Rocky Mountain National Park update

[Carl Bendorf]

I spent part of the morning yesterday in RMNP and have a few observations of possible interest to birders:

• As you may already know, starting June 4, a timed entry ticket will be required to enter the park.  The park website says "reservations" can be made for June 4 through July 31.  This is all designed to limit crowds--you can read more at https://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/fees.htm.
• There appears to be a "loophole" in that if you can enter the park BEFORE 6 a.m., apparently there is no entry ticket (or entry fee) required.  I believe the same is true if you enter after 5 p.m. (no entry ticket required.)
• The Wild Basin entrance is completely closed to vehicles.  When I was past there last week, the little parking area at the entrance was completely blocked off so it may not be possible to park and walk in either.
• Trail Ridge Road is open only to Rainbow Curve.  We park a little ways past the gate and certainly didn't see much snow so I suspect this closure (again, no info in when it might open) is intended to limit the number of visitors to the park.
• One of the better spots for birding in RMNP is Endovalley but the road in Endovalley is closed after the West Alluvial Fan (my guess is to keep groups from congregating in the Endovalley picnic area.)  Also, the parking at West Alluvial Fan has been reduced by various barriers, traffic cones, and the parking of some construction equipment.  As far as I could tell, it would be OK to park at West Alluvial Fan and walk further west along the road but we couldn't find parking.

Of course, all of this seems to be subject to change and the park continues to figure out (experiment?) with safely re-opening.

Hope this is helpful.

Carl Bendorf

Longmont

[Kip Miller]

My son works at RMNP and has been clearing snow at the Alpine Visitor Center and on the the upper parts of Trail Ridge Rd. He said they’re shooting for a June 4 road opening if possible. 

Kip Miller

Colorado Springs

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