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Highly recommended stop along your full-day Trail Ridge Road drive. There are two great gift stores, plus bathrooms (along with some food options we didn't take advantage of). It's the highest point in the entire National Park system. There is an optional 1 mile roundtrip trail that goes to a nearby peak for more amazing views. I'd allow 1 hour total for checking out the stores and doing the trail hike.…
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Date of experience: September 2020
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We drove up here in mid-October and encountered 60mph winds and a temp of 20 degrees before the wind-chill! We entered the park early in the morning (0800 hrs) and had the place more or less to ourselves. I wasn't dressed properly for the extremes at the top but managed to pop out of the car and get some great pictures. The road up is awesome with wonderful views despite the smoke from the nearby fires. Not for the faint of heart as you sometimes drive on ridges with 1000 foot drops on either side. The only down-part was that the visitor's center was not open. They should tell you that when you enter the park. When we left, there was a two-mile long line of cars waiting to get into the park. Glad we went early!…
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Date of experience: October 2020
2 Helpful votes
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+1
We came to Estes Park the first week of October for the Fall Elk Rut, which sadly turned out to be a huge disappointment. It looks like this area has suffered from severe drought conditions, so we didn't see as many elk as we do when we come in late May or early June. So we decided to enjoy the Park as much as we could under the current conditions. Driving up to the Alpine Center has always been a highlight of any trip to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. Due to the pandemic, timed reservations are required to enter the Park and can be obtained online at $2.00 per day for each reservation through the NPS website. The Park was brown from lack of rain, but the Aspen trees were changing color and looked like gold coins shimmering on the trees in the wind. Restrooms are open up at the Alpine Center as is the Visitor Center where you can talk to the friendly and knowledgeable Park Rangers who are doing a magnificent job under difficult circumstances. Be sure to wear a mask. We arrived too early and had to wait for the Park store and Visitor center to open. There is plenty of parking but bring a warm coat as it's cold and windy at the top in the Fall. Visitors can turn left out of the Alpine Center and head back down the mountain, or a right turn goes to the Continental Divide, Poudre Lake Trails and on to Grand Lake at the west side of the Park. Whenever you visit, Rocky Mountain National Park is a beautiful experience.…
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Date of experience: October 2020
2 Helpful votes
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Near the summit of Trail Ridge Road at 11,796 feet (3,595m), the Alpine Visitor Center is the highest visitor center in the entire National Park Service’s system. While the visitor center itself is quite small, the adjacent gift shop is extensive and there is also a restaurant and pit toilets onsite. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has temporarily closed access to the buildings but rangers continue to assist visitors outside. However, the physical facilities are not what make this visitor center exceptional, it is the surroundings. The views of the mountains and tundra from behind the visitor center, made even better dusted with an early October snow, tundra changing color and the elk in rut; the close up views of tundra habitat and broad vistas from the top of the adjacent Alpine Ridge Trail that, while short, climbs steadily, often with the aid of steps, to 12,005 feet (3,659m) that will have a low lander like me feeling the altitude, are what makes the Alpine Visitor Center a destination I would strongly recommend to every visitor to the park.…
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Date of experience: October 2019
1 Helpful vote
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Stopped here while on day trip in RoMo - made a U-turn back to Estes instead of continuing on to the west entrance of the park. It was a fantastic stop, one of the highest points in the park with endless vistas of tundra and glaciers. The visitor center itself is pretty small but there is a huge store in the next building which has all kinds of souvenir imaginable. The cafe is not not great BTW but fine for those who are hungry, The trail to the top which is accessible from the parking lot is quite the walk, especially if one has not yet adjusted to the altitude. On the way here we saw a coyote along the road - really nice against the mountain backdrop.…
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Date of experience: September 2020
2 Helpful votes
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