Rocky Mountain National Park

Hey all,

Does anyone have good camp spot locations (preferably free, since most campsites seem to be reserved) in or around the Rocky Mountain National Park area? We're trekking up from Colorado Springs and have never been to RMNP, so I'm not sure what to expect, but the pictures I've seen look great. We'll be heading out on the 14th this month.

We're planning on going up Pole Hill, Old Fall River Road, and Trail Ridge Road. Are there any other good trails we should be looking at?

For hiking, we're looking at Emerald Lake, Gem Lake Trail, and am still doing research. Any good ones that preferably aren't packed with people?

Thanks in advance for everyone's help!

 

Check to see if the “old road” is open, one way east to west. Just a dirt road but beautiful sights. We camped on a big lake/reservoir, Shadow Mountain I think? Nice place, not far from an entrance...like 15 minute drive and there’s a little town with a great local grocery and supply store and some ice cream and restaurants in between the campground and RMNP.

There are two nice hikes that start or stop by the reservoir near the campground too, one goes a long way and the other to a fire look out. I’ll ask my wife for the exact names and post em.

Get an annual National Park pass if you don’t have one! We stayed in forest service campgrounds and dispersed areas and it saved us about a hundred bucks over the whole trip.

 

lol, I’m pretty sure Fall River Road ....is ....the old road I suggested.

 

I worked at Rocky last summer. Camping in the park can be a huge pain or downright impossible. Very busy and unpleasant even on weekdays. The Park actually gets busier in the fall than the summer because of the elk rut. Hikes (especially the popular ones from Bear Lake area) need to be started really early or late. Parking lots fill up at 730am some days. But nearly every trail is worth it. So suck it up and get up early for a hike to emerald lake or lake haiyaha, you won’t regret it. Busy but astoundingly beautiful.

Pole hill is ok. Fun, but nothing special compared to so many other trails in Colorado west of Denver and Boulder. The drive up old Fall River is neat and it is worth the drive beyond trail ridge west to Grand Lake. The alpine visitor center area and the west side of the park have the best wildlife viewing in the park.

There is plenty of easy free camping in forest service land south of Estes Park. It’s not a long drive and it’s pretty quiet all season long. Here-ish: https://goo.gl/maps/StKsTbtGMuB2 Coming from Lyons, you can take the Johnny Park road an easy 4x4 road and camp for free at the end near the google pin. And hit up Rocky the next day.

Pm me if you want any more info. Enjoy!

 

Thanks for the info guys! We ended up going to Moab instead, because the weather showed rain everyday up at RMNP. I'll definitely take the advice when we go up to RMNP within the next month or so. I'll give up any hope of camping in the park itself

 

Good call, RNMP has been disappointing for us locals too, over crowded not much to do except seeing elk, which i am not sure why people find so fascinating, its a big cow with horns now moose is a fun sight to see, but other than that not much left to do in park, except taking bus to lakes.