Access to east part of RMNP from south/east

jeffcarp wrote:
This August we will be staying in Fraser, Colorado and we are interested in doing some hiking where the trail heads are located on the east side of Rocky Mountain National Park. We will be driving our small Class C RV and while I have driven Trail Ridge Road several times in a car I don't think that I am going to do it in our RV. This will be the first time we have our RV in Colorado so Trail Ridge Road is not something I plan to tackle in my first RV mountain experience.

We are interested in the Longs Peak trailhead (to Columbine Falls) off of Highway 7 North of Allenspark. If possible we'd like to continue on to the Bear Lake and Glacier Gorge Junction trailheads (to Alberta Falls and Mills Lake) southeast of Estes Park off of 36.

In looking at Google Maps it appears that highway 119 to 72 to 7 is the route to take but it looks extremely curvy from the map however the Mountain Directory West doesn't have any advisories for that stretch of road at all. Is it curvy but no significant grades?

Any advice would be appreciated.

The route you mentioned is a good route. Yes, it's got curves. No, it's not overly steep. In particular CO 119 and CO 72 are both good, wide roads, the guardrails in the appropriate places. There's some good areas to pull off and get some pics of the area if that interests you. Only place where the road get narrow and rough is on C0 7, and that's beyond where you want to turn off to the Long's Peak Trailhead. And even then, it's not a bad road. There's a somewhat steep downhill coming in to the south part of Estes Park.

I was up to Bear Lake a couple weekends back. At that time, there was still 29 inches of snow on the ground, and more snow this past week. However, for the time in August that you plan to be there, the snow should be just a memory. August/September are, in my opinion, the best months to hike in that area. I've done the hike to Alberta Falls from Bear Lake, and the loop around the back side to Fern Lake, it's a wonderful hike. There are many others in the area.

If you're looking for camping spots, there are a number of USFS CG in the area, as well as Glacier Basin inside RMNP. There's also Moraine Park (where I stayed), but that time of year, it's usually completely booked, and they've eliminated first come/first serve there. You can make reservations for Glacier Basin, or take a chance on first come/first served; arrival during the week gives you a better chance of finding a place.


Here's some info on camping if you're interested:

USFS CG Roosevelt NF

RMNP Camping