Colorado,  Family Travel,  West

Take Your Family to Visit Rocky Mountain National Park

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America is filled with so many diverse landscapes and terrains. As Americans we are very fortunate that we can travel within our own country and be able to see mountains, deserts, forests, glaciers, beaches, and great plains. Not all countries have this many options within their borders.

I have always enjoyed going to the mountains, and maybe it’s because I didn’t grow up anywhere near them, and we went to the beach every summer. Rocky Mountain National Park is a place that I’ve always wanted to take my family, especially in the fall.

I finally got my wish when we took a family vacation there last October as part of our “50 States Before Graduation Challenge.” Our week-long trip out West started in Denver, took us to Colorado Springs, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, and back to Denver. The last full day of our trip was spent exploring Trail Ridge Road and Sprague Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Before we reached the entrance to the park we spotted a gang of elk sitting under some trees. We stopped and got out to take some pictures. We noticed one of them had some wire caught in his antlers. As we were standing there observing them from a distance, a man on his bicycle rode right through the group. We were surprised that the elk didn’t seem bothered by this. (See our you tube video below).

Rocky Mountain National Park was first established in 1915 when President Woodrow Wilson signed the Rocky Mountain National Park Act. During the 1930s Rocky Mountain National Park really started to take shape as the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) started building roads, trails, and buildings. Since the railroad never serviced Rocky Mountain National Park, as it did other national parks, RNMP has always been an automobile park, and required decent roads. One of the roads constructed during the 1930s was Trail Ridge Road.

We chose to drive Trail Ridge Road because we wanted to see the Continental Divide. We also wanted to find a scenic place to visit but that also had a leisurely trail. Since we had two three-year-olds with us we didn’t think our preschoolers would be up for a vigorous hike. So we made a stop at Sprague Lake to check out the gorgeous views and take a short hike.

Sprague Lake gets its name from its previous owner – Abner Sprague. Abner and his wife Alberta owned a resort with a lodge and their guests would fish in Sprague Lake. There is a half-mile walk around the 13-acre lake that is very flat with picturesque views.

From Sprague Lake you can see Hallett Peak which is part of the Continental Divide. The mountain was named for William Hallett a cattle rancher and mining engineer. Hallett climbed many mountains in the area during the late 1800s. The first mountaineering organization in Colorado was the Rocky Mountain Club which Hallett helped start.

Other peaks along the Continental Divide that you can see from Sprague Lake are Half Mountain, Thatchtop, Taylor Peak, Otis Peak, Flattop Mountain, Notchtop, and Tyndall Glacier.

We continued our drive along Trail Ridge Road and headed towards the Alpine Visitor Center. As you drive higher and higher along the road there are a few places to park and get out to take pictures. We enjoyed taking photos of the breathtaking views.

The kids thought it was neat that just a few minutes before we had been taking pictures down below, and now we were up top looking around.

In the late 60s visitors centers were built and now visitors can stop there to hear a ranger talk, watch movies, buy a souvenir, and get information about the park. There are several visitors centers throughout the park. We stopped at one on our way home and bought some souvenirs.

For another look at our trip to Rocky Mountain National Park you can watch our You Tube video below.

You can also read about Day 1 of our trip and our visit to Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater and Casa Bonita, and Day 2 of our trip to Colorado Springs and our stops at the Garden of the Gods, the Manitou Cliff Dwellings Museum, the Manitou Springs Penny Arcade, the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, and Magic Town.

You can also go back and read about Day 3 at the Western Museum of Mining and Industry, the Money Museum, the Colorado State Capitol, and the Molly Brown House Museum. Day 4 started with a stop at the Southeast Wyoming Welcome Center and a drive down Happy Jack Road to Curt Gowdy State Park before stopping at the Wyoming State Museum.

Our visit to South Dakota on Day 5 started with a morning visit to Mount Rushmore, and an afternoon exploring Keystone and driving down Needles Highway. On Day 6 we drove from South Dakota to Dobby’s Frontier Town before stopping at Carhenge. This trip is the first trip of our “50 States Before Graduation Challenge” series.

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