Part 1

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Rocky Mountain [COLORADO] National Park

United States Department of the Interior _Harold L. Ickes, Secretary_

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE _Arno B. Cammerer, Director_

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 1937

DO YOU KNOW YOUR NATIONAL PARKS?

ACADIA, MAINE.--Combination of mountain and seacoast scenery. Established 1919; 24.08 square miles.

BRYCE CANYON, UTAH.--Canyons filled with exquisitely colored pinnacles. Established 1928; 55.06 square miles.

CARLSBAD CAVERNS, N. MEX.--Beautifully decorated limestone caverns believed largest in the world. Established 1930; 15.56 square miles.

CRATER LAKE, OREG.--Astonishingly beautiful lake in crater of extinct volcano. Established 1902; 250.52 square miles.

GENERAL GRANT, CALIF.--Celebrated General Grant Tree and grove of big trees. Established 1890; 3.96 square miles.

GLACIER, MONT.--Unsurpassed alpine scenery; 200 lakes; 60 glaciers. Established 1910; 1,533.88 square miles.

GRAND CANYON, ARIZ.--World's greatest example of erosion. Established 1919; 1,009.08 square miles.

GRAND TETON, WYO.--Most spectacular portion of Teton Mountains. Established 1929; 150 square miles.

GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS, N.C.-TENN.--Massive mountain uplift covered with magnificent forests. Established for protection 1930; 617 square miles.

HAWAII: ISLANDS OF HAWAII AND MAUI.--Volcanic areas of great interest, including Kilauea, famous for frequent spectacular outbursts. Established 1916; 245 square miles.

HOT SPRINGS, ARK.--Forty-seven hot springs reserved by the Federal Government in 1832 to prevent exploitation of waters. Made national park in 1921; 1.58 square miles.

LASSEN VOLCANIC, CALIF.--Only recently active volcano in continental United States. Established 1916; 163.32 square miles.

MAMMOTH CAVE, KY.--Interesting caverns, including spectacular onyx cave formation. Established for protection 1936; 38.34 square miles.

MESA VERDE, COLO.--Most notable cliff dwellings in United States. Established 1906; 80.21 square miles.

MOUNT McKINLEY, ALASKA.--Highest mountain in North America. Established 1917; 3,030.46 square miles.

MOUNT RAINIER, WASH.--Largest accessible single-peak glacier system. Established 1899; 377.78 square miles.

PLATT, OKLA.--Sulphur and other springs. Established 1902; 1.33 square miles.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN, COLO.--Peaks from 11,000 to 14,255 feet in heart of Rockies. Established 1915; 405.33 square miles.

SEQUOIA, CALIF.--General Sherman, largest and possibly oldest tree in the world; outstanding groves of Sequoia gigantea. Established 1890; 604 square miles.

SHENANDOAH, VA.--Outstanding scenic area in Virginia section of Blue Ridge. Established 1935; 275.81 square miles.

WIND CAVE, S. DAK.--Beautiful cavern of peculiar formations. No stalactites or stalagmites. Established 1903; 18.47 square miles.

YELLOWSTONE: WYO.-MONT.-IDAHO.--World's greatest geyser area, and an outstanding game preserve. Established 1872; 3,471.51 square miles.

YOSEMITE, CALIF.--Valley of world-famous beauty; spectacular waterfalls; magnificent high Sierra country. Established 1890; 1,176.16 square miles.

ZION, UTAH--Beautiful Zion Canyon 1,500 to 2,500 feet deep. Spectacular coloring. Established 1919; 148.26 square miles.

RULES AND REGULATIONS

Briefed

The Park Regulations are designed for the protection of your property. You, as prudent owners, will help protect the natural beauties and scenery by warning the careless and reporting infractions of the regulations. The following synopsis is for the general guidance of visitors. Full regulations may be seen at the office of the superintendent and ranger stations.

=_Fires._=--Fires may be lighted only when necessary and in designated places. Before leaving, know your fire is out. HELP PROTECT this wonderland so all may enjoy it.

