RMNP Entrance Question

[Jac G]

Hello all, 

I was hoping to attempt to see the Ptarmigan that have been reported the last few weeks at RMNP. That said, we will be entering the park early to get there in time. I know there are new restrictions on timed entry. It looks like 9am is the earliest general park time, but 5am is the earliest for Bear Lake. If I purchase a day pass, can I still enter the park at 5am without a timed entry reservation? Has anyone had experience with this? Appreciate any insight.

 

Jacqui

Denver, CO

[Donna Stumpp]

You can actually enter the park before 9:00am any day and enjoy any part of the park outside of the Bear Lake Road area. You do still have to pay the usual fees or have an America the Beautiful pass. We did this on June 3. I just looked and Old Fall River Road west of Endovalley is still closed, but Trail Ridge Road is open.

Honestly, it was not terribly difficult to get a ticket for the Bear Lake Road area if you login right at 5:00pm the night before on recreation.gov, and when we went it was pretty quiet outside of the upper Bear Lake Trailheads which was a pleasant surprise.

Good Luck!

Donna Stumpp

Jefferson County, CO

[Carl Bendorf]

Yes, you can indeed enter RMNP without a reservation before 9 a.m. or after 3 p.m.  However, when we approached the entry gate yesterday about 8:30 a.m., there was quite a line of cars.  The line moved fairly quickly and we were able to enter before 9 but I don't know what happens if, for example, you would get in the line of cars before 9 but have to wait until after 9 to enter.  My advice would be to not cut it too close in trying to enter before 9 without a reservation.  Obviously, lots of other folks are using the same strategy and there can be a back up before 9 a.m.

Carl Bendorf

Longmont

[Jeff Percell]

I went on Wednesday and was able to get timed-entry passes (as we needed 2 because our group had 2 vehicles) for the Bear Lake road. The way the reservation system works is 75% of timed entry passes are released for purchase a month in advance,  and 25% the day before at 5 pm. We got our passes exactly at 5 pm, with 2 different recreation.gov accounts, as they are limit 1 per account. By 5:05 pm the passes were largely sold out for the day. As Donna mentioned if you are entering the park before 5 am for Bear Lake or before 9 am for the rest of the park, you don't need the timed-entry pass, just regular fees.

It did seem like quite a bit of a hassle, especially considering we were a group of 2 vehicles. However, the park was quite enjoyable without a crazy amount of vehicles and cars everywhere.

Thanka,

Jeff

On Thursday, June 10, 2021 at 8:06:49 AM UTC-6 Donna Stumpp wrote: