Rocky Mountain NP
We are once again back to one of our “happy places”! We love Rocky Mountain National Park! This is our third trip back to the park, as we travel further west to California. We have stayed on the Estes Park side in a cabin years ago, before we had our camper, and that was terrific. There is so much to see and do in that area. The little town is awesome, and if you’re a Stephen King fan, the Stanley Hotel in Estes is where some of the scenes of his famous movie “The Shining” were filmed. When we were there in 2016, there was a Scottish Festival going on also! Lots of things here for sure.
However, we soon fell in love with Elk Creek Campground, on the West side, at the Grand Lake entrance. We camped there our entire stay in 2019. The campground is adjacent to the National Park property. The sites are separated by foliage and you get more of a feeling that you’re camping right in the park. It is common for Moose, as well as Elk and the occasional Bear, to come walking through the campground.
The Grand Lake area is what we call the “quiet side” of the park. You tend to see moose on this side. We have seen them on this side both times we have visited the park and are hopeful we will see them again. We got here yesterday and set up camp and quickly, then jumped in the car to drive Trail Ridge Road. We drove all the way to the other side near Estes. Trust me….It’s a fun drive if you like curves and elevation climb! We use our “tow car”, a Mini for that! Wouldn’t you know, as we were driving back to get to camp, we were again amazed to see a majestic elk casually grazing just off the road. What an amazing site! We of course stopped at a pull-out, took a few pics… and just watched him from afar for a little while. We will be here for 3 more days and you can bet we will be exploring the park and taking some scenic hikes around Bear Lake! This is truly one of our “happy places”!
Another amazing picture. . . so peaceful!