There are so many activities you can do at Rocky Mountain National Park. We didn’t spend much time here, but managed to take the scenic drive on Trail Ridge Road and hike to Chasm Lake.
Trail Ridge Road
In July 2017, we took a three-day rest weekend from climbing to explore Denver and Boulder. We were headed back to Rifle Mountain Park for some more climbing and decided to drive through Rocky Mountain National Park on the Trail Ridge Road (East to West). If you plan to use this road, be sure to check the National Park Service website for current conditions as this road is only open through the summer and fall months due to the high elevation.
The night before, we stayed on a National Forest Service Road about one hour away from Estes Park. It was easily accessible in our van and there were two other parties camping there.
The Trail Ridge Road Scenic Drive is approximately 48 miles long and extends between Estes Park (East side) and Grand Lake (West side). At various locations of the scenic drive, there are several marked pullovers where you can see the Rocky Mountain range including Long’s Peak. Long’s Peak is the highest point in the park at 14,255 ft (4345m). The drive takes you through the montane forests, subalpine forests and alpine tundra levels.
At some point in the drive, the highway travels above the treeline at an elevation at >11,000 feet to the alpine tundra level (“land of no trees”). At this elevation, it is normally windy and can be 20 to 30 degrees colder than Estes Park or Grand Lake, so dress accordingly. If you do hike around here, stay on the trails to protect the plant communities.
This scenic drive is beautiful and is a great option for travelers who do not have much time to explore the park. Leave at least a half day for the drive. Longer, if possible.
We did this drive on a Sunday at the end of July. Some of the pullovers took a while to find a parking spot. In addition, we had to skip the Alpine Visitor Center because the parking lot was full. I was extremely disappointed. My recommendation is not to drive this route on the weekend as your might avoid some headaches and crowds on a weekday.
We tried to stop at “Miyauchi Snack Bar” at Grand Lake for some ice cream, but the line was incredibly long. Luckily, we found a small coffee window that also sold limited flavors of Miyauchi ice cream with no line!
Hike to Chasm Lake
On our way towards Wyoming, we decided to stop by Rocky Mountain National Park again. Since we had only taken the scenic drive, there was so much more to the park we wanted to explore. A friend had recommended the hike to Chasm Lake:
Trail Location: Longs Peak Ranger Station
Roundtrip Length: 8.5 miles (~4 hours)
Trailhead (Starting) Elevation: 9,405 feet
Trail Total Elevation Gain: 2,500 feet
Highest Elevation: 11,823 feet
Due to the potential of a lightening rain storm, we started our hike ~5:30am and we made it to Chasm Lake in 2 hours (~4 hours roundtrip). I would recommend starting this hike earlier in the day as majority of the trail is exposed with little shade. As we were hiking up, there were a couple of parties already hiking down. When we reached the lake, there were no other parties in sight. Hiking back down to the ranger’s station, there were multiple parties hiking up in the summer sun.
Be sure to check the NPS website for trail conditions. There was a “snowpack” on the trail. Some recent hikers recommended using trekking poles to get by, but we decided to just wing it. It was not difficult to cross the snowpack, but we did the hike the first week of August. I’d imagine crossing this snowpack earlier on in the summer might have been more difficult. If you’re really up for it, I’d recommend continuing the hike to the top of Long’s Peak!
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- Pre-Hike Selfie at ~5:30am
Following the hike, we stopped by the Long’s Peak Rangers Station to get some cancellation stamps. Next time we go to Rocky Mountain Park I’d like to hike to the top of Long’s Peak as my first 14’er. Till next time…
