Rocky Mountain National Park With Toddlers – Perfect Itinerary

Are you planning to travel to Rocky Mountain National Park with a Toddler? Then, you are in the right place. Check out the post for the fun we had with our 2 year old in the park

We visited Colorado last month with Rishi and I couldn’t accept myself as how did I miss such a beautiful state from my radar in the past. I am glad that we did road trip visiting 4 national parks in Colorado with Rishi. It was our first road trip with Rishi and the longest one too.  So, we decided to have brief breaks between national parks for Rishi to acclimate with the weather, travel, and elevations. To our surprise, he adapted very well and thoroughly enjoyed the trip. To know about our entire road trip and our itinerary, watch out for the round up post.

Being National Park enthusiast, we visited all the 4 national parks in Colorado, and I admit shamelessly that I loved Rocky Mountain National Park, even more than Arches! Arches in Moab had been my favorite national park till then.  No wonder, RMNP is the fourth most visited National Park in 2022 with 60 mountain peaks over 12,000 feet high resulting in world-renowned beauty. Visit to the Rocky Mountain National Park requires proper planning to beat crowds and enjoy all of what this nation’s treasure has to offer.

Rocky Mountain National Park

Rocky Mountain National Park

Rocky Mountain National Park is one of the most spectacular parks with elevations from 7,860 feet to 14,259 feet. The Continental Divide runs north – south through the park and marks a climatic division. Ancient glaciers carved the topography into an amazing range of ecological zones. What you see within short distances at Rocky is like the wider landscape changes seen on a drive from Denver to northern Alaska. One can enjoy quiet walks, exhilarating hikes, gorgeous sunrises and sunsets, wildlife watching, scenic drives, horseback rides, rock climbing, photography, backpacking, and so much more. The park has 100+ lakes and over 350 miles of hiking trails with paved roads to the top of the mountains. Whatever may be the season, visiting the RMNP requires Timed Entry Permit Reservation.

Timed Entry Permit Reservation is a pilot program launched by the park to avoid crowds during the peak season. There are two kinds of Permits available for the park – Park Access and Park Access +

All vehicles will need two things:

• A Timed Entry Permit Reservation – there are two options to choose from: a Park Access or Park Access+ Timed Entry Permit
• and a park entrance pass (including a 1-day or 7-day Vehicle Pass or an America the Beautiful Interagency Annual, Senior, Access, Military, or 4th Grade Pass)
• When visiting any area of the park located outside of the Bear Lake Road Corridor before 9 a.m. or after 2 p.m., a timed entry permit is not required. If entering the park without a timed entry permit, your vehicle must enter the park passing through the entrance station before 9 a.m. Timed entry permits are required to enter the park anytime at or after 9 a.m.
• Plan to arrive early, the wait times to enter the park could be 30 minutes or longer.
• If you would like to visit destinations located along the Bear Lake Road and arrive before 5 a.m. or after 6 p.m., a timed entry permit is not required. Remember that you must enter the Bear Lake Road Corridor entrance before 5 a.m. If you arrive at the Bear Lake Road entrance at or after 5 a.m., a Park Access+ Timed Entry Permit is required.

All Park Access and Park Access+ Timed Entry Permit Reservations are available online through Recreation.gov

We usually order our Annual Pass from here and the pass is valid across all National parks and federal landsites. The pass is valid for one year from the date of purchase.

Most of the scenic drives like Trail Ridge Road and Old fall road will open on Memorial Day and hence, we visited RMNP in June. Please do check the park website before your visit and plan accordingly. Most of the roads are closed in Winter due to snowfall. Even during summer months, the trail ridge road will have snowfall, and the hike trails will have snow deposits too. Rishi enjoyed his first snowfall in the month of June on trial ridge road. The best time to visit this Rocky Mountain National Park is from Memorial Day through mid-October, when Trail Ridge Road is open with access to all the hikes and lookouts.

There are five visitor centers in RMNP

• Beaver Meadows Visitor Center – Near the Beaver Meadows Entrance on US Hwy 36
• Moraine Park Discovery Center – On Bear Lake Road with nature trails and great views of Moriane Park
• Fall River Visitor Center – Near the Fall River Entrance on US Hwy 34
• Alpine Visitor Center – In the park along the Trail Ridge Road with extraordinary alpine views
• Kawuneeche Visitor Center – On US Hwy 34 north of Grand Lake

We had 3 days to spend in Rocky Mountain National Park and three days are not enough to explore this nation’s wonder.

Wildlife – RMNP

Where to Stay:

Most of the visitors visiting RMNP usually prefer Estes Park. Estes Park is a beautiful mountain town with easy access to the National Park. The town has lodges, cafés, and eateries; a perfect place to stay with kids. And a bit expensive too.

