I've done that. Great view looking down on Emerald Lake. I think it's tougher on the quads going down compared with hiking up.
Rocky Mountain National Park - Hiking
- Thread starter JM4CY
- Start date
Not sure how you're getting there but if driving avoid I-25 at Fort Collins. All sorts of construction south of Fort Collins.
If hiking a 14er in CO sounds terrible you can always drive up Mt Evans and take pics and then lie to everyone on social media that you actually climbed it.
I was out there towards the end of June. We hiked around Bear Lake, and also to Ouzel Falls / Calypso Cascades. It seemed like finding parking for Bear Lake was a hassle. We parked at one place and rode a shuttle in, and even those parking places were neatly full. The hike to Ouzel Falls was easy to find parking (we also got there earlier at like 7:30 which helped). That hike was a lot of fun.
Down in Arapaho National Forest. If you have ever been near Idaho Springs, it's close to that. If you google it you can see some pics. It's totally worth a couple hour hike up and back down. Plus, you can make a snowball in the middle of summer and chuck it at someone, which is always fun.
I called someone out on facebook last year for doing exactly that. I knew it was Mt Evans and they posted a pic saying "First 14k mountain". Well I had to say "Hey, that's Mt Evans, it's a nice drive to the top of that mountain". Just to point out I knew that they didn't climb anything and you don't get 14k credit for driving to the top.
Ouzel falls is an underrated hike out there IMO. Seems like people don’t drive down there to check it out. Super beautiful
Agreed. The crowds are much smaller. People don't bother driving south of Estes to that entrance, and the hikes are great.
yes, mostly around Beaver Meadows gate - some at the rock cut on trail ridge road. They are keeping disruption to a minimum during weekends. It doesn't stop flow and not too bad of backup up. Some driving on graveled temporary road but not for more than a mile or two. I.e. nothing to alter your plans.
key is get your gate reservation time (not the pass, in addition to the pass) they only let in 160 cars/2 hour period - you can stay in park as long as you like once in.
If I got an early reservation time, could a guy go in early, then turn around an leave and then come back later that day after the assigned 2 hour window?
I am not sure, if you could, you would have to get in the line getting back in which has been stupid long in the afternoon. I am inclined, for that reason, to think you can't. The time window is a 2 hour block, like 7-9 am. There is a $2 cost for each time reservation (get it on the rec.gov? site?
If you knew the timing, you could make more than 1 reservation/day.
A bit wonky but it would be a mess if they didn't have it in place, EVERYONE is heading there right now.
Also, be sure that you get the full access including Bear Lake (assuming you want to hike up in that area). You can get a version without that but don't know why anyone would. same cost.
And previous post was correct, parking at bear lake and shuttle ride to bear lake fills up fast
You could do this last year, we stayed near Estes but went to Grand Lake for lunch and to let the kids swim at the beach. We were in GL about 4 hours and cruised right back in the park to head back to Estes. Its not the exact scenario you are asking but we were able to come and go from the park, idk why what you described would be any different.
Hey, in addition to the other crap going on today - a heads up for the RMNP area.
Cameron Pass - NE corner of RMNP - got over an inch of rain in 1 hour downburst last night. Normally not a huge deal but this was on recently burned area so -
HWY 14 and the Poudre River are closed. Haven't heard of any closures in RMNP but double check your plans.
Cameron Pass - NE corner of RMNP - got over an inch of rain in 1 hour downburst last night. Normally not a huge deal but this was on recently burned area so -
HWY 14 and the Poudre River are closed. Haven't heard of any closures in RMNP but double check your plans.
Due to the wildfires the Rockies look really hazy from Denver, But that also gives you sunsets like this
Got back yesterday from RMNP. Few takeaways for anyone going out there still.
- I generally avoid downtown Estes like the plague anyway but crowds seemed especially bad even compared to pre-Rona.
- Masks are required on the shuttle to bear lake but they hand them out if you don’t have one.
- Get in before 530 or count on riding the shuttle. Even that parking lot fills up earlier than normal.
- The haze from the fires made some days weird to see the mountains compared to some years.
- didn’t do Longs as planned (had a few factors work against me) but it was open with minimal snow I was told
- did Mt Ypsilion and the two other peaks on the way up there. HIGHLY recommend that hike if you haven’t done it before like me. It’s awesome and great views the whole time.
- I generally avoid downtown Estes like the plague anyway but crowds seemed especially bad even compared to pre-Rona.
- Masks are required on the shuttle to bear lake but they hand them out if you don’t have one.
- Get in before 530 or count on riding the shuttle. Even that parking lot fills up earlier than normal.
- The haze from the fires made some days weird to see the mountains compared to some years.
- didn’t do Longs as planned (had a few factors work against me) but it was open with minimal snow I was told
- did Mt Ypsilion and the two other peaks on the way up there. HIGHLY recommend that hike if you haven’t done it before like me. It’s awesome and great views the whole time.
