Alberta Falls - A Beautiful Rocky Mountain National Park WaterfallMost visitors to Rocky Mountain National Park get to Alberta Falls from Glacier Gorge Trailhead near Bear Lake. We experienced our only bear sighting to date on the trip to Glacier Gorge Trailhead, so have your passengers keep their eyes on the roadside. This one was traveling next to a stream, parallel to the road. The falls are about a 30 minute walk from the beginning of the trailhead. The hike there is an easy walk mostly downhill, so that means that the walk back is going to be uphill. The grade is low, but you can still get winded if you are not accustomed to high elevations. The recipe for that is frequent rests; you will not mind taking time out to rest because of the beauty of the surroundings. If you are as fortunate as we were the last time that we were there, you will have plenty of wildlife to observe while you're taking a break.  On the way to the falls we heard this bull elk bugling just off the trail. This was in the early fall, during rutting season. The elk was pushing over some small trees with his antlers, probably trying to impress the three elk cows about twenty feet away. The cows finally walked away, and the bull elk left in the other direction, crossing the trail just behind us. Why he left the cows, only he knows.  The trail to Alberta Falls looks almost too beautiful to be natural, with rock formations, aspens, and ferns bordering it on both sides, and the occasional stream crossing in the low spots.  If you aren't lucky enough to see any large animals you still won't leave without a wildlife sighting. Chipmunks and squirrels are always scurrying about, and magpies and raptors are often flying overhead.  You will hear the falls before you get there. The water makes a lot of noise splashing against thew rocks, an if you're there during tourist season you'll hear the noise of people talking over the noise of the falls.  As you can see from the photo, it is permitted to climb up and down the falls. Remember the force of the falls is very powerful, and it is possible to be swept away. Also, people do fall from the falls occasionally, some of them are older people, a little light-headed from the altitude. So have fun, get some good pictures, but be careful.
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If you see a ranger standing in the middle of the parking lot with a "why are you here now look" you will know that you got there too late. So if you in Colorado during the summer, get up early and get to the trailhead before the parking lot fills up. Once you get on the scenic mountain trail to the falls, you'll be glad you didn't sleep late. When you get to the falls, you'll be even happier. The falls are beautiful, and few places in the world offer a better photo-op.