Rocky Mountain national Park is located southwest of Fort. Collins Colorado. From Ft Collins drive south fifteen miles to  Loveland then west on US34 to Estes Park. From Loveland Colorado to Estes Park is about a forty five minute drive up the Big Thompson Canyon. The Big Thompson Canyon is a beautiful drive as you follow the Big Thompson River toward it's head waters in Rocky Mountain national Park.

The canyon is home to herds of Rocky Mountain big horn sheep so keep an eye pealed for them. Along the way there are stores and art galleries as well as picnic grounds and fishing locations.

When you arrive in the Village of Estes Park you will notice it is the jewel in the center of the Estes valley. The town itself is a bustling tourist town with shops, hotels and resorts lining the rivers. This little town has been playing host to thousands of tourists for as long as I can remember The valley is home to many large summer camps and as a young boy I attended or worked at many of them. Some are still in existence to day. A fun place to spend a summer as a young girl or boy.

Rocky Mountain National Park has two entrances from both the north and south edges of Estes Park. Both entrances have visitors centers but the north entrance which is up fall river has a new visitors center with store, restaurant and horse corrals.

The national park is open year around. Trail Ridge Road a main feature of the park is the highest continuous highway in US.  The highway is open Memorial Day to Labor Day depending on weather conditions. Trail Ridge is a good two way paved road with many turnouts for viewing. The road leads to the western entrance to the park at the Village of Grand lake and it's main feature Spirit Lake. The original road over the continental divide is still there and is much the same way as it was originally built. It is a narrow winding dirt road now called Fall River Road. This road is only one way, up. It is open from about July 4 until the weather closes it sometime in September or October. This road comes out at the visitors center on top of the mountain range.

The park has good animal populations of deer, elk, moose, coyote, bear, cougar and big horn sheep. The park is host to over 3 million visitors a year. There is also great hiking and fishing in the park. The forest service now operates shuttle busses to all the main locations in the park so one does not have to drive if one does not choose to.   Map