Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Wrapping up our Colorado adventure, we thought we’d save the best for last. Although honestly, Colorado has been so amazing that we’ve loved every place we visited!

Rocky Mountain National Park was absolutely incredible! This was the first time we’ve been there, but it won’t be the last. There was so much to see and do! All of us want to go back!

The drive to the park was gorgeous! We loved driving through the mountains! Colorado has so many different types of terrain. Each place we drove to was different than the last. So far we’ve driven through desert, prairie, and mountains, just in the areas we’ve ventured.

We started out at the Fall River Visitor Center. Juliana and I are on a quest to see how many Junior Ranger badges we can earn at the national parks this year. Luke doesn’t enjoy the challenge anymore, so Juliana and I have teamed up to earn them. There are different books to complete at each national park, each with their own challenges and requirements.

People of all ages can earn the Junior Ranger badges. I really enjoy them because they have quite a few different activities to complete that give you a lot of information about what you can experience in the park. In the Rocky Mountain National Park activity book, we learned about the different ecosystems in the park and what animals live there.

After we found some fun treasures in the gift shop, we met with the ranger and talked about the areas we wanted to be sure to see. On our way through the park was a ranger station. The ranger was showing the kiddos some ginormous antlers! They were so cool!

After we had fun learning about the animals in the park and how to identify their tracks, we drove deeper into the park. I really can’t adequately explain how majestic the mountains were. Even after hiking up the mountain in Loveland Pass, we weren’t prepared for how amazing this would be. Trail Ridge Road was absolutely breathtaking!

We took lots of paths to see the overlooks and saw some wonderful wildflowers along the way.

Here are some of the views from the overlooks we enjoyed:

We loved hiking up the Forest Canyon Trail for the amazing views! I’m not quite sure why, but every time we hike mountain trails it seems like storms like to erupt for us, lol.

Along the drive, we saw so many animals! We weren’t sure if we would get to see any elk, but we were very blessed! It was amazing to see them!

Here’s what we look like when we’re in the car too long! 😂😂😂

We drove to the Alpine Visitor Center to hike up another mountain. Spoiler alert, it was totally worth it!!! As we made our way to the top of the mountain, we stopped to enjoy the beautiful flowers and fauna that grew in this inhospitable terrain. Anything that lives at this elevation needs to be very resilient. The winds are also no joke. Fun fact: The Alpine Visitor Center is the highest elevation visitor center in the national parks system at 11,796 ft. above sea level.

We then drove down Bear Lake Road to Sprague Lake. The hiking trail around Sprague Lake was a nice easy hike. It started out slow and easy and we loved seeing the beauty around us.

Some other hikers were on their way back and told us about a moose that was in the lake near the shore. We were so excited! We got close enough to watch it eat, but far enough to be safe and not disturb it. It was so cool!!! Did I mention how excited we were??? 😁😁😁

After enjoying the moose moment, we drove to the Bear Lake Nature Trail. If the passes are available, I highly recommend getting the dual pass that includes Bear Lake. It was amazing! It was a bit drizzly when we went, but that didn’t take away from the beauty of the area.

The Bear Lake Nature Trail was one of our favorite hikes. We found lots of wildflowers, a really pretty waterfall, plenty of boulders, and we loved listening to the birds sing.

The weather started clearing up and the reflection of the trees on the lake was absolutely stunning.

Wrapping up our hike, we drove through the park and were able to see some mule deer.

A few tips that we learned during our experience:

If the Timed Entry Reservation is required when you visit, plan ahead and order as soon as possible for the date(s) you are going to be there. Please call the park or go the the national park website to confirm.
Without a Timed Entry Reservation you will need to wait until after 2 p.m. to enter the park. Without the Timed Entry + Bear Lake Road Reservation you will need to wait until 6 p.m. to enter the Bear Lake Road area.
If the Timed Entry Reservation is not available when you go online to purchase it, get on the notification list. Each time there was a reservation available, we received an email. We were not fast enough on multiple occasions, but eventually we were able to purchase the Timed Entry Reservation.
We highly recommend purchasing the Timed Entry + Bear Lake Road Reservation. Sprague Lake and Bear Lake were some of our favorite places in the park, and we are so glad we were able to experience them.
We saw elk along the Trail Ridge Road, moose at Sprague Lake, and mule deer along Bear Lake Road. Obviously they move around, so check with the Ranger to see where they may have been spotted during your visit.
If you have a child in the 4th grade, your child can get a free pass to get into any national park! You can go here for more information: https://everykidoutdoors.gov/index.htm
In our experience, the Rangers have been helpful and friendly. They are an amazing resource! Don’t be afraid to ask questions –they are there to help!
This information and tips were from our personal experience. All information was accurate as of our visit in 2025.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Rocky Mountain National Park! The beauty around us was absolutely breathtaking! We would love to go back for another visit and explore more of this gorgeous park. We’re already thinking ahead and planning when it may be on our agenda, lol.

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