Best spots in Rocky Mountain National Park

<p>I am traveling to Denver and visiting Rocky Mountain National Park (4 days in total to cover Denver and RMNP) this September. Could you please help me with some nice spot for Photography and Family vacation (I am traveling with my wife and 1 yr old daughter).<br>

Also please suggest any place in and around Denver other than RMNP to visit.</p>

<p>Thanks<br>

Deepak</p>

<p>Coors brewing beer in Golden, Colorado, (used to have....?) had a nice spot to tour and then sample a couple of beers.</p>

<p>You should check <strong>the National Park Service web site</strong> for Rocky Mountain National Park info. The park has one entry at Estes Park, and wanders up into the mountains. You can return to Denver through ski lodge country if you wish. If you are camping, there are a couple of campgrounds in the park...</p>

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<p>There are three entrances: Deer Park (Estes Park North), Beaver Meadows (Estes Park South) and Grand Lake (western end of RMNP). Your park entrance fee is good for 4 days (or so), and you could see a lot more if you plan to spend a minimum of two days there. There are a few bargains for lodging in Estes Park if you shop around. Grand Lake is rather sparse for accommodations and a long way from the best parts of RMNP. Do your homework and familiarize yourself with the layout before you get there. A little planning will make the trip easier and more informative.</p>

<p>The road from the Deer Park entrance branches a mile or so inside RMNP - north to the Trail Ridge Road and south to Beaver Park. Trail Ridge Road is a must see. It traverses the park, half above the timber line, with many turnoffs for pictures. Plan to take a whole day (or more), stopping everywhere. The Many Parks overlook is spectacular (and popular), but don't pass up Horseshoe Park and Hidden Valley on the way. Bring a jacket and warm clothes. The Grand Gorge overlook is at 12,000 feet, usually 45 deg F with a 50 mph wind. Trail Ridge Road exits the park at Grand Lake, which is also very scenic but remote. I usually drive on across the Front Ridge to Idaho Springs before going back to Denver - a one way trip. At the high point of Trail Ridge, there's a visitor's center and a half-mile trail to one of the grandest overview of the entire park.</p>

<p>If you have three days to spend, think about driving up the Fall River Road to the Alpine Visitor's Center mentioned above, then back down to Estes Park. It's a different side of the RMNP than you will see on any other road.</p>

<p>If you take two days, spend the first day around Beaver Park. This is low country (if 7500 feet is "low"), with meadows, meandering streams and beaver ponds. Bear Lake is an easy drive, but the parking lot fills up early. I think it is a must-see, but get there before 10am (or take a shuttle). There's a half-mile path (stroller ready) around the lake with several half-day hikes branching off. Bear Lake has an imposing view of Glacier Gorge, dominated by Long's Peak. To the west, there's Hallet's Peak, which looks like a giant concrete block - a nice view and moderate hike, but not with a toddler.</p>

<p>Theres a visitors' center and museum near the Beaver Park entrance (on the road to Bear Lake), a former private lodge and very informative. There are several side roads and turn-offs on the Beaver Park road with mountain streams and beaver ponds, rimmed by mountains - like something out a dream IMO.</p>

<p>I'm a geology buff, and everywhere you turn, there's a new feature out of a textbook - glacial erosion, vulcanism, exposed bedrock (Silver Plume granite, 1.5 bya), lava dikes and tectonic folding. The mountains in RMNP are geologically recent - about 1.5 million years or less. The original uplift (65 mya) was eroded into a rolling peneplain, which you can see in the relatively smooth, flat tops of the mountains. The deep relief was carved by glaciers, mostly in the Pleistocene, like pudding gouged out with a giant spoon.</p>

<p>You can't carry too much film (or too many memory cards).</p>

<p>I'll offer some corrections to the above. There are certainly more than three entrances into RMNP. Perhaps EI was referrring to a few of the most popular Visitor Centers? You won't find a Deer Park entrance. Another popular entry point is via Fall River Entrance Station.</p>

<p>'The road from the Deer Park entrance branches...' should read 'the road from Beaver Meadows Vis Ctr branches a mile or so inside RMNP, north/west to the Trail Ridge Road and south to Morraine Park and Bear Lake.' The $20 auto fee is good for seven consecutive days.</p>

<p>Other points of interest: the alluvial fan, best seen up-close (just W of Lawn Lake trailhead) and from altitude (Rainbow Curve on Tr Ridge Rd), Bear Lake and Gl Gorge trailheads/areas incl Alberta Falls, Trail Ridge Rd (bring warm clothes). Mid to late Sep and you will likely be treated to bugling elk.</p>