RMNP Suggestions for Small Children / Feeble Adults?

[JohnnyEgo]

My five year old told me he wanted to go to the mountains and have a picnic, so I figured I'd take him to Rocky Mountain National Park for the day. Depending on tourist density, I was planning to have lunch at Bear Lake and drive a small chunk of Trail Ridge and look for something that is child-scale adventurous. I haven't spent a ton of time in the park. Hoping there are some kid-scale rocks to climb or something to get the wiggles out before the drive home.

Rolling out in an hour or so. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

JohnnyEgo

[Great-Kazoo]

Don't get off the boat , man.

Bring food & water. Prepare for the line of traffic going up there

[def90]

Plenty of places right along the road for that.. You can't miss them.

[vossman]

Not sure where it's actually located but there is a pretty cool waterfall. The pools have catchable fish in them, rocks to climb and it I believe there is a trail to the top.

[Ah Pook]

I can't imaging the traffic, up there, this weekend.

Hope ya had a good time.

[Big E3]

Should be a lot of elk running around Estes Park and RMNP this time of year. And a lot of people going up to view them. Will be a tough drive to get near RMNP from Estes, may help to go through Grand Lake.

[spqrzilla]

Sprague Lake is a good spot for the small ones if the traffic isn't too bad. Moraine Park for a look at elk.

[Jamnanc]

60905Always worth a drive through the golf course if your in Estes.

[theGinsue]

Mrs. Ginsue & I just got back from our annual Estes Park day trip.

OFFICIAL TRIP REPORT FOLLOWS


Don't get off the boat , man.

Bring food & water. Prepare for the line of traffic going up there


I can't imaging the traffic, up there, this weekend.

Hope ya had a good time.

Oh dear heavens gents, you really have no idea how bad it was. I've never dealt with it this bad. Usually it takes about 20 minutes to get into Estes from Lyons; today it took an hour and a half. The good news is that most of the traffic was bound for the Scots Festival on the incoming (lake) side of town. The traffic through the shopping district and to/through the park was lighter than normal by a small margin. We've been up there during the Scots Fest a few times but never seen traffic like this; DAMN! For the second year in a row there were no elk on the golf course when we came through.

Mrs. Ginsue got a little bit of shopping in downtown before we entered RMNP and we grabbed lunch at the Grubsteak (http://www.grubsteakestespark.com).

While we saw a few elk in other places, Moraine Park (as always) was where we saw 2 nice herds with 5 or six HUGE bulls between them and a few spikes mixed in with the cows/calfs. Unfortunately, due to the multiple high fences the Park folks have put in, these 2 herds never got closer than about 500 yards. Thank heavens I brought a few pair of binoculars with me. I did get to see a 5x5 with 2 cows about 20' fom the road about 1/2 way between the overlook to Horseshoe Park & Horseshoe Park itself. I stopped and got out & glassed them for a few minutes before moving on. More folks stopped and spooked them away. Right at the entrance onto the unpaved road leading to the Upper Beaver Meadows Trailhead there was a nice 6x6 with 2 cows & 2 calfs. They wanted to cross the paved road (36). One cow & calf made it, but as the bull was trying to herd the remaining cow & calf and get himself across the road incoming traffic (including 2 Harleys whose riders felt it necessary to demonstrate the loudness of their pipes) kept pushing closer, so the elk re-adjusted down about 20 yards and tried again. This process continued (with the elk running right past me & the SUV I was standing next to [with traffic I had no place I could safely go that wouldn't disturb the elk even more]) until the elk were finally able to cross about 400 yards down the road from where they first tried. The whole time the idiot drivers (and Harley riders) failed to give them room and followed them closely. Not sure what finally broke to allow the elk to cross as I couldn't see through all of the traffic. Dumb asses. Didn't see as many elk this year as we normally do though - probably too hot for them to come out of the trees

Besides traffic to & from Estes Park/RMNP it was a good day overall. We're seriously considering making reservations now (or as soon as they open) for a camping site for a few days/week next year. Might even do one of those guided horseback rides through the Park and in some places they have restricted to hiking. Haven't been on a horse in 31 years and it didn't end well back then.

