Boulder’s Secrets To RMNP Park Access Before Mid-October!
Boulder is in the center of world for many things. Denver lies 40 minutes to our South-East. To the immediate North-West, about the same distance away, lies Rocky Mountain National Park: a gem by which the sparkle of all other gems is measured.
Once upon a time, before COVID-19, getting out of the park was the challenge. We carried compasses, topographic maps, and whatever survival gear we’d want when we got lost.
No More! NOW the trick is how to get INTO the Park! I want to share my personal trick. Call it a “technique.” That sounds classier. It works! I have confirmed this with repeated personal experience.
With this monument to the artistic raw power of nature literally right up the road, I have had summers when I was up in the Park almost weekly, and sometimes multiple times in a week. The invention of the pocket cell phone made it possible to practice law, but for the typing and court appearances, by phone directly from the limited areas in the park where there was cell reception. Otherwise there was voicemail. I could and did do this at a whim. It was like going skiing when you live in Aspen. You throw on the board(s) and ski out your office door for a break after lunch! Ski to work and work to ski!
For better or worse the spontaneity of dropping in on the Park is no longer part of our reality. Instead of going to the Park on a whim, think of it more like getting tickets to a major Rock Concert crossed with Dungeons and Dragons. We now have the Rolling Stones of National Parks! Ticketmaster and the like will be selling Park tickets soon, and at inflated rates if any are available. Currently you now need only your lawyer to translate the entry rules into a language which you speak. While no longer giving legal advice, and going officially inactive as an attorney on September 30, 2024, I can still advise you on how to get into the park. Skip the scenic route from Lyons to Estes! Stick to Hwy 36. That’s a right turn at Lyons, not a left. Skip St. Malo’s Church for this entry time.
St. Malo’s Church With Longs Peak In The Backround
Blame COVID-19! Seriously. “Timed Entry” as a way of life is mostly an artifact from the recent “plague.” And it has outlasted the worst of the “plague.” Timed entry is the way of the Park. But what does that really mean to us mere mortals who want to go to RMNP (Rocky Mountain National Park) for a day? These rules apply until mid-October!!!
Start with the website or phone app and register. That will require a certified birth certificate, a driver’s license from any state, passports from at least three friendly nations, and a note from your parents. And even that won’t work! Don’t panic quite yet. In fact, don’t panic. Just get up early.
Where The Elk Roam. In the LATER AFTERNOON!!!
The rules for the Bear Lake area, a truly marvelous part of the Park, are entirely different, more difficult, more restrictive, and beyond the scope of a mere 500-1000 words. Let’s focus on the main entrance from the middle of Estes Park. No longer a matter of showing your Golden Eagle Pass, or paying for entry and driving in, a timed reservation is required. IF you can get one. Tickets go on sale in one-month blocks. When a block goes on sale, 60% of the ticket options go on the open market. The “market” opens at 7 PM and the tickets do NOT last long. Then, the website happily shows “no tickets available for your entry time.” Looking at the calendar you’ll see that NO entry times are available for the month!
As long as planning is not called for, the 40% of tickets which are held back do go on sale at 7 PM the night before your fantasy trip. And fantasy it may be. THOSE tickets sell like Taylor Swift tickets!
So what is a tourist to do? EASY!!! HERE”S THE SECRET! Entry (except for Bear Lake) is permitted without an advanced ticket, without a reservation, and without having to have your congressman’s staff on speed-dial.
GO EARLY! Entry before 9:00 AM is a walk in the park! Before 9 AM, according to a careful reading and re-reading of the website, means simply driving in the gate. Show your Golden Eagle and your ID and smile, or pay admission and smile, and you’re in!!! Get there before 9 AM and you’re in like Flint! That’s it. No secret handshake. No code test. No key hidden under a rock. Just get up early. To be safe for the 1:15 minute drive to the entrance to the Park, I’ll leave Lafayette at 6;45 AM. Ignoring construction and related delays and ignoring photo stops (this is REALLY hard to do), I should be at the entrance before 8:30 AM. I’ll either enter the park before 9 AM, or I’ll spend the day wandering around Estes Park, looking longingly at Longs Peak, and wishing I’d left at 5:30 AM. I’ve had to get up that early to get to distant courthouses on time, and the views in the Park are far better! No other entry options appear to be available except for a vaguely mentioned special park permit. I could not figure that out from the website. It is easier to just get up early. And remember when driving up in the dark, to watch for mule deer, elk, mountain lions, squirrels, marmots, rabbits, foxes, coyotes, and other travelers of the night. The adventure starts when you start your car in Boulder!
The Main Elk-Viewing Meadow
At this time of year many of us are going to RMNP to see and hear the elk during their rutting season. That’s their dating season for younger readers. Although I have seen elk early in the day, viewing is generally after 3 PM or so. The famous meadow where they frequently gather and party closes for off-road exploration at 5 PM. That’s a clue. So be prepared to spend the day in the park before your elk viewing experience. RE=ENTRY IS NOT PERMITTED FOR THE PRE-9 AM ENTRY!!! Bring your breakfast, lunch, dinner, water, and I recommend a can of 02. Oxygen can be very welcome, and is easily carried.
Visit the visitor’s center at the top of Trail Ridge Road. Read a book. Your Spotify access will be spotty, since cell-service is spotty. Do NOT count on phone connectivity or on Internet being available.
Currently there is significant construction on the Falls River entry road. Add more time to make sure you don’t miss the 9:00 AM entry deadline! When I’m feeling flush and decadent I prefer going up to Estes the night before. I can stay at the famously haunted Stanley Hotel, or can stay at a classic 1950’s motel for $100.00, which, at 5 AM the morning of the RMNP visit can seem pretty cheap. Even coffee and maybe breakfast becomes possible.
Lenny Lensworth Frieling
Shared Knowledge Is Power!
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