Rocky Mountain National Park - car camping

[firedancer]

Hello - I'm planning another September trip out West for this year. I will be driving out from Illinois Labor Day weekend and plan to spend my first 3 nights in Rocky Mountain National Park. This will be Sun/Mon/Tues of Labor Day weekend.

In looking at the park website, only 3 campgrounds take advance reservations and they are all on the East side of the park. Just curious what the best approach might be for this.

I would like to see all areas of the park and plan to do one big hike per day - is the park small enough to stay on the East side the whole time and travel back and forth or should I plan to spend my last night further west in the park.

Also, any hike or campground recommendations are welcome - I will be making reservations in March when they open up.

[HikerJoe]

I'll be the first one(but not the last where's lamebeaver?)to tell you how crazy packed the campgrounds will be then. Ok now I got that out. The park is small enough to where if you wanted to go to the west side Trail Ridge road would get you there. Unless those dreaded buglers are on the side of the road stopping all the tourons and there RVs. I'll check out map later and take a look.

[Grandpa]

Labor day is the last big hurrah out here. Everybody and their kids and grandkids try the campgrounds that weekend. You may get a spot in a first come first serve campground if you are there and waiting by 8:00am. Better to have your reservations and take your chances driving with the mobs. The drive over the top is spectacular enough to enjoy two or three times anyway.

Where else are you planning on going?

[firedancer]

I think at the very least, I'll reserve Sunday night and hope everyone leaves on Monday My plans are in the early stages; I could end up backpacking the other two nights, but I do want to see the park, even if it's crowded.

From there, I'll spend the rest of the week hopping along I-70, catching a few 14'ers (Grays/Torreys, Quandary and Elbert if I'm lucky) and then on over to Vernal, Utah for another 4 day rafting trip which starts a week after Labor Day. Then back to Illinois, with a possible stop at Pickle Gulch!

That's the plan for now, nothing set in stone at this point.

[Grandpa]

That's right, most will be leaving Monday night. Should be a great vacation for you, good luck with the campsites.

[HikerJoe]

You could climb Longs Peak. Or you could take a left after a few miles and check out Chasm Lake. This is on the way there, I think it's called Peacock Pool or something. Kinda cool. But not as many crowds as Longs.

[HikerJoe]

And then this is Chasm Lake. The infamous Diamond in the background:

[Lamebeaver]

Originally Posted by HikerJoe

I'll be the first one(but not the last where's lamebeaver?)to tell you how crazy packed the campgrounds will be then.

I've pretty much given up. If people want to visit RMNP, who am I to discourage them? FDs certainly been around long enough to be aware of my opinion. If you want to go on long day hikes, it's relatively simple to drive from any campground in the park to any of the main trailheads.

[ppine]

Firedancer,

Traveling across the country to be in RMNP on Labor Day weekend is a questionable idea unless you love crowds. Maybe you are used to them. I would go anywhere else in the state instead. I really like the RahWahs, Flattops, Wiminuchee Wilderness, etc. Do yourself a favor and go where the crowds aren't.

[firedancer]

Originally Posted by ppine

Firedancer,
Traveling across the country to be in RMNP on Labor Day weekend is a questionable idea unless you love crowds. Maybe you are used to them. I would go anywhere else in the state instead. I really like the RahWahs, Flattops, Wiminuchewe Wilderness, etc. Do yourself a favor and go where the crowds aren't.

If you read post #4, I am not "traveling across the county to be in RMNP on Labor Day weekend" - this is merely the first 3 days of a two week trip, which will involve plenty of solitude. If I post a "where should I go in Colorado" thread, I would welcome your suggestions!

And, yes, coming from Chicago, "crowds" are all relative. It's possible I could be at a baseball game, crammed into 1 acre with 40,000 people the week before the trip, so sharing 265,000 acres with thousands of tourists won't be too bad. I plan to hike and get away from the roads, which as we all know, is where the crowds are usually found.

Joe - thanks for the pictures - making a note of the hikes for further research! Not sure about Longs Peak, am thinking I'll use these days to acclimate before trying the other 14'ers, but I suppose I could consider it.