed. Unfortunately, the images in my mind didn’t track. Old Fall River Rd would have been a two-lane road in any of those other countries. It was unpaved but super smooth. And busy. There was a trail of cars, one after the other.
The Alpine Visitor Center
At 11,796 feet (3.6 km), the Alpine Visitor Center is the highest visitor center in the National Park System. It was super crowded. As much as I love our national parks and I love that so many other people love them, I am reminded of how much I love all the other natural spaces in the US that no one goes to. From the visitor center, we walked up the Alpine Ridge Trail and took in the view.
Trail Ridge Road
We took the easier, faster, paved, and dual-direction road back to the campsite, stopping at the numerous vista points that dotted the Trail Ridge Road.
Trail Ridge Road again
Rocky Mountain National Park is a large park, and we had several choices of directions to head in on our last day. We decided to visit the most westerly part of the park. We drove up the Trail Ridge Road, passing the Alpine Visitor Center and entering new territory.
It was a less impressive day. But also a less peopled day. We took in the views, visited a nice lake, and found a waterfall just before it started raining, and we headed back to the campground.
A handful of years ago, I tried biking up to the Alpine visitor’s center from the Estes Park side, starting early in the morning. I got about 1/2 way and there was a traffic jam. There was road work towards the top and traffic was backed up about a mile. Later that day, Mindy and I were leaving Estes and decided to drive through the park. We left around 4PM and the park was empty. We drove easily through the entire park with nary another car in sight. And the wildlife were all out with less traffic and tourists. Truly a night/day experience. We stopped in a bunch of spots and took our time getting through. It was dark by the time were were coming out the other side (heading back to our Summit Co. lodgings. I’ll never again try entering the park during the morning. It is a beautiful and grand place, worth experiencing at least one. It would truly take many visits to properly cover it and get a real feel for all it has to offer.
Wow. The scenery is stunning. But I can’t imagine having to battle the crowds in national parks during the summer. Plus, having to time everything around reservations and entrance slots is not our thing. I heard that the prices for US national parks have gone up tremendously for non-Americans, so I’ve been wondering if this is represented in less crowds. It doesn’t appear that way. So cool that there was still snow in July!!