Established in 1915, Rocky Mountain National Park (+1 970 586 1206. Adm. fee) takes in a magnificent realm of high, broad-backed peaks topped by a vast and dazzling expanse of alpine tundra. Broad glacial canyons gouge the flanks of the mountains, and bare rock walls drop thousands of feet to glimmering alpine lakes. Dense pine forests surround breezy meadows of prairie grass that attract mule deer, elk, bighorn sheep, coyotes, hawks, and owls. Moose wade the mucky wetlands. Eagles soar among the crags. And people cruise over the heights on one of the most spectacular alpine highways in the Rockies—Trail Ridge Road (Closed in winter), which starts at the park boundary.At the Kawuneeche Visitor Center get an introduction to the park as a whole and learn about the animals and plants that live here on the colder, wetter west side of the park. Then follow the highway up the long, grassy Kawuneeche Valley, drained by the infant Colorado River, and look for elk and deer along the forest’s edge.
Partway up the valley, stroll through the grounds and buildings of the Never Summer Ranch, a preserved 1920s dude ranch built by the John Holzwarth family after Prohibition shut down their Denver saloon. Years ago, they charged $11 a week for room, board, and a horse.
Soon, the road switchbacks to Farview Curve and a grandstand view of the valley, the meandering course of the Colorado River, and the abrupt wall of the Never Summer Mountains. The faint diagonal line cutting across the Never Summers is an irrigation ditch that catches meltwater for farmers near Fort Collins. Farther along, the road reaches Milner Pass on the Continental Divide. Here, rain falling into tiny Poudre Lake eventually flows to the Atlantic, while water rolling off the outhouse roof tumbles toward the Pacific.
Continue your climb above the Cache la Poudre River through a subalpine forest that gradually thins, then gives out entirely as you reach the wide, rolling meadows of alpine tundra. Verdant, lush, and bursting with blue, red, and yellow wildflowers during summer, the alpine zone covers roughly a third of the park, opening up heroic vistas of peaks, canyons, and entire mountain ranges.
Drop by the Alpine Visitor Center for a primer on how the tiny plants and handful of animals that live here year-round cope with bitter cold, hurricane-force winds, intense sunlight, and often drought-like growing conditions. Also, look for elk in the glacial amphitheater beneath the center’s viewing platform.
The road bowls over this incredible landscape for miles, reaching its highest point—12,183 feet [3,713.4 meters]—between the Gore Range and Lava Cliffs turnoffs. Above the parking area at Rock Cut, an excellent, self-guiding 1-mile [1.6-kilometer] trail loops through tundra meadows.
Next, stop at Forest Canyon Overlook and stroll down the path to a viewing platform perched 2,500 feet [762 meters] above the canyon floor. Directly across the abyss, a magnificent rampart of peaks stretches across your field of vision for 20 miles [32.2 kilometers]—a grand and ragged wall of gneiss and granite carved by glaciers into bowls and basins, spires, and knife-edged ridges.
The road splits at Deer Ridge Junction, but both routes lead to Estes Park. To the left, US 34 descends through Horseshoe Park, where bighorn sheep and mule deer often paw the salty soils around Sheep Lakes. Straight ahead, US 36 passes the turnoff for Moraine Park, which leads to Rocky’s most popular day-hiking destinations—Bear Lake and Glacier Gorge.
