After driving about as far as we could from our visit to Dinosaur National Monument, we stopped at a KOA in Craig, Colorado. We found a decent place for dinner and got a good night sleep. While I only took one picture while at the campground, this KOA had the nicest bathrooms we have ever seen at a campground (and even nicer than most of the Motel 6 hotels we stayed at).
Colorado was a state we desperately wanted to explore more of since we only visited Mesa Verde National Park and Durango in the past. We were excited to have the opportunity this time to finally visit Rocky Mountain National Park. On our way we stopped in Steamboat Springs for the most delicious “brunch” we have had on our trip yet at the Creekside Cafe. We also wanted to stop off in Steamboat Springs since our tent was made by Big Agnes and they are headquartered there. The town was super cute and easy to walk around. The biggest purchase: Danielle’s hat. (that’s more than a hat, its an attitude). You will now be seeing more of it in upcoming pictures.
local cured Bacon and I believe there was pulled pork under those eggs
sweet cream stuffed french toast
Our tent’s birthplace!
pig statues with the Colorado flag painted on it
Thats more than a hat, thats an attitude.
We continued on the scenic drive and entered the park through the Grand Lake entrance (not as popular as the Estes Park entrance that we stopped at on our way out the next day).
Already we could see a change in elevation. The proof is in our chip bags!
It wasn’t long before we saw plenty of elk along the roadway. We headed to the one campground on the west side of the park and secured a spot.
Since we still had quite a few hours left we headed up towards the Alpine Visitor Center. We stopped at the Continental Divide where John walked out to a snow bank in July! Immediately we feel in love with how beautiful everything was and truly how much it smelled like an alpine forest.
Ahh I wish you could smell oh amazing these were
We continued up the Trail Ridge Road and got some beautiful views of elk. We did have a traffic jam caused by a few that were taking their sweet time!
The Trail Ridge road takes you up above the tree line and into the tundra level ( no trees growing up there) of the park. The road is no joke and it has winding curves and portions where you come up on a blind turn and cant see the road in front of you.
At the end of the Trail Ridge Road is the highest visitor center in the park, the Alpine Visitor Center, sitting at about 10,000 feet above sea level. It was about 50 degrees when we got to the parking lot at 5:00pm (in July!). After a quick visit to the gift shop/café we hiked up the Alpine Ridge Trail to the highest point in the park we could walk to. The effect of the high elevation on your breathing was legit.
hike to the top
After our hike to the top we headed back to our campsite not before we saw more elk! While we still have yet to see a moose in the wild, we loved seeing all of the elk. We attended a ranger program on improving your photography skills, which is easy when you have such a beautiful park like Rocky Mountain to photograph.
The next day we continued to the other portion of the park we had yet to see. Along the way we stopped at a few of the many beautiful look out points. We stopped and watched the marmots play while we ate our breakfast.
Theres a lake out there!
just part of the road criss crossing the mountains
It never seems like we stay long enough in any of the parks. Like Yellowstone and Glacier, Rocky Mountain is one we are adding to our list of return visits in the future. We both agreed it has been our favorite park of our current trip so far.
Our next stop was Denver, so we stopped in Boulder after we got far enough out of the park. It is a college town and host to the Mountain Sun Pub and Brewery. It was a eclectic place with awesome brews, French fries, and tasty sandwiches.
Joe Walsh, John Denver, and anyone else that ever sang about the Rocky Mountain got it right and then some. It’s hard to put into words how amazing this park (like many others) truly are.
Next up is a few days in Denver, a brand new city for the both of us!
Dietz Summer Road Trip 
as always, loving the posts. i’ve never seen an elk! or a moose! and moose supposedly live in new hamp. also that’s a sweet hat you got there. enjoy denver!
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We saw some elk at Grand Canyon before but the ones at RMNP must do cross fit because they were huge. Someday we’ll see a moose. Maybe once we finally plan that trip to Acadia!
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I miss visiting out west since my sister has moved to the East Coast I get to see the ocean more often now but I can say I have seen a moose in the wild we took a horseback ride in the mountains of Montana and my niece drop the reins on her horse by accident so it stopped The rest of the group kept going so we were away from everybody else we turned around and there was a moose grazing in the middle of the woods it was one of my favorite moments I hope you get to have one like that too enjoy your trip it looks fantastic
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