• Hikers on Granite Pass in Rocky Mountain National Park/NPS photo by John Marino

    Rocky Mountain

    National Park Colorado

There are park alerts in effect.
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  • Bear Lake Road Reconstruction Project

    Major construction work on Bear Lake Road in 2012 & 2013 includes changes to park shuttle routes, significant delays, and some night closures. More »

  • Fern Lake Fire

    Get the latest information on the fire and how to safely explore the burned area. More »

Natural Features & Ecosystems

Nature and Science

Paradise Park

(NPS-RMNP)

Here are more than sixty peaks over 12,000'. Here are the headwaters of the Colorado and other rivers, as well as dozens of magnificent alpine lakes. Here are permanent small glaciers overlaying rock that is often granite more than a billion years old. Rocky Mountain is the highest national park in the US, with elevations from 7860' to 14,259'. More than one-third of the park is above treeline (11,200-11,500'), and tundra is a primary protected resource of the park. Forests range from relatively moist subalpine spruce and fir through open ponderosa and aspen stands. Great meadows lie adjacent to moraines on broad valley floors. Some valleys, like that of the Fall River, are classic glacial shapes.
 

Did You Know?

photo of wheelchair accessible trail

There are accessible trails which are good choices for visitors interested in adjusting to the park's higher elevations, groups that include young children, visitors with visual impairment and anyone who finds walking on level, relatively smooth paths attractive.