Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Day-2: Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

It was a bright sunny day. We checked out of the hotel by 7:30 AM. The view outside the hotel was beautiful and we couldn’t stop ourselves from clicking some photographs.

Trail Ridge road is considered to be the most scenic route with many overlooks and recommended when exploring the beauty of the park. A week before our visit, the road was closed due to heavy snowfall but on the day of our visit, fortunately it was open. Don’t forget to check the road status beforehand.

Call the Trail Ridge Road Status Line at 970 586-1222 for the most up-to-date status of Trail Ridge Road.

We left around 8 AM local time. Our first stop was by Granby Lake which was 45 mins from the hotel. Next we stopped by Shadow Mountain Lake and Grand Lake which was another 20-30 mins drive. We spent 10-15 mins each at both places.

Milner pass was our next stop which was around 20-30 mins drive from Grand Lake. On our way to Milner pass, we took a short break at the Kawuneeche Visitor center.

Bright sunny weather along with scattered snow was an absolute delight. Who would miss such a fantastic backdrop for the the photos?

Milner pass is a must visit stop. Frozen lake water, snow covered grass, tall dark green trees and a beautiful clear blue sky was a perfect combination for heavenly experience.

We kept taking pit stops along the route to check out the beauty of the mountain range.

Around 12 PM we reached Alpine Visitor Center and took a short break to click pictures.

Next on our way to Deer Ridge Junction, we stopped by various scenic overlooks like Gore Range overlook, Lava Cliffs overlook, Rock cut, Forest Canyon overlook, Hidden Valley, etc.

Our next attraction from the list was Chasm Falls. The route to Chasm Falls was unfortunately closed but we got to see some fall foliage around.

On our way back to Deer ridge junction, we saw all the vehicles had stopped and people running around. When looked around, we saw an Elk grazing by other side of the road and staring at crowd. We immediately parked by side of the road and ran to take photographs. Elks are the commonly seen around this park and belong to deer family. You visit Rocky Mountain National park and don’t see an Elk, then you would feel as if you missed an important part of the park.

We then rushed to Bear Lake as it was almost 4:30 in the evening. The drive from Deer Ridge Junction to Bear lake is around 20-30 mins. Once you reach the parking lot of the Bear Lake, it is just 0.25 miles walk to the lake trail.

There was another lake called Nymph Lake around 0.5 miles from Bear lake trail head and was beautiful.

We left from Bear Lake to Estes Park around 7:00 PM. On our way back we bought a souvenir from a gas station in Estes park and left for Hot Springs, South Dakota. It was a long drive of 6 hours and we were targeting to check into the hotel by 1 AM. The route was very lonely and dark with no other vehicles or services around. After driving for around 60-70 miles, we realized that our vehicle was running out of fuel and there was no gas station for another 60-70 miles. The speedometer was showing fuel range of around 90 miles and we were nervous about running out of fuel before we reach the gas station. Fortunately after 70 miles and just before our next detour, we found one. We heaved a sigh of relief and promised ourselves not to let it happen again.

We finally reached the hotel in South Dakota to end the long and tiring day 2.

Things to know:

We found Vintage Hotel, Winter Park, CO to be the best accommodation for the night as it’s near to the park entrance. This place doesn’t offer breakfast.
Check the road closures ahead of time especially in winters.
Lot of points in the park are scenic and 30-40 min drive away. So in order to cover entire park in a day, you must plan ahead.
Keep your fuel tank filled as and when you see a gas station, especially when you are driving long.
Check the weather before visiting the park as it changes rapidly. You might want to wear layers.
The roads are steep and curved, so if you have motion sickness, carry proper medicines.