Rocky Mountain National Park

September 2nd, 2023

There is only one National Park which I have visited more than Rocky Mountain, and that is Yellowstone. I have visited RMNP 11 separate times starting in 1975. It was that first trip, a year after high school, that convinced me to make many return trips to the mountain west.

When you grew up in the corn fields of northern Illinois, the difference in environments when you first visit the mountains is astounding. In Illinois, most trees are deciduous and the rivers and streams look like slow moving coffee with too much cream. When you stick your hand in the water, your fingers disappeared once they reached about 3 inches in depth. Most people have seen the mountains in photographs and videos, but that does not really prepare you for the reality of being there. Nothing can really describe or prepare you for that first experience in then non-2D world, as more senses are involved than just sight. You sense of smell is saturated with pine and sagebrush scents. You feel your lungs flood with fresh, clean air. Sounds are completely different. You hear the Magpies, Canada Jays, or Nutcrackers, or possibly the whistle or squeak of Pikas and Marmots. In many places you perceive the sound of cold, clear rushing water. You might even notice the lack of sound, something you never experience near a town, city, or highway. All these things drew me to the mountains year after year, and often to Rocky Mountain National Park.

The park has a much higher visitation than it did back in the 1970s and 80s. This has affected the cost of a visit. In those days, you could rent a cabin or stay at a hotel for well under $100 a night. Now prices for the same accommodation can easily be $300 or more. Of course, that is if you are able to make a reservation months or seasons in advance. I managed to reserve a campsite just south of Estes Park, the gateway town. Because I am an “old timer” my cost using my Lifetime Senior Federal Pass was $12.50. I made the reservation 2 months ahead of time. If you get up early in the morning, and enter during mid-week, you can usually find a “First Come First Serve” (FCFS) site. Stay duration is a maximum of 14 nights. As I cooked my own meals with groceries purchased at the Safeway, my cost of dining was not too bad. That left me the only real problem, people. Fortunately, I knew how to mitigate that issue (it simply requires an alarm clock).

In 2020, when it was decided an effective way to fight the anxiety of the COVID lockdown was outdoor recreation, the National Parks were flooded with a new bird, the White Faced Touron (short for Tourist-Moron). Rocky Mountain National Park officials reacted to this quickly by implementing a “Timed Entry Ticketing System” (it has since been adopted by several other parks), You go online to the reservations.gov website, and purchase a ticket that allows you to enter the park within a 2 hour timed window for the day you wish. This results in a more controlled number of vehicles in the park at any give time during the day, and thus reduces crowding. For example, you might want to enter the park after your party prepares their hair, puts on make-up, shaves and gathers for a big breakfast. This will probably be around 9 or 10 in the morning. So you purchase the $2 ticket for entry from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. a month ahead, and show up in your vehicle at the 2 or 3 mile long line at the park entrance booth. If your vehicle contains 2 people, your cost was $2. If it contains 6, your cost was still only $2. So, bring friends. Or maybe you could pick up 2 to 4 strangers in Estes Park, and offer them entrance in your vehicle for the low price of $8 (2 per person). Then when you get past the first curve from the entrance booth, dump them at the first turnout and you have made $6. (Seems almost like what goes on at our southern border with Mexico.)

All kidding aside, there are just a few things to know about taking advantage of this system. These tips were learned in 2020 when I and my friends Uday, and sisters Sai and Alekhya, flew to Colorado for a week at the park. The first ticketing window of the day is from 5 to 7 a.m. However, there is nobody working at the entrance booth at that time. You can just drive in. If you wish to enter at 4:30 a.m., that is fine. If you do not have a Timed Entry Ticket, and you leave the park, you will not be able to re-enter. So, stay in the park until you have done everything you want for the day.

So, the question becomes, why would you get a ticket for 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. or even enter before 5 a.m. What we discovered in 2020 was that people without a ticket come at that time. They save $2. Yippee! But more important, many people are day hiking or walking to various natural features or wildlife viewing areas. Most of these locations have limited room to park. If you show up much after 5 a.m., you may not be able to park, and will have to give up on your primary destination. If all you want to do is drive around in the park, there is no problem, other than increased traffic as the day goes on.

Let me provide some examples:

1. In 2020, the 4 of us decided to hike on the Loch Vale Trail from the Glacier Basin Trailhead. We had a ticket to enter from 5 to 7 a.m. We did not go through the entry station until about 6 a.m. There was no attendant, but we were slowly rolling through the entrance with about a dozen other vehicles, all heading the same way we were, up the Bear Lake Road (mot popular in the park). So, when we got to the trailhead parking area (about 30 spaces), it was completely full. We had to continue on to the bigger Bear Lake parking area and then hike back towards the Glacier Basin Trailhead. That added almost a mile to our hike, and was uphill on the return trip.
2. On my current trip, I wanted to hike up to Calypso Cascade from the trailhead at the end of the Wild Basin road. This road is about a 3 mile winding dirt road about 1 to 1 1/2 cars wide that ends in a loop at the trail with parking for about 30 vehicles. Making things worse, it was Saturday of the Labor Day weekend. I knew from experience, that if I did not get one of the 30 spots, I would not be hiking, so that meant getting there early. I had a ticket to enter from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. So I set my alarm for 4:30 a.m. The trailhead was only about 10 minutes from my campground. I made coffee, threw some sausage patties on the stove, got dressed, and stuck a tub of yogurt in my jacket pocket. I didn’t really need the ticket, as the entrance booth in this remote location was unmanned at 5 a.m. I arrived at the parking loop and there were already about 8 vehicles there. I chose one of the remaining 12 spots. Since sunrise was not until 6:30, I sat in the dark and ate my breakfast. At 6:15, I started my hike. At that point, there were still about 8 parking spots left. After completing the 2 1/2 hour hike, I arrived back to a completely full parking loop. Within 2 seconds of backing out, another vehicle took my vacated spot. Two others were waiting for something to open up. As I drove out the “mostly” one lane road, I had to squeeze past a line of a dozen vehicles heading into the parking loop. Obviously, they were not going to be hiking there that day.
3. In 2020, we wished to drive over Trail Ridge Road to the far side of the park and then hike, explore the town of Grand Lake, have lunch, and return. To avoid crowds and traffic, we left just before sunrise. We had a timed ticket but didn’t need it as the entrance booth that early, was unmanned. The sunrise was spectacular. We stopped at Rainbow curve just below timberline, and took a few photographs of the Clark’s Nutcrackers landing on Sai and Alekhya’s hands, looking for a snack. All was dead calm, as there was nobody else around. We exited the west side of the park after about 1 1/2 hours, and completed our activities. After lunch we drove back to pass through the west entrance booth. There was a line of about a dozen cars entering. Half of them were turned away, as they did not have an entry ticket or it was not their timed window for entry. As we had our ticket from earlier for that day, we were allowed to pass.

If you are going to vacation at Rocky Mountain National Park, be aware of 2 things. Get your Timed Entry Tickets, preferably for an early window (sunrises are fantastic, wildlife is more common, people are less common). And, get up before sunrise and go to bed shortly after sunset. On my current trip, I was up as early as 3 a.m. and in bed by 8 to 8:30 p.m. Near sunrise, I have seen elk, moose, coyotes, fox, and Mule Deer. Within an hour or 2 of sunrise, I have also seen 50 to 100 cars lined up at the entry station. Go early!