Season: May 1 to September 30; open to visitors throughout year, but during winter Continental Divide (Milner Pass) is blocked by snow.

Administrative Offices: Headquarters in Estes Park Village; winter office, Federal Customs Building, Denver. Auto transportation available in almost all towns near park.

Admission: Yearly auto permits issued at entrance, $1.00 a car.

Transportation: Entrances: Estes Park Village (see Tour 8 and Tour 4) and Grand Lake, reached by auto stage from Granby (see Tour 7b). Nearest railroad point to western entrance is Granby; nearest rail points to eastern entrance are Fort Collins, Loveland, Longmont, Lyons, and Boulder.

Busses daily in summer from Longmont, Boulder, Fort Collins, Lyons, Denver, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo.

Oil-surfaced highways to almost every important point in park; marked trails total 218 miles. Guide services available in Estes Park and Grand Lake Villages, and at numerous resort hotels and concessions within and near the park.

Guide fees: Free with rental of horses on regularly scheduled one-day and half-day trips; $10.00 a day for long trips; special rates for long-distance pack trips.

Accommodations: Licensed hotels and cottage camps throughout park and in entrance villages; American Plan, from $3.50 to $20.00 or more a day; European plan at many establishments. Six free public campgrounds in the park.

Winter Accommodations: Extremely limited; when available, rates are lower than in summer.

Climate, Clothing, Equipment: For short automobile trips overcoats recommended, for extremely high altitudes are reached; hiking boots, sport outfits, and light but warm outer clothing (woolens recommended) for longer automobile trips and hikes. Those planning to camp out should supply themselves with blankets and covering. Sleeping bags desirable but not essential during summer.

Medical Service: Physicians available at Estes Park Village, Grand Lake, and Granby. Nearest hospitals and ambulance service at Estes Park.

Communication and Express Service: Telegraph offices at various hotels in park and villages. Express service by Rocky Mountain Motor Co.

Post Offices: Estes Park, Aliens Park, and Grand Lake, year round.

Special Regulations: Maximum penalty for violating park regulations, 90 days in jail, or $500 fine, or both. Speed limit, 35 miles on open highway, 20 miles on curves. Fires may be built in established fireplaces, but must be extinguished before leaving camp. Hunting absolutely forbidden; all firearms must be sealed by rangers on being carried into park. Fishing under Colorado State laws; bag limit of 15 fish or 10 Ibs. Complete rules issued to visitors at time permit is procured. Camping permitted in established campgrounds only.

Summary of Attractions: In Rocky Mountain National Park, set aside as a playground and for its natural beauty, are glaciers, high mountain lakes, and such special points of interest as Longs Peak (14,255 alt.), Iceberg Lake, on which masses of ice float throughout the year, and Grand Lake, the deepest body of water in Colorado.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK, lying on both sides of the Continental Divide, here a 35-mile chain of giant peaks, contains within its 405 square miles a remarkable grouping of mountain scenery and upland meadows, split and gouged by gulches and canyons, dotted with glacial lakes, altogether forming a bold and colorful scene described by Albert Bierstadt, German landscape artist, as America's finest composition for the painter. The park's charm lies less in any one of its features than in the great variety of country within so small an area. It is a workshop and playground alike for the naturalist, the photographer, the hiker, the sportsman, and the vacationist with no special hobby.

As early as 1865 campers pitched their tents in this region; by 1874 there was a stage line between Estes Park and Longmont by way of North St. Vrain Canyon. Joel Estes, the first settler, for whom Estes Park was named, built a cabin on Fish Creek in 1860. Two or three families followed, and Estes moved his family from the park, complaining of "too many people." Word of the park spread rapidly, and many notable visitors came: among them, the Earl of Dunraven, yachtsman, hunter, explorer, author, and war correspondent for the London Daily Telegraph in Abyssinia (1867) and later in the Franco-Prussian War. Succeeding to the title in 1871, he came to hunt and fish in the Rockies, bought 6,000 acres in Estes Park, and constructed a lodge, where he entertained English nobility and American frontiersmen. Dunraven later fought in the Boer War; selling his property here in 1904, he returned to Ireland where he served in the senate of the Irish Free State until just before his death in 1926, at the age of 85.

Much of the popularity of this country must be credited to the late Enos Mills, who spent his life climbing peaks, exploring canyons, making friends with the wildlife, and writing books glowingly describing the grandeur of the region. He was one of the first to campaign to have it set aside as a national park. The closing years of Mills' life, ironically, were embittered by his success, for he quarreled constantly with the park authorities.

Rocky Mountain National Park, created by act of Congress January 26, 1915, includes much of the Front Range of the Rockies, the eastern slopes of which are rugged, with many sharp rises and cliffs. Within the park are 65 peaks more than 10,000 feet high, and 16 rising more than 12,000. A profusion of wild flowers carpets the high mountain meadows. Hundreds of streams on both sides of the Divide are well stocked with fish, and there are many lakes ranging in size from tiny crystal pools to Grand Lake. Longs Peak (14,255 alt.) dominates the park. A stark mass of red-gray granite with a sheer 2,000-foot face to the northeast, this perpetually snow-capped mountain is a popular goal for climbers.

Heavy forest, its character changing with the altitude, covers much of the park, its beauty marred only where forest fires have left scars; the forests west of the Divide are denser. At lower elevations grow Douglas fir, Colorado blue spruce, lodgepole pine, ponderosa pine, and aspen. On the higher levels are thick groves of Engelmann spruce limber pine, Alpine fir, Arctic willow, and black birch. At approximately 11,000 feet a few straggling trees, twisted and bent by wind and ice, mark the upper limit of the forest.

More than 700 kinds of wild flowers brighten forest and vail floors. The columbine, the State flower, blooms here all summer on the lower levels in June; on the higher, in September. Mariposa lilies, phlox, Indian paint brush, asters, and marigolds are found abundance. In the high marshy regions are a few bog orchids.

Deer, elk, and Rocky Mountain or bighorn sheep are numerous. During summer they retreat to the heights and are seldom glimpsed. Colder weather drives them to lower levels, and they graze along the edges of the highway. The park still has a few bear and mountain lion—usually not seen—and there are numerous smaller animals. Aspen groves near streams are sources of food and building material for beavers. Woodchucks, squirrels, and chipmunks are so tame that they allow close approach. The chipmunk, an impudent little member of the squirrel family, can often be induced to eat from the hand. Within the park 283 species of birds have been noted. The bluebird, wren, hermit thrush, humming bird, and white-crowned sparrow are summer visitors; the ouzel, Rocky Mountain jay, chickadee, woodpecker, and magpie are familiar year-round residents. Higher up live the rosy finch and the ptarmigan, its color changing to snow white in winter.

The climate of the park is mild for such great altitudes; the air light and dry, and cloudy days are rare in summer. During the day the sun is frequently hot, but nights are always cool. Short mid-day showers are frequent, but there is no rainy season. Snowfall in the lower parks is light, but on the ranges it piles up in deep banks, idel for winter sports—tobogganing, skiing, and skating.