#3: Visit Rocky Mountain National Park!

Rocky Mountain National Park consists of 415 square miles of land on the Colorado Front Range.  The park is divided by the continental divide – all water to the east of the continental divide flows to the Atlantic Ocean, all water to the west of the continental divide flows to the Pacific ocean.  RMNP has over 300 miles of hiking trails, lakes, glaciers, mountain peaks and PLENTY of wildlife.

The easiest way to get to RMNK from the Ranch is through Estes Park.  From there you can enjoy Trail Ridge Road, a 48 mile road that starts in Estes Park and ends in Grand Lake.  Trail Ridge Road is known for amazing views and TONS of wildlife.  Every time I’ve been up there, there have been at least a dozen elk, not more than 100 feet from the road.  http://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/trail_ridge_road.htm  The Old Fall River Road is another great scenic option and consists mainly of gravel and switchbacks (unlike the smooth sailing Trail Ridge Road).  http://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/old_fall_river_road.htm  The Peak to Peak Scenic Byway goes South toward Denver and Boulder and also offers incredible views.  http://estes-park.com/peak-peak-scenic-byway  All of these roads are easily accessible from Estes Park.

Bear Lake (pictured above) and Sprague Lake are great places to hang out with your family and have a picnic!  Both are within reasonable driving distance of Estes Park.

I can’t even begin to list the millions of things to do in the Rocky Mountain National Park.  The 5 listed above are popular options that aren’t too far from the Ranch.  For more information and ideas for your RMNP trip, check out their website:  http://www.nps.gov/romo/

Sleepy Elk   I was literally less than 20 feet away from it when I took this picture!!