Rocky Mountain national park

[zwicky]

Hi there, hoping to get some info on the rocky national park. Need some good CGs near Estes park. Also want to do some rafting and off roaring anything good near that area? How long does it take to drive from Estes park to grand lake and can you drive the rv's on that road? Any suggestions? Thank you for your help
Jennifer

[Thom02099]

zwicky wrote:
Hi there, hoping to get some info on the rocky national park. Need some good CGs near Estes park. Also want to do some rafting and off roaring anything good near that area? How long does it take to drive from Estes park to grand lake and can you drive the rv's on that road? Any suggestions? Thank you for your help
Jennifer

Depends on your definition of "good"! Any more, when I go up to Estes, I stay at the Estes Park CG at Mary's Lake. Formerly a private CG, it's now owned by Larimer County and is the most reasonable in rates. There's a full hookups section as well as a separate water/electric section, and a dump station at the entrance/exit.

Elk Meadows is an OK CG, but is very over priced for what you get. Where Mary's Lake is $37/night, Elk Meadows is $50+ and that's with the discounts offered. The sites are for the most part level, but some are better than others. Reviews of the park are mixed, as far as the staff is concerned; I've never had a problem there, but then I don't go there that often any more. I'm in Estes at least 4-6 times a season.

Rafting in the area is only available in the Poudre Canyon west of Fort Collins, and the season peaks in mid- to late-June.

There's no significant off-roading in the general area around Estes Park. Again, there's areas west of Fort Collins in the Poudre Canyon as well as up from Masonville at the base of the Big Thompson, in the Buckhorn Canyon area, but these areas were heavily impacted by both fires and flooding in the past 2 seasons, so there may be areas that won't be open to the public this year. My guess is, there will be quite a few areas that won't be open. The fires were significant and the damage immense.

I don't recommend taking an RV or trailer over Trail Ridge Rd to Grand Lake unless you've had some experience on driving on shelf roads with no guardrails and sheer drops. It can be white knuckle driving, not for the faint of heart, and once you're on it, there's really no turning back! You're sort of committed!

US 34 is fine for access between Loveland and Estes Park. The road has been rebuilt to pretty much the standards before the floods from last fall. CDOT is doing some flood/slide mitigation in the Big Thompson Canyon, but it's not near as extensive as US 36 between Lyons and Estes Park.

US 36 is not recommended at this time for RV/Trailer traffic, due to heavy construction traffic, long delays (30-60minutes), blasting, and pilot cars needed to get through. The road is being completely rebuilt in spots and moved to a higher elevation above the river. This will likely be this way throughout this summer season.

[Lauren]

Not sure what you are looking for in the way of campgrounds but there is the Park itself and several just ok rv parks in Estes - I have always thought Elk Meadow to be the best and we have been back there a few times since we moved from Estes in 2003. But it has gone downhill as well.

For rafting I think Fort Collins (Poudre River) is the closest and that is a ways. But it is a beautiful river north of F C.

Offroading - I don't recall it being done anywhere near Estes and the Park and all the Forest land around the Park do no allow it. Some guy advertises it but not a clue where he would take you. Never even heard about it in the 8 years living there.

Do not know your rig but I have never recommended driving an RV over Trail Ridge Road (Hwy 34) for an RV - particularly a longer one and / or someone without good mountain driving experience. It is a good (for the most part) two lane asphalt road but has unprotected dropoffs and on the west side has several blind hairpin turns requiring taking your half (or the guy coming against you) out of the middle. In a toad or tv it take about an hour and 15 minutes if you do not stop....much more in an rv. Keep in mind also, it is a spectacular drive on the east side (Estes Park side - wooded on the west side) - one of the most beautiful drives you will ever be on. And it gets very, very crowded with drivers stopping to take pictures of elk etc (also known as an Elk Jam) - have seen people get out and just leave their cars in the middle of the road and wander off to take pictures.

Estes Park and down the Big Thompson Canyon (Hwy 34 to Loveland) had probably the worst flood in history last fall. We have, and continue to have, updates from our friends back there.

Hwy 34 to Loveland is now again a pretty good two lane road and passable - it was essentially wiped out for much of the 19 miles. But people have cautioned about RV travel because of, although the two lanes are good, there are sections where there is no protection off those two lanes (barricades, guard rails, etc). And it it curvy. And it can be busy and slow.

I do not know the status of Hwys 36 or 7 to Estes. The 36 was closed for a while but both are now open I believe - not sure of repair status on them.

Check CDOT for road info.

For the very most part, the business part of town (some have closed)is back to normal but check with the campgrounds carefully. And some of the beautiful surrounding towns like Glen Haven were destroyed. And nearly all the homes, etc. in the Big Thompson Canyon.

Fall River Road in the Park is closed for repairs for 2014.

I have rambled but tried to give you the full story as best I know it at this time.

Be safe - enjoy. Where you at in Illinois?

Lauren

[kgarrett9999]

My wife and I stayed at East Portal Campground last summer and loved it.

At the end of the road so not any "thru" traffic. Beautiful area right on the border with the National Park. It is less than 100 yards to be inside the park. Deer wandered through the campground frequently and even came up to get their heads scratched while sitting out by the fire.

The sites are somewhat small and the road through the campground is tight. My 20' TT made it ok, but I wouldn't drag anything much bigger through it. There were a few spots located so that you don't have to go through the campground though. We were right next to a 30'+ TT in A70 and our site (A34) was the first one off the entrance road through the campground so I actually backed in from the main entrance. Took a bit of stop and go but once I was in the site was huge for my TT.

As for driving to Grand Lake count on a couple of hours at minimum. There are just too many places to stop and proclaim "oooohhh and aaaahhh".