Sunday, October 26, 2025

Rocky Mountain National Park in Autumn


As I described in my prior post, during the last week of September, my husband and I spent a few days in a lodge in the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, Colorado, to enjoy visiting Rocky Mountain National Park, and to enjoy the park as it began to show off its beautiful fall splendor!



 
We heard that the aspen trees were nearing peak color at the higher elevations inside the park...




...and that fact was delightfully true!


During the two and a half days we spent visiting the park, we experienced a variety of weather, from sun to rain showers, but the fall colors were glorious.



We even saw snow at the highest elevations of the park.


We took some time to enjoy some hikes in different parts of the park.



A short video of some quaking aspen trees in the wind.



A high elevation long-distance view of hills of colorful aspen trees and a thick forest. 

The park is surrounded by Roosevelt National Forest in the north and east, Routt National Forest in the northwest, and Arapaho National Forest in the southwest. Rocky Mountain National Park encompasses approximately 415 square miles (1,075 km2) of land in Colorado's northern Front Range.



We drove on the 48-mile-long Trail Ridge Road (US 34) up into the vast tundra.

Eleven miles of Trail Ridge Road is above the treeline, with an elevation near 11,500 feet, where the park's evergreen forests come to a halt. As it winds across the tundra's vastness, it reaches a high point at 12,183 feet in elevation.  It is America's Highest Continuous Paved Road.



One day of our visit was beautifully sunny, and we took a hike to take advantage of the views from this high elevation.

Please click on the collage to enlarge


The next time we traveled up to the highest point of Trail Ridge Road, it began to snow! We stopped into the Alpine Visitor Center to look at the exhibits.  The Alpine Visitor Center is the highest elevation visitor center in the National Park System at 11,796 feet above sea level.  It is only open seasonally, as heavy snow will soon cover the building, as you can see in the photo above. Trail Ridge Road also closes for the season at a certain elevation, usually from mid-October to mid-May.





The Continental Divide, where streamflows are separated east from west, is crossed at Milner Pass, situated at a surprisingly low elevation of 10,758 feet.



The elk rut season was just beginning, and we saw many elk stags roaming in the meadows. This time, we did not see any moose as we had on our last visit to the park.



The video above shows the distinctive sound an elk stag makes during the rut to attract the elk cows. 
Their bugles can be heard all around the park in the fall!



Every time we visit Rocky Mountain National Park, we experience new beauty! It is one of our favorite places in Colorado, and I hope you enjoyed seeing it this autumn on my blog.



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Sunday, October 19, 2025

A Fall stay in the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park

Fall is a beautiful season in Colorado, and every year my husband and I try to take a few days away to enjoy the scenery in a different part of the state. This year, we decided to go to Estes Park and stay in the YMCA of the Rockies, Estes Park,  which is located just a few miles outside of Rocky Mountain National Park.  

We stayed once before in a cabin in the YMCA of the Rockies in 2013, which was the first year we moved to Colorado--click here-- to see that blog post. We usually drive the Peak to Peak Scenic Highway to Estes Park, which is a two-hour drive from our house, but this year we first dropped our daughter off at Denver International Airport as she had to travel for a business trip. The drive from the airport was only one and a half hours, and it also turned out to be very scenic as we got close to Estes Park.



Situated about 90 miles northwest of Denver, at 7,522 feet (2292 Meters) above sea level, Estes Park sits in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. The town has majestic views spanning in every direction.



The YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park is bordered on three sides by Rocky Mountain National Park and nestled within 860 acres of towering ponderosa pines and awe-inspiring mountain vistas.



 The YMCA of the Rockies is a wonderful place for families to stay, as there are many activities as well as on-site dining options.  We like its quietness in the fall and its close proximity to the national park.


The grounds are beautiful and have wonderful hiking trails, a general store, cafes, buffet dining, sports fields, a pool, horseback riding, miniature golf, archery, fishing, crafts, and so much more!


There are many different lodges and cabins on the grounds. 
 On this visit, we stayed in the Wind River Lodge, which sleeps four, as the room had two queen-size beds. Our balcony view was of the Mummy Range



After checking into the lodge, we drove back into town. We parked at the Estes Park Visitor Center, where we took a walk along the Big Thompson River, which has its headwaters in Forest Canyon in Rocky Mountain National Park.



I captured this amazing zoom view of Longs Peak from a high point in Estes Park. Longs Peak is the tallest mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park, standing at an impressive 14,256 feet (4345.22 m).



One of the most exciting experiences we had during our stay at the YMCA of the Rockies was seeing a herd of wild elk grazing on the grass outside the buffet restaurant on the grounds.



The female elk cows and calves were very hungry!

 We made sure to stay a safe distance away from them, and I used my camera's zoom to take these photos.



Then our excitement rose when we saw this giant stag among the herd!

 This herd was his harem, and he was very protective of them. The elk rut in Colorado usually begins in mid-September and lasts for a month.



Although the Elk buck stopped to eat at times, he mainly pranced around his harem, telling them by his actions that he was their protector and the boss.



Meanwhile, the elk cows ignored him and kept eating!




We were excited to drive into Rocky Mountain National Park to see the beginning of the fall foliage emerging, as our visit took place in the third week of September.  I'll show some of those beautiful sights in my next blog post!

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