Within Rocky Mountain National Park, you’ll find what I consider to be the greatest variety of hiking trails in Colorado. You can hike to lakes, waterfalls, through autumn color and lots more. You always have a good chance of seeing wildlife here, especially elk. Other residents of the park include mule deer, bighorn sheep, moose, mountain lions, black bears, coyotes, foxes, and marmots among others.

Before heading into the national park, you might be interested in checking out one of the five visitor centers. Three of them are open all year and those are: Beaver Meadows Visitor Center, (Estes Park side of the park), Fall River Visitor Center, (near Fall River entrance to the park), and the Kawuneeche Visitor Center, on the Grand Lake side of the park. For more information about them, go here.

The Beaver Meadows visitor center is located on Hwy. 36, just outside the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. It’s only about three miles from the town of Estes Park. If you’re going into the park from the town of Grand Lake, you can stop in at the Kawuneeche visitor center. You’ll find it at about one mile north of Grand Lake on Hwy. 34 just outside the park.

To start you in the right direction, here’s how you get to Rocky Mountain National Park from the town of Estes Park: follow E. Elkhorn Ave. (U.S. Hwy. 36), to Moraine Ave. Turn left on Moraine Ave. and follow Hwy. 36 west all the way to the park. Or, you can go this way instead: from the intersection of Hwy. 36 and Hwy. 34 in Estes Park, take Hwy. 34 west, (Fall River Rd.), and follow it all the way to the park.

One more thing you might find useful to know before driving into Rocky Mountain National Park is the entrance fee. If you’ll be in the Estes Park area for seven days or less, you can get a pass for $20.00. Otherwise, if you’ll be around for longer than that, you can get an annual pass for $40.00.

So, are you ready for a hike? If you are, click here to see my collection of Rocky Mountain National Park trails. These are all waterfall hikes. After you’ve seen a few of them, please let us know here, which one you think is the best. You can also go here to see what other people think is the best one. If you’d rather hike up to a lake, go here instead.

As I mentioned in the first paragraph, you always have a good chance of seeing wildlife in Rocky Mountain National Park. So I’ll start adding pictures of some of the animals that you might see, along with a short description of where I saw them.

We spotted this coyote along the road to Bear Lake. He was actually with a couple of other coyotes and they were eating berries from the bushes next to the road. As you see here, they can partially blend in with their surroundings, so do keep an eye out for them.

This bighorn sheep was with a small herd of sheep a short ways outside the Fall River entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park. The best place to look for them is usually anyplace from the Sheep Lakes area, (inside the park), to McGregor Mountain Lodge, (outside the park), and beyond, along Fall River Road.

Elk are the most common animals that you will see in Rocky Mountain National Park. They can be seen almost anywhere in the park but you’re more likely to see them in the Moraine Park area of the park, especially during the fall. We saw this one near the Horseshoe Park area of the park. If you’re looking to see bull elk, the best time of year to find them is during the fall rutting season. That’s when they challenge each other for the female elk.

Although you might see mule deer in Rocky Mountain National Park, they are less commonly seen here than elk. We spotted this one outside the park along Fall River Road, not far from the park entrance. I’ve heard that one of the better places to look for them is on Deer Mountain. I haven’t yet hiked that trail but when I do, I’ll let you know whether or not I found any deer along the way.

Ground squirrels are commonly seen throughout the park during the warm months. We saw this one near Mills Lake. He came right up to me looking for a handout, but it’s best not to feed them. Other places in the park that I’ve seen these little critters include: along the Fern Lake trail, along the trail to Alberta Falls, and along the trail to Nymph, Dream, and Emerald Lakes.

The Maroon Bells are located in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness, (near Aspen), and are considered to be the most photographed peaks in Colorado. If you’re a nature lover and wondering what you want to see in Colorado, I highly recommend these twin peaks. I consider them to be the most spectacular mountain peaks in the whole United States.

And don’t take my word for it-come see them for yourself! They are postcard perfect. And that reminds me; although I can show you pictures of them, they really have to be seen in person to be appreciated. Pictures just don’t do them justice.

Since the Maroon Bells are located in the White River National Forest, that means they are dog friendly. Just make sure you keep your furry friend on a leash.

So, if you’re looking for the directions there, here they are: from Glenwood Springs, take Hwy. 82 south towards Aspen. (It takes just over one hour to reach the Maroon Bells from Glenwood Springs.) As you approach Aspen, you will see the Aspen airport on your right. Keep following the road and cross the bridge over Maroon Creek.

