The big work has been done to clear the highest elevation continuously paved road, but just because Trail Ridge Road is ready to open next weekend doesn’t mean you’re going to get in the gate at Rocky Mountain National Park to drive it. Park managers are already warning of long lines at the east entrances and that’s before the timed-entry system fires up again Friday at the fourth busiest national park.
Illustrator Peter Moore has been giving some thought to what caused the problem and devised some workarounds:
It’s all Ken Burns’ fault, of course. The year his six-part series “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea” aired on PBS, 2.8 million people visited Rocky Mountain National Park. A decade later, 4.67 million people visited. Now it’s harder to get into Rocky than it’s going to be to crash Taylor Swift at Mile High in July.
Read on for all the tips, tricks and strategies you need to breach the RMNP perimeter this summer.
Know your way around.
Visit the website
Pick your park-entry poison
Think there’s no way in? Think again!
Take heart: The Greeks didn’t think they could get into Troy, either!
Traveling in a group? Sing your way in on foot, just like the Von Trapp family!
Still stymied? Stream Ken Burns’ tribute to RMNP with your RMPBS Passport, instead.
