COLORADO - Rocky Mountain National Park

This was the highlight of our trip so far.  We came in on Sunday afternoon without reservations.  There are several campgrounds in the park but we selected Moraine as it is the largest and has sites suitable for an RV our size.  Most of Moraine Campground is reservations only, but the B-loop is set aside for walk-in (or drive-in) visitors.  We were extremely fortunate to get what I think is the best campsite in the entire campground - reserved or not.  We had site 212 (site 210 is also excellent), long, level, and with an unobstructed view of elk meadow.  The people leaving the site as we arrived said they had seen large herds of elk almost every evening.  Of course, we never saw an elk in the campground but we did see several deer.

We spent an entire day driving the Trail Ridge Road, up over the summit to Grand Lake on the western side of the park.  Trail Ridge Road is the highest continuous paved highway in the US, with a high point of 12,183 feet.  It was a spectacular drive with snow covered mountains, hidden valleys, waterfalls, lava cliffs, and alpine lakes. 







The Alpine Visitor Center at 11,796 feet above sea level, still had deep snow drifts and several of the summer intern rangers were shoveling walkways.  It was 80 degrees when we left the campsite and 58 degrees at the Alpine Visitor Center.




We saw a lot of elk, several moose, and deer all along the road.  Several of the elk were wearing neckbands, apparently to track their movements.  It was quite amusing to see them grazing right beside tents and campers in the Timber Creek Campground on the western side of the park.  We checked to see if we could fit in there the next time we came this way; although the park literature states sites are suitable for vehicles 30 feet or less, many of the sites would easily accommodate larger units.

After a picnic lunch at Grand Lake, we retraced our route back our campsite.  I had planned to take the two mile hike to the headwaters of the Colorado River, but the clouds moved in and it was raining quite hard.  Fortunately, the sun was still shining on the eastern side of the park.