We decided to stay in Loveland which is an hour drive from the RMNP. Loveland has many options to stay, cafes, eateries, supercenters, and beautiful parks for evening strolls.

Day 1:

We flew from Jacksonville to Denver on 5/28 and reached Denver around midnight. We stayed in Denver and decided to leave for the RMNP the next day. Estes Park is 1 hour 40 minutes away from Denver and we reached Estes Park for our lunch. Estes Park has a town center in the middle of the town with a beautiful park for toddlers, coffee shops and restaurants. We grabbed our lunch from Nepal’s café and it’s a must visit in Estes Park. Their momos are exceptional and they serve Indian Cuisine as well.

We visited Estes Lake and drove to RMNP. We reserved timed entry for three days and as our slot on day 1 was at 2PM. We decided to visit the most visited part of the RMNP on our first day itself – Bear Lake Corridor.

Bear Lake Corridor:

The Bear Lake Road corridor is a gateway to incredible scenic views, a wide variety of hiking trails great for all ages, and spectacular wildlife viewing opportunities and camping. There is a reason the Bear Lake Road corridor is one of the most visited areas of Rocky Mountain National Park.

Bear Lake Road is a paved road that is 9.2-miles long. It winds and climbs in elevation from 8,200 feet above sea level (2,500 meters) at the junction with Trail Ridge Road to 9,475 feet (2888 meters) at the Bear Lake Parking Area and Trailhead.

Bear Lake is at the end of the road and a short walk from the trailhead will lead to this beautiful scenic view of Bear Lake, Hallet Peak, and the surrounding mountain peaks. When we visited Bear Lake in the evening, it was cold, and the trial had snow deposits on the way. Bear Lake is known for spectacular sunsets. Sad, we visited the lake on a cloudy evening. Bear Lake Loop is a paved 0.6 miles one-way, and it is flat but look out for snow deposits on the way.

The Bear Lake Trailhead is gateway to many popular high elevation hiking destinations in Rocky Mountain National Park, including the Bear Lake Loop, Dream Lake, Emerald Lake, Mills Lake, Odessa Lake, Flattop Mountain and more!

There were snow deposits near the lake and Rishi loved playing in the snow with SaN. And it’s Rishi’s first time playing in the snow. He was happy to see the lake and view its reflections in the water. There were small streams of water flowing through the rocks and he named it – Baby Waterfalls. We wanted to visit Alberta Falls – easily accessible and the most visited spectacular waterfalls. It can be accessed easily from Glacier Gorge Trailhead – 0.8 miles one-way. But the ranger suggested not to hike to the waterfalls with 2-year-old as there were snow deposits along the way.

We visited Sprague Lake Loop – A gorgeous, wheelchair and stroller accessible stroll is great for hikers of all abilities. There are plenty of benches and lookouts over the lake to stop and reflect. We saw Moose on our way to the Sprague Lake. We visited Beaver Meadows Visitor Center and stamped Rishi’s National Park Passport.

We didn’t want to do many hikes on our very first day itself and once done with Sprague Lake, we drove to our Airbnb in Loveland.

Sprague Lake

Day 2:

On our day 2, we left early from our Airbnb around 6 AM to RMNP. As you will be in MST time zone, sunrise will be very early around 5 AM and we were still catching up with MST time zones, we were up early too.

Sheep Lakes – We visited Fall River Visitor Center and visited Sheep Lakes as our first stop. The sheep lakes offer dramatic views of Horseshoe Park to view wildlife. The area is named for the bighorn sheep that come down from the mountainside to lick mud for nutrients. Sheep Lakes also sees coyotes, ground squirrels, and elk. We didn’t have luck and couldn’t view any wildlife. But, on our way back, we saw Moose grazing on the lawn. Rishi was so excited to view Moose grazing freely near the streams.

Alluvial Fan

Alluvial Fan – Our next stop was Alluvial Fan – Located off the road to Endo valley, the Alluvial Fan is a beautiful cascade of water flowing down through a boulder field. “In 1982 a breach in the earthen dam at Lawn Lake brought down a devastating wall of water sweeping vegetation and debris that would eventually form the Alluvial Fan as we see it today. The boulder field and sediment surrounding the Alluvial Fan are remnants of this destructive event”. The Alluvial Fan has a paved road, and you can view the Horseshoe waterfalls at the end of the trail.  Rishi had a great time playing in the cascades and throwing rocks on the falls.

Falls at Alluvial Fan

Trail Ridge Road – After our lunch, we decided to do Trail Ridge Scenic Drive.  Stretching from Estes Park to Grand Lake, Trail Ridge Road is the highest continuous paved highway in North America. The route takes up to the alpine tundra and offers thrilling views, scenic pullouts, and wildlife sightings. Eleven miles of this high highway travel above treeline, the elevation near 11,500 feet where the park’s evergreen forests come to a halt. The highest elevation along the Trail Ridge Road is 12,183 feet. Trail Ridge Road is one of ten America’s Byways in Colorado and a national designated All American Road. I would highly suggest allocating a day for the Trail Ridge Road. Clark’s nutcrackers, Steller’s jays, golden eagles and prairie falcons can be seen along Trail Ridge Road.

