ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK — “Going to the park” didn’t have anything to do with see-saws and monkey bars when I was young.
That’s because my neighborhood park was Rocky Mountain National Park, located only a 30-minute drive from my childhood home at the base of the Big Thompson Canyon. The park is where my family went for day hikes, my Girl Scout troop went to explore and where I developed my need for time in quiet, natural places.
Yes, Rocky Mountain (which celebrates its 100th birthday this year) is one of the busiest national parks in the country. But stretching across 415 square miles and laced with 300 miles of hiking trails, the park is big enough to find a spot to make your own. Even in the busy summer months you can still get lost (in a good way) in the park, but seeking a little personal space gets a whole lot easier in the seasons ahead.
Typically visitors to the park peak at about 700,000 in July and then decline steadily through October. November through February, the park averages only about 10 percent (about 70,000 visitors/month) of its summer crowds.
As long as you look at the forecast and bring your ice cleats and a winter coat instead of sneakers and a light windbreaker (or vice versa), the shoulder seasons are an ideal time to visit .
And there’s something special about having a part of the park to yourself.
One summer day when I was about 11, I found myself alone on the top of the Rockies. My Girl Scout Troop had camped at the base of Longs Peak and started the climb before dawn in an effort to avoid afternoon thunderstorms — lighting is dangerous at 14,259 feet. After summiting, the rest of the girls headed down and I was blissfully alone for a few minutes — well, except for the Twin Sisters, Mount Meeker and all the other peaks surrounding me.
I’ve never felt so small — or so awesome.
But you don’t have to risk death by lightning to get some quiet time in our state’s most popular park.
When I was in high school, Dad and I went cross-country skiing around Sprague Lake on a wintry January day. We sat in the snow, watching more coming down and eating sandwiches so cold they were hard. “Look at that rabbit,” I commented when a white fuzzball hopped by. “Actually it’s a snowshoe hare,” my dad corrected. “Oh,” I said. And we went on enjoying the silence.
In the winter even popular trails like Bear Lake stay pretty quiet. But for an even less-traveled trail, get off Bear Lake Road at the Cub Lake Trailhead for a 2.3-mile hike through snow-shrouded pine and aspen stands. Check conditions, as snowshoes or skis may be needed. If you’re up for a 6-mile loop, you can take a connecting trail past Cub Lake to “The Pool,” a roiling tub of water where the Spruce and Fern creeks join the Big Thompson River. Pick the right day, and yours may be the only tracks in the snow.
I think most of us who live in Colorado share my need for some unspoiled spaces to unwind. Even away from home I find myself gravitating toward peaceful natural areas.
This summer in Yellowstone (where the annual visitor numbers run a couple of hundred thousand above ours here in the park), I got up for an early run to be alone with the birds and wildflowers. I also ran the risk of being alone with the bears in the area, but it was worth the risk to escape a small cabin full of family members jockeying for bathroom time.
Even when visiting the busiest attractions in the country (Disneyland sees about 16 million visitors a year, Disney World about 17 million), I’ve been able to find some calm away from the fray. Disney parks now have natural areas with real trees to climb, real rocks to sit on and real dirt to play in. I found myself called to the Redwood Creek Adventure Trail often during our October visit to Disney’s California Adventure Park.
My daughters never slowed down long enough during our visit to breathe in some naturally pine-scented air. Oh well, we just took them to our own park when we got home.
Chryss Cada is a freelance writer and journalism instructor at Colorado State University. She now lives in Fort Collins, about an hour from the entrance to RMNP. Visit her at chryss.com.
