With more than 4.5 million visitors last year, Rocky Mountain National Park was the fourth most visited national park in the country.
Because the park is expected to continue to be crowded during the summer and fall — especially between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. — park staff offers the following tips to help navigate the park and reduce visitor frustration.
Hike early or hike late.
Check the weather forecast before you arrive to better plan your day and destinations.
Carpool.
Use the park shuttle.
Know that trailhead parking lots fill early: Glacier Gorge trailhead by 6 a.m., Bear Lake trailhead by 8:30 a.m., the Park and Ride lot by 10:30 a.m. and Wild Basin Corridor by 9:30 a.m. The Alpine Visitor Center lot also is often full between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
To hike in the Bear Lake Road corridor if you arrive after 11 a.m., take the hiker shuttle from the Estes Park Visitor Center.
Consider coming into the park from the west. More than 80 percent of park visitors arrive through the east entrances.
Reserve a campsite up to six months before your visit. The two first-come, first-served campgrounds fill up quickly. Timber Creek Campground, located on the west side of the park, fills up last.
Visit the park on a weekday. In September, visitation is 50 percent higher on weekends than weekdays
Purchase a daily or weekly . Your email confirmation will serve as your pass and save time at the park entrance kiosk.
The remaining fee free days for 2017 are Aug. 25, Sept. 30 and Nov. 11-12.
For more information about the park, or call 970-586-1206.
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Ralph B. Baird, The Denver Post
This mid-June picture in 1936 of Rocky Mountain National park was taken near the topmost point on the world-famous Trail Ridge road, 12,183 feet above sea level. The young lady beside the big snowbank is a visitor from Texas, who "simply wouldn't believe it till she saw it." The bank goes straight up twice her height, then shelves up for a maximum depth of twenty feet. The smooth government highway is open, clear and dry, from Estes Park to Grand Lake.
Denver Post Library photo archive
A photo of the Denver Post Photo van on Trail Ridge Road in this undated photo.
Denver Post file
Lou Middlemist, State Purchasing Agent, Gives Estes Park Queen Jonlyn Ver Straeten some assistance in cutting the ribbon at the Trail Ridge Road opening in 1966.
Denver Post file
A Rotary Plow, blowing powdered snow to the side in a huge, white plume, moves up the east side of Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park in 1958.
Denver Post file
Walter Charles, conductor of the Blue Jeans Philharmonic Orchestra in Estes Park, Colo., holds his $10,000 violin as he gazes at a towering snowbank on Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, 1964.
Associated Press file
This 'Midwinter' Scene is, in reality, a summer picture of national park crews caught as they worked to open the famous Trail Ridge road in the Rocky Mountain national park for traffic by May 30 in 1941. Where these men are working the snow drifts were twenty feet in depth.
Denver Post file
Gov. Don Thornton will be at the business end of the scissors June 2 when the 60-foot rope of Colorado carnations across Trail Ridge road above Estes Park is snipped to officially open the high-altitude highway for the season in 1951. Extending the invitation to attend to the governor is Nancy Steffens, Roof Top rodeo queen, who was accompanied to the state house by Charles Herzog (left), Estes Park Chamber of Commerce director, and Estes Park Mayor Ron Brodie (right).
Denver Post file
W.A. Colt of Lyons, Colo., celebrating his ninety-fifth birthday, "kind of likes a cigar" and attributes his lengthy life to "never worrying." He was the contractor for the Trail Ridge road, and was active in business and civic affairs since retiring in 1937.
Denver Post file
Mt. Meeker along Trail Ridge Road photographed on June 4, 1940.
Denver Post file
Trail Ridge Road in 1939.
Trail Ridge Road in 1941.
Denver Post file
The descent from Milner Pass along Trail Ridge Road with the Never Summer Range in the background in 1942.
Associated Press file
A Snowplow sends up a spray of snow in Rocky Mountain National Park as crews work hard in a hurry-up effort to have Trail Ridge Road open for the annual ribbon-cutting ceremony in 1959.