We stopped at almost every scenic lookout for the beautiful views and captured many pictures. We also had a chance to enjoy the snowfall along our way and Rishi clicked pictures with his own blue camera. He didn’t step out anywhere without his camera.  Luckily, we carried our winter jackets!!

• Many Parks Curve – A short walk with views of Long Peak
• Rainbow Curve – Perched on the edge of the treeline. Great vistas to the east
• Forest Canyon – First stop above treeline. Paved path to overlook.
• Rock Cut – Views of the alpine Tundra
• Lava Cliffs – View a layer of volcanic Rock.
• Gore Range – Views of the Never Summer Mountains and Gore Range
• Medicine Bow Curve – North vistas stretching into Wyoming on a clear day.
• Fairview Curve – Views of the Never Summer Mountains and Kawuneeche Valley

We wanted to do Old Fall River Road and wanted to visit Chasm Falls. But the old fall river road was closed due to road work.

Trail Ridge Road was such a beautiful drive and as said by Horace Albright – It is hard to describe what a sensation this new road is going to make. It is such a memorable adventure. Due to snowfall, we had to drive along the way with a bit of caution and urgency, but it is common in the Rocky to have snow fall even during mid of day.

Lava Rock

Day 3:

We started after our breakfast and our first stop was Estes Park – to grab coffee from Inkwell & Brew. We decided to explore the Longs Peak and Wild Basin area on our day 3.

Lily Lake – Our first stop was Lily Lake. Lily Lake Loop is a level path with fabulous views and activities for visitors of all abilities! Follow the trail around the lake and surrounding wetlands. Take in views of Longs Peak and Meeker Mountain, as well as the Twin Sisters Mountain to the southeast. There are benches and picnic tables around the lake for those who wish to picnic and relax. The northern shore of Lily Lake will provide some outstanding views of Estes Cone, as well as the two highest peaks in Rocky Mountain National Park, Mt. Meeker and Longs Peak. The Lily Lake Loop is an excellent hike for the family.

Copeland Waterfalls – Our next stop was at Wild Basin Trailhead to visit Copeland Waterfalls. From the Wild Basin Trailhead, the lower Copeland Waterfalls will arrive in 1/3 of the mile. If walk further, you will arrive at upper Copeland falls. The road to the lower Copeland falls is not paved and rocky. SaN carried Rishi as we feared the way and there is no siderails near the falls. There are no signs along the trail. There were many small streams of water along the way and Rishi loved playing in the water. There are picnic tables if you want to enjoy your day along the riverside.  We spent almost our entire afternoon close to the falls, playing and throwing rocks on the falls. On our way back from the falls, we saw herd of moose grazing on the valley and witnessed a herd of Bighorn Sheep on the mountain.

We headed back to Estes Park and visited Estes Lake. Rishi enjoyed playing in the town center in Estes Park. We encountered an Elk very close to us in the park and Rishi had a great time, witnessing Elk. We grabbed our dinner at Nepal’s Café. Yes, it has become our family favorite in Estes Park.

That concludes our 3 days visit to the Rocky Mountain National Park.

We didn’t had chance to visit Kawuneeche area and we couldn’t do some of the hikes we intended to do with Little R – he was too young for some of the hikes, but we decided to return to RMNP every year.  I would love to do Emerald Lake and Dream Lake next time when we visit RMNP.

Rocky Mountain National Park is at highest elevation and hence, there are few things to check out before visiting RMNP

• Altitude – Altitude Sickness affects many visitors every year. We didn’t feel hungry but were thirsty in RMNP. We had stocked up lemonades and juices for Little R. Altitude can cause headache, nausea, fatigue, vomiting and even unconsciousness. The only solution for altitude sickness is to go to a lower elevation. We stocked up on our favorite drinks of Rishi and had frequent breaks to stretch ourselves.
• There are no gas stations inside the park.
• Water from the lakes and streams is not safe to drink without proper treatment.
• Weather – A bright, sunny day can turn windy and wet within a matter of minutes with high winds and rain or snow. Ensure to bring winter clothing.
• Lightning regularly strikes in Rocky.
• Check the forecast and watch for building storm clouds.
• If hiking, plan to finish by noon, and return to the trailhead if you hear thunder.
• Ensure to reserve Park Timed Entry Permit to enjoy the park, without any restrictions.

If you have visited Rocky Mountain National Park, let me know what you like about it in the comments. If you would like to check out the first two largest national parks, then check out my post about Yellowstone and Death Valley National Park.

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Thanks,

Karthi