Rocky Mountain National Park High
by Julia Kenney
This past fall I went to visit my mom in Denver, Colorado. As you can imagine, there are endless amounts of things to see and do in such a big city; but after the Farmers Market, Aquarium, Museums and SHOPPING, the city can get kind of hectic. A nice break from all of that was spending a day at Rocky Mountain National Park. Although it takes a couple of hours before you actually reach the entrance to the park from Denver, the entire drive there was filled with beautiful Colorado scenery. There is also a nice strip of tiny local shops and restaurants before the entrance that is great for the whole family!
The thing that amazed me the most about driving through Rocky Mountain National Park was the amount of Elk that I saw throughout the entire day. There are tiny side roads off of the main road that gets you close (but not too close) to their most frequent hang out spots. The park does a really excellent job of allowing people to view the elk but not bother them. A camera or pair of binoculars is definitely a necessity to get a close view of the herd. When I say herd I mean that there can even be up to 30 Elk hanging out together in the same spot.
Because I went so late in the year, the road going up and over the top of the park was closed. By the time we reached as far as they allowed, there was a good 6 inches of snow. So it was understandable why they had it closed for the season. If you want to drive the entire park make sure you do so in the summer months. Even though we were unable to drive the whole thing, it was still absolutely amazing. The overlook spots were breathtaking. One thing to remember if you are driving up to this park is that it is much cooler there. Make sure you wear layers to be prepared for the changing temperatures throughout the trip.
Â
Â