Rocky Mountain: the highest road in America and elk in the valley

North-west of Denver, the Rockies reach their finest height: more than sixty summits above 3,600 metres, glacial cirques, lakes, aspen forests. The park is crossed by a road that goes over the Continental Divide, up where no tree grows any more.

History and origins

The Ute and the Arapaho came up to hunt here every summer. Their trails already crossed the passes that the road uses today.

The park owes a great deal to one man, Enos Mills. A mountain guide and naturalist, he campaigned for years, from one end of the country to the other, to protect these summits. He won in 1915. The ridge road was completed in 1932.

What to do there

• Trail Ridge Road: 77 km between Estes Park and Grand Lake, 18 of them above the treeline. It tops out at 3,713 metres. It’s the highest continuous paved road in the United States. Up there you’re in tundra, as in the Arctic.
• Bear Lake: a small lake at the foot of the summits, at the end of a very busy road. It’s the start of the best-known trails, including the one that links three lakes on the way to Emerald Lake.
• Moraine Park: a broad meadow where the elk gather, especially morning and evening.
• The rut: from mid-September to mid-October, the bulls bugle and spar in the meadows, and even in the streets of Estes Park.
• The west side: the Kawuneeche Valley, where the Colorado River rises. You see moose there, and far fewer people.
• Longs Peak: the highest point in the park, at 4,346 metres. The climb is long and for experienced mountain walkers only.

Stories and good to know

• Trail Ridge Road closes from mid-October to late May. In spring, the snowploughs cut trenches several metres deep along it.
• In Estes Park, the Stanley Hotel inspired Stephen King’s novel The Shining 🎬.
• Elk had been wiped out in the region. Today’s animals are descended from those brought from Yellowstone in 1913.

Practical information for your road trip

• Pass: with the surcharge for non-residents, the America the Beautiful pass pays for itself with this park alone. Everything is explained in our guide to the national parks pass.
• Getting there: Estes Park, at the east entrance, is 1 hr 30 from Denver and its airport.
• Parking: the Bear Lake car park is full at dawn in summer. Park at the park-and-ride and take the shuttle.
• Clothing: it can be 20°C colder at the top of the road than in Estes Park, with wind. Bring a jacket, even in July.
• Where to stay: in Estes Park, very touristy, or in Grand Lake, which is quieter, on the west side. The park has only campgrounds.
• Combine it with: Denver, Great Sand Dunes or Black Canyon of the Gunnison.