Rocky mountain national park and ??

There are a number of hikes you can take from very easy to long day o overnight.

In no particular order from the east side of the park, take the shuttle to bear lake and either go up to the nymph dream and emerald lakes (all one hike)or go down to bierstead.

Protrails has an excellent site on hikes

http://www.protrails.com/area/8/rocky-mountain-national-park

(copy and paste or go to protrails.com)

You should check the campgrounds on line, most weekdays you can get in. Shuttle to hikes rather than drive

Cdash wrote:
Getting ready for a trip that we really haven't planned at all for. Going to go from Michigan and spend 2 weeks in Colorado seeing the sights. We are taking our 30' fifth wheel for the last week of June and first week of July. We plan to spend a chunk of our time in RMNP, but maybe the second week traveling and visiting other areas, like the cliff dwellings.

Without any planning, and the very few first come first served sites in the park, I think we are going to have to stay outside the park. Just don't see that we are going to get in the park campgrounds. We'll probably hike and sight see mostly.

Any recommendations for campground we may have a chance to get into at this late period? Was thinking Estes Park area would be a decent choice.

Also, recommendations for other places to go in Colorado, kind of like the "must see" list?

Any help would be appreciated!

From an earlier post COLORADO

Should fill the rest of your week.

BOL,

West side of the park is less crowded and imho more scenic. Also going north into Wyoming is pretty too.

I'd recommend using a CG directory to locate the CGs closest to RMNP and then start checking them to see if they have space available for your time frame. If not, work your way outward (distance-wise) from there until you find something you like.

As for places to visit in CO, I heartily recommend the Colorado National Monument. The state park CG at Fruita James M Robb CO River SP is pleasant and conveniently located just north of the monument. Allow a solid half day to explore this place by driving, and more time if you want to hike some of the trails. The sandstone formations here are beautiful. (If you love this place, then you would also love Arches NP... not much farther west.)

Some of my favorite mountain scenery in CO is the area around Telluride, Ouray, and Silverton. You could camp in Ridgway and drive around these areas in the truck, if you want to keep things simple. If you get to Ouray, be sure to drive up the hill to the Amphitheater NF CG and park at the overlook for a splendid view of the town below with peaks rising beyond. If you're ambitious, there's a trail from here that goes to the big waterfall that can be seen E of town.

If you don't want to travel that far, you could always head south to the Colorado Springs area. Pike's Peak and Garden of the Gods are worth seeing.

We visited Rocky Mountain National park and were very, very disappointed. The bark beetle has ravaged this area of Colorado and it literally looks like a bomb went off. The lodge pole pines are dying at tremendous rates. We stayed at one campground in RNMP and another next to Steamboat lake. All the trees in both campgrounds had been cut down because they were dead from the beetle. The dead trees were basically shoved to the side and the area looked like a barren waste land. I agree with RexLion - Telluride/Ouray/Silverton - MUCH better area than RNMP. Sunshine campground outside Telluride and Amphitheater campground in Ouray are 2 of our favorites.

We were at RMNP last summer for 5 days. Of the 15 parks we visited on that trip, RMNP was a standout! We did not go to the west side (which I understand has more beetle damage). We did notice the damage on the east side, but it was not a problem.

We camped in Glacier and hiked one trail up near the Alpine visitors center and did a full day of hiking in the Bear Lake area, ending up at Mill's Lake.

We can't say enough about our visit.

That said, we also loved the Ouray/Ridgway/Silverton/Durango areas. I would strongly suggest doing a few of the off road trails this area is famous for. Ophir Pass is one that will take you over to Telluride, and it was doable in our F150 without incident.

Another nice trail would be to leave out of Silverton and go to Animas Forks and over Cinnamon Pass to Lake City.

If in Durango, the Durango/Silverton train is a must do experience. I would suggest a one way trip and take the bus back. The two way trip is an 8 hour day on the train! Was a little too much.

Personally, I wouldn't go out of my way for Mesa Verde.

Follow my link in the signature and you will see many photos of our time in these places. :)

I lived in EP for 31 years and was a guide in RMNP as a part of my job. I was also a volunteer in the Park. If you don't have camping reservations for the July 4th weekend you are in big trouble. I checked reserveamerica and there are no vacancies that I could see for RV sites. You will just have to take what you can find. Maybe you'll get luck on the first come sites in the Park.EP is an absolute zoo on the 4th. The traffic is horrible. The fireworks over Lake Estes are beautiful. You can forget eating out. Traffic in the Park is bad as well. Use the shuttle system. There will be no parking at Bear Lake. All that negative said, if you are a real hiker you can still find some less crowded places. The west side of the Park as stated is less crowded and has been hit hard by the bark beetle. There are some really amazing alpine lakes on the west side but require 5+ hike each way. Good Luck.

If you want some amazing hiking with the largest concentration of 14K foot peaks in Colorado, check out the Buena Vista area. That is where we retired to. Again, you may have trouble finding a camp site. World class rafting, fishing, ATVing, Jeeping... Even in the middle of summer we can find places where we only see a handful of people.

Thunder Mountain wrote:
I lived in EP for 31 years and was a guide in RMNP as a part of my job. I was also a volunteer in the Park. If you don't have camping reservations for the July 4th weekend you are in big trouble. I checked reserveamerica and there are no vacancies that I could see for RV sites. You will just have to take what you can find. Maybe you'll get luck on the first come sites in the Park.EP is an absolute zoo on the 4th. The traffic is horrible. The fireworks over Lake Estes are beautiful. You can forget eating out. Traffic in the Park is bad as well. Use the shuttle system. There will be no parking at Bear Lake. All that negative said, if you are a real hiker you can still find some less crowded places. The west side of the Park as stated is less crowded and has been hit hard by the bark beetle. There are some really amazing alpine lakes on the west side but require 5+ hike each way. Good Luck.

