Snowshoeing tours are offered by several companies that can take you deep into the Park and show you the quiet side of playing in the snow. Less than two hours of uncrowded highways from Denver Metro via 36, 34, or 7 will easily get you there. Lodging prices are lower and the fun meter is on high for the seductions of solitude in a Rocky Mountain winter. Estes Park on the East Side Snowshoe to Dream Lake from the trailhead at Bear Lake on the east side of the park Bryce Bradford/FlickrĮstes Park should not be a forgotten mountain town in winter.

Lodges, restaurants and shops are open and offer warm cozy surroundings when not out playing in the woods. Go find a moose along the North Fork of the Colorado River. The forests, though ravaged by the pine beetle, are beginning to show signs of life. Snowmobiling, snowshoeing, and cross country skiing are ways to play. Grand Lake and greater Grand County can be accessed by I-70 to US 40 over Berthoud Pass, through Winter Park to Granby and east on Hwy 34, about 2.5 hours from Denver. The story becomes the tale of two Parks Grand Lake on the West Side Snowmobiling the Continental Divide near Grand Lake Gloria Wadzinski Though Trail Ridge Road closes in the winter, Rocky Mountain National Park is OPEN all year. This high alpine road closes in the winter around mid-October and reopens in early May. Trail Ridge Road connects Estes Park, the eastern gateway town, to Grand Lake, the western gateway town.

Trail ridge road opening 2019