Rocky Mountain National Park fall guide: Best aspen, elk viewing and timed-entry tips
Rocky Mountain National Park is a special place any season, but fall brings out the best in the park.
Autumn ushers in cooler days, smaller crowds, golden aspen and elk bugling.
Don't let the park's timed-entry reservation permit system keep you from enjoying the park. The best times of the day to visit the park this time of year don't require a permit.
Here are tips on how to get into the park before permits are required as well as when and where to take in the aspen and elk.
How to get into Rocky Mountain National Park without a timed-entry permit
The best times to view the aspen and elk are dawn and dusk. That's when the light is best for photographs and videos and when the elk are most active.
The entrance stations are not staffed before 7 a.m., but the park per its website states entrance passes are always required, even outside of hours entrances aren't staffed. Visitors entering during times when entrance stations aren't staffed are required to pay an entrance fee online at https://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/fees.htm
If you arrive after 7 a.m. and before 9 a.m., or after 3 p.m., you do not need a timed-entry reservation for the park outside of the Bear Lake Road Corridor but you will be required to pay the entrance fee, which is $30 for a daily pass.
Timed-entry permits are required for the Bear Lake Road Corridor, which includes that area as well as access to the rest of the park, daily 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. The permits are required for the rest of the park 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The permit system runs through Oct. 10.
For more details about the timed-entry system, including permit availability and booking a reservation, visit https://www.recreation.gov/.
Best aspen-viewing drives in Rocky Mountain National Park
Aspen viewing in the park generally starts about mid-September at the highest elevations, with peak viewing around the last two weeks of the month.
The park isn't flush with aspen but has enough to offer worthwhile drives. Here are the best ones:
Trail Ridge Road
This 48-mile paved road runs through the heart of the park from Estes Park on the east side to Grand Lake on the west.
Aspen are found in pockets along the road from its start at 7,500 feet in Estes Park to near 11,500 feet, where the forest ends and tundra begins. The road tops out at 12,183 feet.
The East Troublesome Fire severely burned areas near the west entrance of the park but aspen still are prevalent in the Kawuneeche Valley.
This road is heavily traveled. Do not stop on the road — there are pull-offs to accommodate viewing. Farview Curve is a prime pull-off on the west side.
Old Fall River Road
For a more quaint drive, take this switchback-laden gravel road with steep drop-offs and no guard rails. There is a reason the posted speed limit is 15 mph.
This roughly 9-mile one-way drive from the Endovalley area to the Alpine Visitor Center offers panoramic views of golden aspen rivulets dripping down mountainsides across the valley and aspen hugging the road. There are plenty of pull-offs to help you safety take in the views.
Chasm Falls in the lower section of the drive is a must-stop.
The road closes Oct. 3.
Bear Lake Road
This 10.5-mile paved road from the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center starts at 7,840 feet and climbs up to Bear Lake at 9,475 feet, putting you at prime aspen-viewing elevation.
Pockets of aspen are abundant on this drive that also leads to some of the park's best aspen hikes.
Peak to Peak Highway
This drive on Colorado Highway 7 from Estes Park to Central City/Black Hawk is not located in the park but takes you along the eastern edge of it and offers excellent aspen viewing. Drive this in the morning, as the majority of the aspen are to the west and will be lit up by the morning sun.
For more on aspen in Rock Mountain National Park, visit https://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/aspen.htm.
More:Where can you see the best fall colors in Colorado? Here's a list
Best aspen viewing hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park
Wild Basin
This is arguably the best aspen-viewing area for hikes in the park, and the best of the best is the nearly 3-mile one-way hike to Ouzel Falls.
It's a family-friendly hike with awesome aspen stands, the ever-present St. Vrain Creek and three waterfalls: Copeland Falls, Calypso Cascades and Ouzel Falls.
Sprague Lake
Another family-friendly hike, this nearly 1-mile loop around the lake is laden with aspen, offers views of Longs Peak and Estes Cone and, if you are lucky, the lake might hold a moose or two.
Bierstadt Lake
The 3-mile intermediate loop hike takes hikers through a mix of dark green conifers and golden aspen and offers views of the Continental Divide and an occasional moose cooling off in the lake.
Alberta Falls
This hike is located along popular Bear Lake Road. It is a family-friendly, 1.2-mile round-trip hike that includes excellent aspen viewing as well as spectacular Alberta Falls.
This area also offers worthwhile fall hikes to progressively challenging Bear Lake, Nymph Lake and Dream Lake.
Twin Sisters
The start of this strenuous, 7-mile round-trip trail offers robust aspen stands. At the 11,428-foot summit, you will be rewarded with a spectacular view of the "butterfly burn'' scar and surrounding aspen.
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Best elk viewing: Where and when
Moraine Park, Horseshoe Park and Upper Beaver Meadows are the three prime spots on the east side of the park to experience the elk rut, which includes the surreal elk bugling as part of the mating ritual.
The elk are most active in the early to mid-morning and late afternoon into the evening.
For more information on elk viewing, including viewing rules and etiquette, visit https://www.nps.gov/romo/learn/nature/elk.htm.
Rocky Mountain National Park information
To better help you plan your visit, check out the park's website at https://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/index.htm.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Guide to aspen viewing, elk bugling in Rocky Mountain National Park