If you want some amazing hiking with the largest concentration of 14K foot peaks in Colorado, check out the Buena Vista area. That is where we retired to. Again, you may have trouble finding a camp site. World class rafting, fishing, ATVing, Jeeping... Even in the middle of summer we can find places where we only see a handful of people.

What he said about Estes Park! :C I'm up there frequently, have already gotten a couple of trips in up to Rocky. Some additional information:


Particularly the July 4th weekend, there will likely be nothing available. Every reserveable site has likely been reserved, and first come/first served will be a******shoot, particularly since the holiday is on a Saturday.

If you can make some reservations, that would be suggested. You may have to consider alternative locations. Perhaps down in Loveland, where I live. Check out RV Park Reviews - Loveland for some alternatives. Riverview on the west side gets high marks, particularly since they've rebuilt after the floods of 2013.

Estes Park Campground at Mary's Lake is the least expensive in Estes Park, for commercial campgrounds. It's managed by the Estes Park Recreation and Parks District. H E R E is more information.

There's also a variety of USFS Campgrounds in the area, notably along CO 7/CO 72 outside of Estes Park. Check H E R E
for more information.

For the campgrounds inside RMNP, check H E R E - RMNP

Yes, the beetle kill has been devastating. West side of the park is primarily Lodge Pole Pine, whereas the east side is primarily Ponderosa. For whatever reason, the west side has been hit harder. Likely because we've not had sufficient extreme cold there that would kill them during the winter. But I digress...

For hiking, there's a plethora of hikes in and around the Estes Park side. Those hikes tend to be shorter/easier (in some case) than hikes on the west side. There's also some good hiking trails at the Wild Basin entrance to Rocky, which is south of town and worth the trip.

West side, though, has a good selection of hikes depending on what you want your challenge level to be, since they are usually longer and steeper hikes. But there are some notable exceptions, such as the hike to Lulu City site from the Colorado River Trailhead, or the Grand Ditch hike (strenuous at the beginning, once you get up top, not so much).

Whatever you choose, hope you enjoy your time here in Colorado!

2-3 days at RMNP would be stretching it for me as far as visiting. So many prettier places to visit in my opinion. As mentioned the Ouray-Silverton-Durango is always my choice. It beat RMNP hands down. Be sure to ride the train as others have mentioned.
Also the Snowy Range area near Laramie, Wy. is a beautiful place to camp and hike.

Have fun!

Thom02099 wrote:

Thunder Mountain wrote:
I lived in EP for 31 years and was a guide in RMNP as a part of my job. I was also a volunteer in the Park. If you don't have camping reservations for the July 4th weekend you are in big trouble. I checked reserveamerica and there are no vacancies that I could see for RV sites. You will just have to take what you can find. Maybe you'll get luck on the first come sites in the Park.EP is an absolute zoo on the 4th. The traffic is horrible. The fireworks over Lake Estes are beautiful. You can forget eating out. Traffic in the Park is bad as well. Use the shuttle system. There will be no parking at Bear Lake. All that negative said, if you are a real hiker you can still find some less crowded places. The west side of the Park as stated is less crowded and has been hit hard by the bark beetle. There are some really amazing alpine lakes on the west side but require 5+ hike each way. Good Luck.




If you want some amazing hiking with the largest concentration of 14K foot peaks in Colorado, check out the Buena Vista area. That is where we retired to. Again, you may have trouble finding a camp site. World class rafting, fishing, ATVing, Jeeping... Even in the middle of summer we can find places where we only see a handful of people.

What he said about Estes Park! :C I'm up there frequently, have already gotten a couple of trips in up to Rocky. Some additional information:


Particularly the July 4th weekend, there will likely be nothing available. Every reserveable site has likely been reserved, and first come/first served will be a******shoot, particularly since the holiday is on a Saturday.

If you can make some reservations, that would be suggested. You may have to consider alternative locations. Perhaps down in Loveland, where I live. Check out RV Park Reviews - Loveland for some alternatives. Riverview on the west side gets high marks, particularly since they've rebuilt after the floods of 2013.

Estes Park Campground at Mary's Lake is the least expensive in Estes Park, for commercial campgrounds. It's managed by the Estes Park Recreation and Parks District. H E R E is more information.

There's also a variety of USFS Campgrounds in the area, notably along CO 7/CO 72 outside of Estes Park. Check H E R E
for more information.

For the campgrounds inside RMNP, check H E R E - RMNP

Yes, the beetle kill has been devastating. West side of the park is primarily Lodge Pole Pine, whereas the east side is primarily Ponderosa. For whatever reason, the west side has been hit harder. Likely because we've not had sufficient extreme cold there that would kill them during the winter. But I digress...

For hiking, there's a plethora of hikes in and around the Estes Park side. Those hikes tend to be shorter/easier (in some case) than hikes on the west side. There's also some good hiking trails at the Wild Basin entrance to Rocky, which is south of town and worth the trip.

West side, though, has a good selection of hikes depending on what you want your challenge level to be, since they are usually longer and steeper hikes. But there are some notable exceptions, such as the hike to Lulu City site from the Colorado River Trailhead, or the Grand Ditch hike (strenuous at the beginning, once you get up top, not so much).

Whatever you choose, hope you enjoy your time here in Colorado!

Thom is spot on as usual with the information. Only thing I would add, is that the "commute" from Loveland to RMNP would be in excess of an hour depending on traffic.