Latest Tips for a Visit to Rocky Mountain National Park
Sunrise at Nymph Lake, RMNP
As of Friday, May 24, 2024, Rocky Mountain National Park started their timed entry reservation system for the spring, summer and fall season.
There are a few changes this year but for the most part, the process is the same. Here is the latest for the reservations. Please note that the National Park Service and Rocky Mountain National Park management can make changes at any time based on the needs of the system and the park. These tips and the information are current as of Wednesday, July 31, 2024.
Road openings
Elk on tundra, RMNP
All roads in Rocky Mountain National Park are open, including Trail Ridge Road and Old Fall River Road.
Trail Ridge Road, which is the highest continuously paved road in the U.S., usually opens by Memorial Day Weekend but due to the heavy spring snows, the road did not open this year until May 31. Even though it has been open since then, there are times when the road closes periodically during the summer or fall for accidents or weather (and a closure on the road requires a three-hour drive around to Grand Lake via U.S. Interstate 70).
Old Fall River Road, RMNP
Trail Ridge Road is typically open until mid-October, and that seasonal closure is completely dependent upon weather.
Old Fall River Road opened on time this year on June 30, 2024. One of the popular drives in the park, this one-way dirt road travels for nine miles along the southern edge of Mount Chapin. It offers visitors an exploration into the thick montane forest and up to the tundra before ending at the parking lot of the Alpine Visitor Center.
This road also closes in the fall when weather prevents safe travel along the narrow corridor. This typically happens before Trail Ridge Road.
Timed entry reservations
They’re back! The timed entry reservations have returned for the 2024 season in Rocky Mountain National Park.
New this year is a move from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. MDT for the release of the available tickets the day before the reservation. For example, if you want to visit on Sunday, August 4, reservations will be released at 7 p.m. on Saturday, August 3.
Another new feature this year is the extension of the season for Bear Lake Road, otherwise known as the Timed Entry + reservation. For this corridor only, which runs from the start of Bear Lake Road just inside the Beaver Meadows Entrance to Bear Lake, and includes destinations like Moraine Park, Sprague Lake, Glacier Gorge Trailhead, Storm Pass, Bierstadt Lake, Bear Lake and Dream Lake, reservations are required from Friday, May 24, 2024 to Sunday, October 20, 2024. This is one week longer than the timed entry reservation season for the remainder of the park.
Similar to 2023, the timed entry reservation for the Bear Lake Road corridor (Timed Entry +), runs from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Reservations are sold in two-hour windows (5-7 a.m., 6-8 a.m., 8-10 a.m., 10 a.m.-12 p.m., 12 p.m.-2 p.m., 2-4 p.m., 4-6 p.m.). Reservation holders must enter the Bear Lake Road corridor within their two-hour window. Once a visitor has had their reservation marked (done when entering during the two-hour window) and leaves the corridor, they can only re-enter the Bear Lake Road corridor after 2 p.m. that same day.
Time Entry System, RMNP
There continues to be two types of reservations. The Bear Lake Road corridor, mentioned above and called Timed Entry +, and the rest of the park, which is referred to as Timed Entry Reservation.
The latter reservation covers entry between the hours of 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. for all areas of the park except the Bear Lake Road corridor, providing access to areas like Wild Basin, Lumpy Ridge, Lily Lake, Beaver Meadows, Endovalley and Horseshoe Park. These too are sold in two-hour windows (9 to 11 a.m., 11 a.m.-1 p.m., 12-2 p.m.). Visitors must enter within their two-hour window. After 2 p.m., reservations are not required to enter any area of the park, except for the Bear Lake Road corridor. This reservation is required from May 24 to Monday, October 14.
Reservations are available for sale at Recreation.gov. Search for Rocky Mountain National Park Timed Entry, select your date and follow the prompts. Save time by logging into your account prior to reserving tickets and add your credit card information to your account.
Reservations go on sale at 8 a.m. MDT on the first of each month for the following month. For example, reservations for an August date are released at 8 a.m. on July 1, reservations for a September date are released August 1, and so on. A portion of available reservations are released the day before a visit at 7 p.m.
A parks pass is also required in addition to the timed entry reservation. Passes can be purchased for a single day, seven days, an annual Rocky Mountain National Park or an annual Federal Recreations Pass, the best deal if you visit Rocky or other federal lands frequently (it covers more than just national parks). Passes can be purchased at the entrance gate, but gate attendants can only accept credit cards; cash is no longer an accepted form of payment. Passes can also be purchased online at nps.gov/romo.
Construction projects
Fall River Entrance, Under Construction, RMNP
Construction continues in Rocky Mountain National Park and in Estes Park. The Fall River Entrance gate continues to come along in its development (including the addition of a new entrance sign) but the project is not yet complete. As a result, the park advises using the Beaver Meadows Entrance (South Entrance) until further notice to prevent backups and frustration in a long queue on Fall River.
Moraine Park Campground also remains closed due to an extensive construction project to replace water, sewer and electrical lines in the campground as well as out to the Beaver Meadows Entrance, Beaver Meadows Visitor Center and nearby employee housing. This is the park’s largest campground, and an opening date is yet to be announced. The closure will continue to impact available campsites within the park, but many options are available in Estes Park, including Marys Lake Campground, East Portal Campground and the KOA Campground.
Estes Park, Loop Bypass Construction
Within the town of Estes Park, a substantial construction project continues to create The Loop, a bypass that is designed to reduce traffic congestion through downtown Estes Park. Patience will be needed to navigate the cones in downtown Estes Park this summer. There are many alternative routes and construction updates can be found at VisitEstesPark.com. There is also a free shuttle around downtown Estes Park that can be picked up at the Visitor Center, where there is free parking in the lot and in the parking garage.
Elk rut is coming
The middle of August marks the very early stages of the elk rut – the shedding of the velvet on the antlers of the bulls. Shortly after that phase, which lasts about a week, bull elk will start bugling throughout the park and in Estes Park. (I was told last week by a local Estes Park resident that they heard a bugle a few days earlier.)
Bull elk losing antler velvet in preparation for the elk rut, RMNP
Bugling bull elk, RMNP
By the end of August, the first signs of the elk rut arrive with cows returning to the mountain meadows with their yearlings and calves. They will start trickling in and by mid-September, the mating season is in full swing.
The rut lasts through the middle of October and slowly winds down by the end of the month. For two months, the bulls will challenge each other for rights to mate, will bugle to ward off other suitors while trying to impress the cows, and will endlessly maintain their harems.
It is one of the most entertaining natural events in the area and attracts large crowds. As a result, September weekends are the busiest weekends of the year in Rocky Mountain National Park, and planning needs to be considered around that fact.
Summer flowers bring fall colors
The summer flowers are in their final weeks of colorful blooms. (See my previous blog post highlighting what is blooming in the park.)
By the middle of August, as the first cool nights reach the highest elevations, the colors of the tundra turn from a verdant blanket along the open landscape to deep red hues made up primarily of the alpine avens. This time of year also brings the first frosts in the high elevations.
The fall colors continue to change as the weeks pass, starting high first, moving down the moraines, and then eventually reaching the meadows and valleys near Estes Park. By mid-October, autumns hues have reached their final stages. Bear Lake sees fall colors in the surrounding aspens the last two weeks of September. Beaver Meadows and Horseshoe Park turn colorful the last week of September into the first week of October. This time of year also typically sees the first snowfall of the season, adding a white coating on the highest peaks.
Enjoy your visit and remember to be patient with the attendants at the gates. They are doing their job and are there to help you enjoy the park as well.
