Beyond Rocky Mountain National Park: Bugling Elks and Quaking Aspens
The last leg! We made it! If you have been reading our little series on our Colorado trip - you’ll know this is the final installment (see Denver and Fort Collins!). Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) was really the catalyst for choosing Colorado as our first big trip since Canada. Luke was pretty excited for more nature photography and early October in RMNP was the perfect place. We hiked, sat in the car waiting to elk, drove the infamous Trail Ridge Road, and ~ relaxed ~ in nature.
We spent a total of three night and three full days in the park. I will break it down day-by-day with lots of little hiking tips and plenty of photos. We stayed in the BEST Airbnb, which we had to find last minute due to a cancellation from our first choice. It worked out perfectly and I already am planning a return to this same house in the future with more friends to fill the empty rooms! (2024 update - we DID book that return trip with my parents and toddler in tow!)
Itinerary:
Day One, Arrival in RMNP: we woke up slow this day and spent time resting, packing, and prepping for the final leg of our trip. We stopped at a local grocery store, filled up on gas, and headed out to Estes Park on what turned out to be a beautiful drive. We ate cold pizza for breakfast by the river and were gleeful when we finally got to drive into Rocky Mountain National Park.
A very important note to remember about visiting RMNP is that reservations are required for entering the park each day with a separate pass for the Bear Lake Corridor. You can book those timed entry passes 30 days before the 1st of the month of your visit and these are required May to mid-October. Also important to note! They do save a chunk of entry times for the next day at 7pm on the night before, so you CAN plan last minute here! There are also some rules based on time of day, thoroughly read the RMNP website and you will figure out the details.
For our first day, I did not book the Bear Lake Corridor and we wanted to focus our afternoon on Trail Ridge Road. The sun was SHINING, the trees were GLOWING. This was a perfect first taste of the park and had us so excited to get onto the trails.
We stopped wherever parking was available this day with no real goals. We ended up driving to the Continental Divide as our turnaround point and made a pitstop at the Trail Ridge Store and Cafe for souvenirs and a bathroom break. On our way back down, we had a picnic lunch at the Hidden Valley Parking Area (a super quiet spot with lots of nice picnic tables) and parked just before the Fall River Entrance for some elk spotting.
Day Two: We had 5-7am entry for Bear Lake this day and were up EARLY to get to the Bear Lake Parking Lot before sunrise. The lot was full, but had enough spots to pick from (I was scarred from our Moraine Lake saga in Banff…). Once we had all our layers on and packed for the day, Luke tried to find the perfect tripod set up for sunrise (turn right at the trailhead and walk about 1/3 of the way around Bear Lake for a great one). During this time I just took in the sights, I love the calm quiet of early morning hikers getting ready for the day. With sunrise under our belt, we set off for Emerald Lake and Dream Lake.
We started off this hike in gloves, hats, and sweatshirts - it was certainly brisk in the bright CO sun. By the time we reached Emerald Lake, the layers were gone though! A testament to the perfect fall weather in early October. We did not push on to Lake Haiyaha (remember that pesky broken arm and bruised knee from Denver?) and were glad to have started early when we really passed the mid-morning rush of hikers on our way back to the car.
For the rest of this day we bopped around Bear Lake Road and watched the elk, ate lunch, and walked the short trails. Our big reward this day hit right as we were on our way out of the park for dinner at the house. It was just before sunset and we saw MOOSE! at Sheep Lakes! If you have ever driven through a national park, you know that brake lights almost always mean wildlife spotting. And in RMNP, elk are typically the reason and then people move on quickly. But when we hit these brake lights, there was absolutely no movement… and then park rangers showed up. So we knew it was something exciting! Luke dropped me off to walk along the parking lot and joined me a few minutes later after he snagged a lucky spot and we were in awe at the sight. (a 2024 note - my family saw moose here again in the same spot 2 years later with a calf!)
Day Three: This was our last full day in the park and we had entry again at 5-7am for Bear Lake Road. I actually was in the middle of job interviews at this time so sadly we had to head back to the house mid day to complete those and spent less time hiking than we originally planned (didnt even get the job, womp womp). We spent our morning hiking to Cub Lake, and didnt quite make it there before having to turn back. Our timing was * chef’s kiss * though as we saw a huge elk cross our path just before the parking lot. It was a bit terrifying? And exhilarating? We gave him LOTS of room and were giddy for the rest of the day.
After my interview we decided to try out a different area of RMNP and drove out to the Wild Basin Trailhead. This hike was FULL of yellow aspens and pretty empty of other hikers, a nice reprieve from the trails we were on earlier in the day. I also had a very specific food pit stop in mind that drew us to Allenspark… the Ferncliff Food and Fuel cinnamon rolls! These puppies were huge, a perfect dinner for two, and I can only imagine how delicious they would be first thing in the morning.
And that’s a wrap on Rocky Mountain National Park! We averaged about 5-8 miles per day, which felt reasonable for our wants at this time. There are so many options here for so many fitness levels and we can’t wait to return in the fall again soon (2024 update - we DID return and ugh, the best place ever in fall). Thank you joining us on this 30th birthday journey!