BTW: I have a lifetime pass into National Parks but they have a new "automated pass" I asked the RMNP gate toll taker about it and she "checked to see if my pass was setup for automated", it wasn't. Anyone know how to get a pass setup as an automated pass? I would have asked the lady @ the gate, but there was a line behind me and I didn't want to hold things up.

[Great-Kazoo]

Hopefully the traffic wasn't as bad , OR LONG as your post. ;) With the trees turning, the next few weeks are going to be a horror show.

Regarding the pass, drop in to your local park service office. Have them do it for you.

[hurley842002]

Wife wanted to head to the Scots festival today, now I'm kind of having second thoughts.

[JohnnyEgo]

We had a pretty good time. Left at 11:00 AM. Traffic was a little snarled through Estes Park, but no more than about 15-20 minutes. The Fall River entrance to RMNP was pretty clear. There was occasional congestion on Trail Ridge, but nothing more than a few minutes wait, with plenty of long stretches of solitude. We ate lunch at Hidden Valley, then drove Trail Ridge, stopping at a few of the more scenic and/or rocky points along the way. Didn't get a ton of pictures of my boy because a.) he hates them and b.) I spent most of my time pulling him off the cliff ledges. We made the Tundra hike to the Mushroom Rocks, which involved me carrying him the last half mile up the trail. A five year old weighs a lot more at 11000+ feet. We brought jackets, hats, and gloves, and we needed them above the timberline, where it was about 50° with strong winds. We watched all the freezing people in shorts as they would pop out of their cars and pop back in.

Decent sized herd of Elk at the Elk Observation Point near the Fall River Entrance about 6:00 PM. Coming back, we saw a good sized black bear mid way up the canyon walls outside of Drake, about 7:30 or so. Got home about 20 minutes before 9:00. Boy went right to sleep, which was awesome. Couple pictures:

http://www.johnnyego.com/photography/RMNP/2015RMNP18.JPG
Mom about had a heart attack when she saw this, but it was actually less scary then it looked. There were about 3' of additional ledge on the other side of the wall for most of it's length.

http://www.johnnyego.com/photography/RMNP/2015RMNP15.JPG
http://www.johnnyego.com/photography/RMNP/2015RMNP12.JPG

Beautiful Day:
http://www.johnnyego.com/photography/RMNP/2015RMNP27.JPG
http://www.johnnyego.com/photography/RMNP/2015RMNP31.JPG
http://www.johnnyego.com/photography/RMNP/2015RMNP36.JPG
http://www.johnnyego.com/photography/RMNP/2015RMNP38.JPG

This path was paved, and the grade was not too steep, but my boy on my shoulders took the wind out of me pretty quick.
http://www.johnnyego.com/photography/RMNP/2015RMNP40.JPG
http://www.johnnyego.com/photography/RMNP/2015RMNP35.JPG

[JohnnyEgo]

Also, when my son fell asleep in the car, I took a bunch of pictures of my cooler instead.
http://www.johnnyego.com/photography/RMNP/2015RMNP06.JPG
http://www.johnnyego.com/photography/RMNP/2015RMNP44.JPG

[theGinsue]

Good looking young man - clearly owns dads heart to get you to carry him at that altitude.

The pics of the cooler substituting for your son are hilarious.

[cableguy11]

Awesome pics...The one on the wall is great...after all he does have his spiderman shirt on!

[Ah Pook]

Oh dear heavens gents, you really have no idea how bad it was. I've never dealt with it this bad.
Oh yes I do. Try driving through Nederland on any Sat or Sun, in the summer. Stalled traffic and 1/4 mile long lines is not uncommon.

Glad y'all had a good time. That is a pretty area.

[Great-Kazoo]

Good looking young man - clearly owns dads heart to get you to carry him at that altitude.

The pics of the cooler substituting for your son are hilarious.

He was signaling. Surprised his satchel wasn't in the picture.

[blacklabel]

He's Spiderman, what were you worried about? Looks like it was a great time. We always make the yearly drive through the park but rarely take the time to actually stop.

[TEAMRICO]

We always go to EP during the MLK holiday weekend in Jan. we book the same cabin very year for the next year at check out. Never really seen it crowded but always have a good time. Still cold with snow and plenty of wildlife roaming the roads and town. We always look forward to this trip.

[Gman]

Looks like a great time was had by all. Nice pics!