Just beyond Maroon Creek, you’ll reach a roundabout. Enter it carefully and follow the sign for Maroon Creek road. If you see the church tower, you’ll know you’re going the right direction. From here, just keep following the road until you reach the pay station. After that, just follow the road until it ends at the parking lot.

In 2009, it costs $10.00 to see the Maroon Bells, and the pass you receive is good for five days.
Now, you need to know that vehicle access is restricted to certain hours and that Maroon Creek road is only open from summer through sometime in the fall, depending on the weather. Maroon Creek road is currently closed but will re-open to vehicles on May 22, 2009 weather permitting, depending on snow levels.

Here are the hours that you can drive in to see the Maroon Bells:
- 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. ($10.00 per car for 5 days)
- 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. ($10.00 per car for 5 days)
- 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. (free)

Between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., you need to ride the shuttle bus. And actually, I encourage you to ride the bus at least once if you’ll be in the area for a while. That way, you can listen to the bus driver who offers up a fine talk about the Maroon Bells during your ride. Bus service will start on June 20, 2009.

Maroon Bells bus information:
- Buy your tickets at Pro Mountain Sports in Aspen Highlands Village. To get there, follow my directions to the Maroon Bells, and once you’re on Maroon Creek road, be watching for the sign that says: “Maroon Bells shuttle bus”. You can’t miss it.
- Bus leaves from just outside Pro Mountain Sports. It drops you off and picks you up again at Maroon Lake.
- Ticket prices go like this: adults: $6.00, children 6-16: $4.00, and seniors: $4.00.
- Parking is free at the Aspen Highlands Village parking lot to ride the Maroon Bells bus.
- Departure times go like this: from 9:05 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.: every 20 minutes. From 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.: on the hour and half hour. The last bus leaves Maroon Lake at 5:00 p.m. Don’t miss it, because cell phones don’t work up there!
- The shuttle bus will run every day from June 20 through September 7, 2009. From September 8 to September 27, 2009, the bus will run weekends only. In this case, weekends are: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
- Last but not least, dogs are permitted to ride the Maroon Bells shuttle bus.

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Colorado, Experts believe North America’s largest dinosaurs roamed Colorado’s mesas and mountains some 140 million years ago. Perhaps they had an appreciation for spectacular scenery: Four hours from Denver, Grand Junction’s deep red rock canyons and tall sandstone monoliths inspire awe among visitors to Colorado National Monuments.

Located within “Dinosaur Diamond,” Grand Junction’s excavation sites, fossil trails, Dinosaur Valley Museum exhibits, and hands-on archeological activities appeal to paleontologists of all ages.

Prehistoric people left their mark at Mesa Verde National Park outside of Durango. One of world’s most famous archaeological sites, it contains hundreds of cliff dwellings, evidence of the Anasazi Indian culture.

Fourteen centuries of history remain on display there at the country’s largest archeological preserve, which contains more than 4,000 sites built by ancestral Puebloans between 450 AD and 1300 AD. Mesa-top villages have been stabilized so that today’s visitors can walk, drive, or take a bus tour through the park to view them. They’re also welcome to hike and climb ladders in and out of the dwellings or embark on less rigorous but equally fascinating self-guided tours as they wander through the past. The park also features a museum and three wilderness areas.

Officially founded in 1880, the town of Durango was originally a mining center. Its railroad depot is now a National Historic Landmark, and a ride on the turn-of-the-century Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Train reveals the beauty of the area’s remote wilderness from the tracks of an authentic steam-operated railroad.

Prospectors poured into Grand County following the discovery of gold along the Colorado River, building and then abandoning towns. Today, with six dude and guest ranches within its borders, the county lays claim to the title of Colorado’s Dude Ranch Capital.

Saddle up to recall the spirit of the American West at C Lazy U Ranch, the only five-star, five-diamond dude ranch. Extraordinary high-mountain scenery, like the 78 peaks 12,000 feet or taller in nearby Rocky Mountain National Park, helps riders appreciate the horsepower.

More than a century ago, Gunnison County was cowboy territory, and the region’s rough-and-tumble past comes alive again at July’s Annual Cattlemen’s Days. Guests who bunk at Waunita Hot Springs Ranch get their own horse for a week, and the high point of a stay is the high-country ride to snow-ridged peaks overlooking the Continental Divide.

To sample the best of the old West in style, check into one of the state’s historic hotels. The Strater Hotel in Durango, Hotel Jerome in Aspen, Hotel Colorado in Glenwood Springs, and the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park are all lovingly preserved properties that combine the glories of bygone days with first-class accommodations and modern amenities.