The Rocky Mountain National Park was my summer home every year of the first eighteen years of my life. My grandparents rented the largest cabin at Jack Woods Cabin Camp just inside the old Thompson River entrance to the park, where our extended family congregated each year. I grew up being told this is my own park. It was my yard. “It is the Peoples’ Park, so treat it with respect.” At eight years old I caught my first trout down behind the cabin in the Big Thompson River. I climbed my first mountain, Eagle Ledge, over the river and across the road and climbed Longs Peak at fourteen years old. In my eighteenth year I worked on the trail crew with an amazing trail foreman, Ernie Rebman, who had built many of the trails working with the CCC. I highly recommend the book, Those Castles of Wood: The Story of Early Lodges of Rocky Mountain National Park and Pioneer Days of Estes Park, Colorado by Henry E. Pederson, Jr.
Sincerely,
Rocky Mountain National Park
Rocky Mountain National park offers breathtaking views of the spectacular Rocky Mountain range, with 60 peaks over 12,000 feet, small permanent glaciers, lakes, waterfalls, and historic and cultural treasures including ancient trails, game drives, cattle ranches and lodges. This park’s rugged landscapes harbor hundreds of high-elevation plant and animal species — some that are increasingly rare outside the park or are found nowhere else. Some of the park’s human-made structures speak to the boom-and-bust cycles and neverending search for adequate water supplies that characterized the nation’s westward expansion.
State(s): Colorado
Established: 1915
“The national parks are my boyhood, my life. They are the "peoples' parks. We MUST support them.”
National parks represent the best of America. Why do you care about protecting and preserving them? Tell us why parks matter to you!
Success! Thanks for sharing your story with us.
You’ll be notified by email when your story is approved and added to the collection on the My Park Story homepage.
In the meantime, you can share your own story page with your family and friends — and help us spread the word about these priceless memories and priceless places!
Here’s your unique story page link:
{{ storyUrl }}Preserve Our Parks
Make a tax-deductible gift today to provide a brighter future for our national parks and the millions of Americans who enjoy them.
Donate Now