=_Camps._=--Automobile campers must stop in the designated camp grounds. All must be kept clean and sanitary. Burn your garbage in your camp fire. Empty cans and residue must be placed in garbage cans. If no can is provided, bury the refuse.

=_Public property, trees, flowers, and animals._=--The destruction, injury, or disturbance of public property, trees, flowers, rocks, birds, or animals, or other life is prohibited.

=_Fishing._=--Fishing is permitted in all lakes and streams except as closed by order of the superintendent. All fish hooked less than 7 inches long shall be carefully handled with moist hands and returned at once to the water. Fifteen fish (not exceeding a total of 10 pounds) shall constitute the limit for a day's catch.

=_Automobiles._=--Obey park traffic rules. Drive carefully at all times. The SPEED LIMIT is 20 miles per hour on grades and curves, and on straight stretches of road 35 miles per hour. All roads are patrolled. Automobiles will be stopped for checking at park entrances. Cars carrying passengers for profit are subject to restrictions.

=_Dogs and cats._=--Must be kept securely on a leash while in the park. If you have no leash, keep the animal in your car.

=_Park rangers._=--Are for your protection and guidance. Do not hesitate to consult them. Accidents, complaints, and suggestions should be reported to the superintendent's office immediately.

Events OF HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE

1820 Maj. Stephen H. Long, commanding an exploring party sent out by President Madison in 1819, first sighted Longs Peak. Park area frequented by Arapaho and Ute Indians.

1843 Rufus B. Sage, another explorer, visited the area and later published earliest known description in "Rocky Mountain Life, or Startling Scenes and Perilous Adventures in the Far West During an Expedition of Three Years."

1859 Joel Estes, the first white settler, entered the park and in 1860 built the first cabin.

1865 Charles F. Estes, first white child born in the park.

1868 First ascent of Longs Peak. The climb was made by William N. Byers, Maj. J.W. Powell, and five other men.

1868 Rocky Mountain Jim, adventurer and frontiersman, settled in area.

1869 Earl of Dunraven, famous English sportsman, first visited this area.

1871 The Hayden Geographical Survey, under Dr. E.V. Hayden, worked in this region.

1874 First stage established between Longmont and Estes Park.

1874 Albert Bierstadt, famous artist, first visited the region.

1876 First wedding in the park: Anna Ferguson and Richard Hubbell.

1878 First hotel built by Earl of Dunraven.

1881 First public school established and held in Elkhorn Lodge.

1881 The Denver, Utah & Pacific Railroad built to Lyons and projected to Pacific Ocean through Fall River and Milner Passes by Milner, chief engineer for the company.

