Peaks help qualify this 415-square-mile park, where altitudes range from 7,500 to more than 14,000 feet, as the highest national park in the United States.
The ride along Trail Ridge Road, the highest in any national park, takes you to ‘the land above the trees’, alpine tundra that starts above 11,000 feet. Trees can’t grow here, and unfortunately, plants are often dwarfed. Yet animals including elk, bobcats and bighorn sheep rule the high ground.
Trial Ridge Road includes many ways to experience the subalpine and alpine worlds, along with over 300 miles of hiking trails, wildflowers, wildlife, starry nights, and fun times. In a world of superlatives, Rocky Mountain is probably on top.
Lodge keeper Abner Sprague was the first person ever to pay to enter Rocky Mountain National Park. His fee was $3.
