Back in the late 90’s I attended a conference in Denver. Being from NJ, I had always wanted to visit Rocky Mountain National Park. The week of the conference was sunny and 70’s and April was evident. The day after the Conference I had planned on driving up and seeing the Park. Of course on that day it rained and snowed. Well, I got up and hit the road at 4 am and made it to Estes Park. After encountering a herd of about 100 elk at the entrance I drove into the Park and saw a sign for Bear Lake. Not knowing where I was going, it sounded like a good idea. The weather at the start of the road was a small amount of rain. As I drove up the road, that changed to snow and by the time I got to the Lake, it was snowing hard. Since I was only wearing sneakers, I did not even get out in the 5 inches of snow, but started driving back down. About half way down, the car slid and would not stop, As it neared the edge of the road, I saw we were about to go over a good sized cliff with no guard rail. Finally the car slowed enough so that when it reached the edge, it hit a wooden post and stopped. All in all, a frightening experience. Couple that with the fact that five minutes later a huge snow plow came barrling up the road and just missed me. I have since moved to Colorado and now I am very happy to be within an hour of the Park and to serve as a Volunteer Ranger.
Sincerely,
Rocky Mountain National Park
This dramatic landscape of towering mountains and alpine lakes encompasses more than 265,000 acres - 95% of which are designated wilderness. With this intentional focus on protecting this unique landscape, there are few developed infrastructure areas in the park, which leads to traffic problems in areas including the Bear Lake Road Corridor and right off Trail Ridge Road. Alpine tundra also encompasses approximately 1/3 of the park. Alpine tundra is a fundamental and fragile resource, which requires park managers to give this ecosystem increased attention for protection.
State(s): Colorado
Established: 1915
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Greetings from Rocky Mountain National Park
Last year about this time, my husband and I were planning an autumn trip to CO. Rocky Mountain NP was to be among our first stops but we had never visited a park where reservations were required. I called the number at RMNP to get some advice. The man who…
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