1900 Bear Lake fire.

1904 Big Thompson Canyon road completed.

1907 Automobile stage line established between Estes Park and Loveland.

1909 Automobile stage line established between Estes Park and Lyons.

1912 Fall River road begun. Completed in 1920.

1915 Rocky Mountain National Park Act approved January 26.

1927 Bear Lake road completed.

1929 State of Colorado ceded exclusive jurisdiction to Federal Government.

1930 Never Summer Range area added to the park.

1932 Trail Ridge road opened.

Contents

Page

Land of Lofty Mountains 1

Easy to Study Glacial Action 4

Longs Peak 4

Natural Beauties 5

Fauna and Flora 7

Automobile Trips 11

Denver Circle Trip 11

Bear Lake Road 14

Loop Trip 14

Longs Peak and Wild Basin Trip 14

Trail Trips 14

The Flattop Trail 15

Lawn Lake 15

Fern and Odessa Lakes 15

Romantic Loch Vale 18

Glacier Gorge 19

The Twin Sisters 19

Ascent of Longs Peak 19

Chasm Lake 20

Wild Basin 21

Grand Lake 21

What to Do 22

Fishing 22

Horseback Riding and Camping 23

Winter Sports 23

Administration 23

Naturalist Service 24

Public Campgrounds 24

Park Season 25

How to Reach the Park 25

All-Expense Circle Trips 26

Transportation in the Park 26

Accommodations and Expenses 27

Hotels and Lodges on Park Lands 27

Private Hotels, Cottages, and Camps 28

Distances to Principal Points of Interest 28

The Park's Mountain Peaks 32

References 35

Government Publications 37

ROCKY MOUNTAIN _National Park_

OPEN ALL YEAR

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK includes within its boundaries 405 square miles, or 259,411 acres, of the Front Range of the Rockies in north-central Colorado, about 50 miles in a straight line north-west of Denver. It was established by the act of Congress approved January 26, 1915, and its boundaries adjusted by the acts of Congress approved February 14, 1917, June 9, 1926, and June 21, 1930. Its eastern gateway is the beautiful valley village of Estes Park, from which easy and comfortable access is had up to the noblest heights and into the most picturesque recesses of the mountains.

Rocky Mountain National Park is by far the most accessible of our national parks; that is, nearest to the large centers of population in the East and Middle West.

LAND OF LOFTY MOUNTAINS

For many years the Front Range of the Rockies has been the mecca of the mountain lovers of this country. The name conjures European ideas of American mountain grandeur. The selection of this particular section, with its magnificent and diversified scenic range, for national park status, met with popular approval.

It is splendidly representative. In nobility, in calm dignity, in the sheer glory of stalwart beauty, there is no mountain group to excel the company of snow-capped veterans of all the ages which stands at everlasting parade behind its grim, helmeted captain, Longs Peak.

There is probably no other scenic neighborhood of the first order which combines mountain outlines so bold with a quality of beauty so intimate and refined. Just to live in the valley in the eloquent and ever-changing presence of these carved and tinted peaks is in itself satisfaction. But to climb into their embrace, to know them in the intimacy of their bare summits and their flowered glaciated gorges, is to turn a new, unforgettable page in human experience.

_Shelk photo._

This national park reaches lofty heights. The summer visitors who live at the base of the great mountains are 8,000 feet, or more than a mile and a half, above the level of the sea; while the mountains themselves rise precipitously nearly a mile, and often even higher. Longs Peak, the largest of them all, rises 14,255 feet above sea level, and most of the other mountains in the Snowy Range, as it is sometimes called, are more than 12,000 feet high; several are nearly as high as Longs Peak.

The valleys on both sides of this range and those which penetrate into its recesses are dotted with parklike glades clothed in a profusion of glowing wild flowers and watered with streams from the mountain snows and glaciers. Forests of evergreens and silver-stemmed aspen separate them.

This range was once a famous hunting ground for large game. Lord Dunraven, a famous English sportsman, visited it to shoot its deer, bear, and bighorn sheep, and acquired large holdings by purchase of homesteadings and squatters' claims, much of which was reduced in the contests that followed.

The range lies, roughly speaking, north and south. The gentler slope is on the west. On the east side the descent from the Continental Divide is precipitous in the extreme. Sheer drops of two or three thousand feet into rock-bound gorges carpeted with snow patches and wild flowers are common. Seen from the east-side valleys this range rises in daring relief, craggy in outline, snow spattered, awe inspiring.

In the north-east corner lies a spur from the Continental Divide, the Mummy Range, a tumbled majestic mountain mass which includes some of the loftiest peaks and one of the finest glaciers.

To the south of Longs Peak the country grows even wilder. The range is a succession of superb peaks. The southern park boundary unfortunately cuts arbitrarily through a superlative massing of noble snow-covered summits.

The west side, gentler in its slopes and less majestic in its mountain massings, is a region of loveliness and wildness diversified by splendid mountains, innumerable streams and lakes of great charm. Grand Lake, which has railroad connections nearby, is one of the largest natural lakes in Colorado and the deepest lake in this region.

One of the striking features of Rocky Mountain National Park is the easy accessibility of these mountain tops. One may mount a horse after early breakfast in the valley, ride up Flattop to enjoy one of the great views of the world, and be back for late luncheon. The hardy foot traveler may make better time than the horse on these mountain trails. One may cross the Continental Divide from the hotels of one side to the hotels of the other between early breakfast and late dinner or motor between these points via the Trail Ridge Road in 2 hours.

