Rocky Mountain National Park Beautiful in All SeasonsIf you can possibly fit it into your Colorado vacation time, visit Rocky Mountain National Park. The first time that we visited the park we were awe-struck by the beauty. We watched a pack of coyotes play. We saw a red fox cross the road and then turn his head to check us out. A magpie followed our car for what seemed like a mile, flying up to the rear window to see what what was inside. Looking up as we passed rocky cliffs, we saw bighorn sheep in places that seemed impossible for an animal that large to stand, especially in the deep snow. We saw dozens of mule deer, sometimes alone and sometimes in small herds. Squirrels and chipmunks scurried and out and over the rocks at the pull-offs. There was at least one marmot sunning itself on a rock everywhere we looked. We parked our car at pull-offs and took photos of the wildlife until we got tired. It's really not hard not to keep snapping those photos, and that was back before digital when every photo that we took had to be developed and printed. We have hundreds of photos from that first Rocky Mountain National Park visit. It was probably the most beautiful scenery that we had seen up to that time, and we never could have imagined that much wildlife. Since that first visit to Rocky Mountain National Park we have returned many times in all seasons. Winter is probably still our favorite time at the park. During winter wildlife is more abundant and the snow covered mountains are spectacular. And best of all the park is practically deserted - most tourists are in the ski towns or waiting on spring. But every season is beautiful in the park, and regardless of the season there is probably no better place in the world to see a lot of wildlife. When the snow begins to melt in the meadows during the spring, wildflowers bloom around snow patches. On sunny days it would be tough to find a more beautiful spot in the world than those meadows. Don't forget your camera! It was in summer that we had our only black bear sighting in the park, and during hot days at lower elevation, a trip into the mountains is literally a breath of fresh air. The rivers and larger streams do not dry up in the summer, and it is a good time to get wet. Standing under a waterfall is especially nice in July. As fall progresses, snow begins working its way to lower elevations, but the temperature is still generally pleasant. The aspens turn gold, elks start bugling and bighorn sheep begin butting heads.
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There was more than enough snowy vistas to see and more wildlife than we had ever seen in one place - herds of elk (if you want to see elk in the wild there is no better place in the world to look for them, and in fact you will probably see dozens, if not hundreds of elk, before you even enter the park.) 