Trail Ridge
What to do in April in Rocky Mountains National Park?
We had no idea what the weather would be like at RMNP in April. We booked our tickets for April to Denver and RMNP was our main destination. We realized that most of the park is closed in April including Trail Ridge road. I heard that trail ridge road is only a small part of the long road that goes through the park. So can you drive the rest of the road? Would Tundra be the only thing we would miss?
What are some things to do in April around Estes Park and Rocky Mountains National park? What parts of RMNP are open? Are there any waterfalls in April? (We are going on the 17th).
We are totally lost! So detailed answers are welcome. Thanks!
Estes park is a nice little town full of restaurants and shops. The town exists on RMNP tourism. You can spend a few hours to a day walking from shop to shop but I get the impression that your goal is RMNP so you won't be spending too much time shopping.
As for the national park, go to this web site to download a copy of the official RMNP newspaper for Spring 2010. Download it to your PC or print it out. I think you'll find that the newspaper answers most of your questions.
http://www.nps.gov/romo/parknews/upload/spring_10.pdf
Also, download the park map from the following web page for reference purposes.
http://home.nps.gov/applications/hafe/hfc/carto-detail.cfm?Alpha=ROMO#
I was in RMNP last September after the very early winter storms hit. I was hoping to get into the high country along Trail Ridge Road but the road was closed on the east side at Rainbow Curve. I spent two and a half days in the park and did the following.
Day 1: Parked in the Bear Lake parking lot and hiked to Nymph Lake, Dream Lake, Emerald Lake and Lake Haiyaha before returning to Bear Lake on the Glacier Gorge trail. There was a little snow on the ground and some of the smaller ponds around Lake Haiyaha at 10,400 ft elevation were beginning to freeze over. It was a very enjoyable way to spend the day at a relaxed pace.
Day 2: Parked in the Bear Lake parking lot and hiked from Bear Lake to Odessa Lake to Fern Lake and out to the picnic area near the Fern Lake trailhead where I caught the park shuttle bus back to Bear Lake. There was about an inch of snow on the ground above 10,000 feet increasing to 2 inches by 10,500 feet. The trail tops out at about 10,650 feet before descending to Odessa Lake. I met a few hardy soles who were on their way up the Flattop Mountain Trail which branches off the Odessa Lake trail. I had wanted to do the same and hike to Hallett Peak but the weather convinced me to do otherwise. I really enjoyed this day hike despite the falling snow and the cold. If you attempt this hike in the snow I recommend you use trekking poles for safety reasons.
Day 3: Spent the morning at Horseshoe Park, mostly watching the elk, and took Hwy 7 back to Denver. Stopped at Lily Lake along the way and took a leisurely one mile walk around the lake.
Take a look at the park newspaper for a listing of the more accessible trails during the spring. RMNP is a beautiful park with great trails and I'll definitely return to hike a few more of them.
Have a good trip.
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