The Trail Ridge Road, which crosses the Continental Divide, connects Estes Park on the east side with Grand Lake on the west side. The road reaches the unusual elevation of 12,183 feet above sea level. Another road leads from the village of Estes Park up the Thompson River Valley to the Bear Lake Entrance. It then follows up the valley of Glacier Creek and ends at Bear Lake at the foot of Hallett Peak and Flattop Mountain.

EASY TO STUDY GLACIAL ACTION

One of the remarkable features of Rocky Mountain National Park is the legibility of the record left by the glaciers during the ages when America was in the making. The evidences of glacial action, in all their variety make themselves apparent to even the most casual eye.

In fact, there is scarcely any part of the eastern side where some great moraine does not force itself upon the attention. One enormous moraine built up by an ancient glacier and rising with sloping sides nearly a thousand feet above the valley is so prominent that Moraine Park is named for it. From Longs Peak on the east side the Mills Moraine makes a bold curve which instantly draws questions from visitors.

There are several remnants of these mighty ice masses which can be seen at the present time. Three of the largest ice fields, Andrews, Rowe, and Tyndall Glaciers, are visited by many people each year, while the smaller glaciers such as Taylor and Spragues have interest and charm.

In short, this park itself is a primer of glacial geology whose lessons are so simple, so plain to the eye, that they immediately disclose the key to one of nature's scenic secrets.

LONGS PEAK

The greatest of all the mountains in the park, Longs Peak, has a massive square head. It is a real architectural structure like an enormous column of solid rock buttressed up on four sides with long rock ledges. On the east side a precipice of 1,200 feet drops sheer from the summit into the wildest lake that one can possibly imagine. It is called Chasm Lake and there is only one month in the year when its surface is not at least partially frozen. Mount Meeker and Mount Lady Washington enclose it on the south and north, and snow fields edge its waters the year round.

In 1820 Maj. S.H. Long first saw the mountain that now bears his name. The report of his expedition records that on June 30 of that year his party caught their first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains, and particularly noted one peak, which they referred to as "the highest peak." Long's expedition followed up the valley of the Platte River, and his closest approach to the peak was at a distance of about 40 miles. Fremont found that the name Longs Peak was in general use among the fur hunters and pioneers in 1842. The first recorded ascent was in 1868, when it was climbed by W.N. Byers, Maj. J.W. Powell (who the following year made the first passage of the Grand Canyon), and five other men.

NATURAL BEAUTIES

A distinguishing feature of Rocky Mountain National Park is its profusion of precipice-walled canyons lying between the very feet, so to speak, of the loftiest mountains. Their beauty is romantic to a high degree. Like all the other spectacles of this favored region, they are readily accessible from the valley villages by trail, either afoot or on horseback.

Usually several lakes are found, rock embedded, in such a gorge. Ice-cold streams wander from lake to lake, watering wild-flower gardens of luxuriance and beauty. However, the entire park is a garden of wild flowers. From early June to late September, even into October, the gorges and the meadows, the slopes, and even the loftier summits, bloom with colors that change with the season. Blues, lilacs, and whites are the earlier prevailing tints; yellow predominates as autumn approaches.

There are few wilder and lovelier spots, for instance, than Loch Vale, 3,000 feet sheer below Taylor Peak. Adjoining it lies Glacier Gorge on the precipitous western slope of Longs Peak and holding in its embrace a group of lakelets. These, with lesser gorges cradling romantic Bear Lake, picturesque Dream Lake, beautiful Fern Lake, and exquisite Odessa Lake, and still others yet unnamed, constitute the Wild Gardens of the Rocky Mountain National Park, lying in the angle north of Longs Peak; while in the angle south lies a little known wilderness of lakes and gorges called Wild Basin.