Denver Post file
Trail Ridge Road in 1940.
Ralph B. Baird, Denver Post file
This photograph was taken June 14, 1936 by Ralph B. Baird, staff photographer of The Denver Post. From the original caption: "Snow scenes like this are just a comfortable morning's drive from Denver over paved and oiled highways."
Denver Post file
A crowd of 350 persons gathered at the 12,183-foot summit of Trail Ridge Road on Memorial Day in 1966 for the formal opening of the road between Estes Park and Grand Lake.
Monk Tyson, Denver Post file
Mrs. John Love, wife of the Colorado governor, snips the ribbon to officially open Trail Ridge Road in 1966, the highest continuous highway in the nation.
Denver Post file
From the original caption: "Broad, smooth highways take vacationists high into the Colorado Rockies where miles stand on end. Wide turnouts and parking areas are located at spectacular scenic spots like this section of Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park. Near here, the road reaches an elevation of 12,133 feet, more than two miles above sea level."
Karl Gehring, Denver Post file
Rotary snow plow operator Larry Lewis widened the roadway along a high-altitude section of Trail Ridge Road prior to its opening to the public in 1991.
Denver Post file
At Fall River Pass store and museum, Haines (sic) inspects the open side of building where snow has drifted around, leaving a large pit in 1960. Combination of fog and snow, called a "white-out," reduced visibility to a few feet at this stage of the Trail Ridge trip.
Denver Post file
A snow measuring crew loads skis back into the Sno-Cat where snow cover runs out near bottom of Trail Ridge Road on their return trip in 1960.
Denver Post file
Four members of the Rocky Mountain Park snow measuring team fan out behind their portable ski-lift, a Sno-Cat owned by Colorado Game and Fish Dept., on way to top of Trail Ridge Road in 1960. They're skimming along between gauging stations about half-way up, where snow is 5 to 10 feet deep on road.
Duane Howell, Denver Post file
Tourists from Boulder County at right pause near a big drift to take pictures and throw snowballs on Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, 1968. Officials discourage motorists stopping near drifts, because of the danger of snowslides.
David Mathias, Denver Post file
Cars begin their ribbon-like route to the sky on Trail Ridge Road northwest of Estes Park in 1957. Only the road is free from snow, which is finally beginning to melt at full rate as summer arrives.
Denver Post file
Trail Ridge Road in 1956.
Denver Post file
The Trail Ridge Road opening ceremony in 1956.
Denver Post file
Ranger Gordon Patterson walks ahead of his stalled truck, six miles from the summit of Trail Ridge road, to check the deep snow which made it impossible to open the link between Estes Park and Grand Lake in 1955.
Donald C Cieber, Denver Post file
Sending a plume of snow high into the air, a rotary plow and bulldozer team open the road around Fall River museum high on Trail Ridge Road in 1955. Watching snow removal work here is Ruben Hart, assistant chief ranger.
Denver Post file
Summit House at Trail Ridge Road in 1956.
Denver Post file
The May 1948 Trail Ridge opening in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Floyd H. McCall, Denver Post file
Participating in the 1951 Trail Ridge Road Ribbon-Cutting ceremony opening the road are Ronald Brodie, mayor of Estes Park, Gov. Daniel Thornton — cutting the rope of Colorado carnations — Shirley Yahai of Los Angeles, who was radio station KFEL's Queen for a Day, David Canfield, the superintendent of Rocky Mountain National Park, and Jake Pettingell, president of the Grand Lake Chamber of Commerce.
Ralph B. Baird, The Denver Post
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This mid-June picture in 1936 of Rocky Mountain National park was taken near the topmost point on the world-famous Trail Ridge road, 12,183 feet above sea level. The young lady beside the big snowbank is a visitor from Texas, who "simply wouldn't believe it till she saw it." The bank goes straight up twice her height, then shelves up for a maximum depth of twenty feet. The smooth government highway is open, clear and dry, from Estes Park to Grand Lake.