At timberline, where the winter temperature and the fierce icy winds make it impossible for trees to grow tall, the spruces lie flat on the ground like vines; presently they give place to low birches, which, in their turn, give place to small piney growths, and finally to tough, straggling grass, hardy mosses, and tiny alpine flowers. Grass grows in sheltered spots even on the highest peaks, which is fortunate for the large curve-horned mountain sheep which seek these high, open places to escape their special enemies, the mountain lions. Even at the highest altitudes gorgeously colored wild flowers grow in glory and profusion in sheltered gorges. Large and beautiful columbines are found in the lee of protecting masses of snow banks and glaciers.

_Grant photo._

Nowhere else is the timberline struggle between the trees and the winds more grotesquely exemplified or its scene more easily accessible to visitors of average climbing ability. The first sight of luxuriant Engelmann spruces creeping close to the ground instead of rising 150 feet or more straight and true as masts arouses keenest interest. Many trees which defy the winter gales grow bent in half circles. Others, starting straight in the shelter of some large rock, bend at right angles where they emerge above. Others which have succeeded in lifting their heads in spite of winds have not succeeded in growing branches in any direction except in the lee of their trunks, and suggest big evergreen dust brushes rather than spruces and firs.

Above timberline the bare mountain masses rise from one to three thousand feet, often in sheer precipices. Covered with snow in autumn, winter, and spring, and plentifully spattered with snow all summer long, the vast, bare granite masses, from which, in fact, the Rocky Mountains got their name, are beautiful beyond description. They are rosy at sunrise and sunset. During fair and sunny days they show all shades of translucent grays and mauves and blues. In some lights they are almost fairylike in their delicacy. But on stormy days they are cold and dark and forbidding, burying their heads in gloomy clouds from which sometimes they emerge covered with snow.

FAUNA AND FLORA

The national park is a sanctuary for wildlife. Animals and birds are protected from hunting. Living trees may not be cut or injured. Flowers may not be picked. The cooperation of visitors is requested, in order that the wildlife of the park may be protected, that the flowers may continue in their present abundance, and that the forests of the park may not suffer injury from fire or other cause.

ANIMALS

The lofty rocks are the natural home of the celebrated Rocky Mountain sheep, or bighorn. This animal is much larger than any domestic sheep. It is powerful and wonderfully agile. When fleeing from enemies these sheep, even the lambs, make remarkable descents down seemingly impossible slopes. They do not land on their curved horns, as many persons declare, but upon their four feet held closely together. Landing on some nearby ledge, which breaks their fall, they immediately plunge downward again to another ledge, and so on till they reach good footing in the valley below. They also ascend slopes surprisingly steep. They are more agile even than the celebrated chamois of the Swiss Alps, and are larger, more powerful, and much handsomer. A flock of a dozen or more mountain sheep making their way along the volcanic flow which constitutes Specimen Mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park is an unforgettable sight.

The beaver, whose dams and other structures, both old and new, found along most streams at middle altitudes, are rarely seen except at night or very early morning. Elk occur in numerous places, and deer which are widely distributed are commonly seen. Coyotes and brown or black bear are occasionally seen, but these, like the mountain lion, bobcat, and small carnivorous animals, are not only rare, but so wary that they are seldom seen by visitors.

Among smaller animals, the most familiar are the marmot or woodchuck, Freemont or pine squirrel, three kinds of chipmunks, and the interesting little cony or pika, which lives among the rocks on high mountains and is more often heard than seen. In all, over 60 species of mammals live in the park.

BIRDS

The commonest species are the western robin, the beautiful mountain bluebird, and, at middle elevations, the chickadee and junco. The hermit thrush and the solitaire, generally classed among the finest songbirds in the world, are both fairly common in suitable localities; and but little inferior to these in musical performance are the purple finch, ruby-crowned kinglet, western meadowlark, and rock and canyon wrens. The graceful violet-green swallow is unsurpassed in beauty of form and color, and the crested jay, magpie, and nutcracker are conspicuous for their handsome appearance and vigorous flight. Among birds particularly interesting because of curious and unusual habits are the broadtailed hummingbird, water ouzel, campbird, nuthatch, nighthawk, and the ptarmigan, pipit, and rosy finch of the high peaks.