# Rocky Mt. National Park



## cheter (Feb 19, 2006)

Interested in this park.  Drove "Road to the Sun" last year - west - east glacier.  Is this park similar, (I've heard people mention eastside and westside)?  Which couple of timeshares are closest to the west entrance?  I've heard of "Mountainside at Silver Creek", is it nice, and how close to the park is it?  Ever heard of Kawuneeche Valley on the west side of the park, and have you seen any moose there?   There is a lot of timeshares in this area, I guess because of the sking, what about a spring vacation?    Thanks to all of you that post a reply!


----------



## JLB (Feb 19, 2006)

As far as Spring vacation, Spring comes very late there.  Trail Ridge Road does not open until the first week of June.  That time of year we have stayed at Winter Park and Estes Park, the West and East side of RMNP.

In Winter Park it is mud season.

You are correct that the nearest timeshares to the West Entrance are Mountainside and Inn at SilverCreek.  The next nearest ones are in Winter Park.  If you'll look on the map, SilverCreek is just south of Granby (about 20 miles south of the West Entrance) and Winter Park is 20 miles south of SilverCreek.

In a recent years a golf course was added at SilverCreek, also known as Solvista, and it has become a fairly popular summer destination.  The area from Winter Park to Grand Lake has become quite popular because of it's relative proximity to Denver.

Trail Ridge Road is an awesome drive.  I don't do altitude well and sometimes I could do it and sometimes I couldn't.

Having said all of that, the best place to enjoy RMNP is Estes Park.  It is the touristy place whose existence is because of RMNP.  The main focus of RMNP is the two eastern entrances to it, located at Estes Park.

The two timeshares in Estes Park are Ram's Horn Village and The Golden Eagle.  

Ram's Horn Village is a modern, cushy, log-building sorta place near one of the east entrances to the park.  It is very nice and a Gold Crown.  It's hard to trade into in the summer, which is peak season.

The Golden Eagle is a wonderfully clunky old lodge built in 1914 and on the National Register of Historic Places.  because of it's lack of amenities it is not a Gold Crown, but it is also very difficult to get into.  It is the place in Estes Park for weddings and receptions, and Estes Park is one of the places for weddings.  The Old Stanley, across the valley from Golden Eagle, with the town of Estes Park lying in between, is the other popular wedding and reception place.

We have never seen a moose.  You will a gazillion Elk, and if you are lucky, bear, mountain lion and Bighorn sheep.  We have seen them all.

We miss our annual June week there.  It is one of our favorite places.  If you decide to go, feel free to email me for a ton of things to do.  I consider Estes Park and RMNP as summer camp for grownups.


----------



## Dave*H (Feb 20, 2006)

You don't say what types of activities you like to do and when exactly is spring to you?  This would help in responding.


----------



## JLB (Feb 20, 2006)

Dave_H said:
			
		

> You don't say what types of activities you like to do and when exactly is spring to you?  This would help in responding.



Like I said, Trail Ridge does not open until the first week of June.  That is when they get enough snow plowed at the higher elevations to allow traffic.  Until then you cannot go from Estes Park, the East entrances to RMNP, to the West Entrance~~~the Grand Lake/Granby/SilverCreek area.

We like to try that drive if my head will let me do it.  There are places to stop and enjoy the mountains, Park, and wildlife.

It can still get chilly the first of June.

You go to the park to enjoy Mother Nature, and do Mother Natury things, however one likes to do that.  Hiking comes to mind.  Driving or sitting in the car and gawky works, too.  It is one of the most wonderful places to just go for a drive.

I like to catch little fishies, or try, and there are a number of streams, which they call rivers, and lakes.  They have the smartest trout known to man.  I like to put my boots on and hike back to areas most fisher-people don't get to very often.  The trout there are dumber.

We like to look at wildlife.  Every day we will try to see Bighorn sheep.  Most of our sightings have been unplanned ones, when we just happened to be in the right place at the right time.  A bear ran across the road in front of us in Big Thompson Canyon.  A mountain lion ran across the road in front of us on the road to Longmont.  We have seen Bighorn Sheep on the steep walls of Big Thompson Canyon, along the road to the Fall River Entrance, and in the Meadows near Endovalley, the main Bighorn crossing area that everyone goes to.

We like to drive Devil's Gulch Canyon.  We like Big Thompson Canyon, the main route to EP from Loveland.

I like to play golf at the Estes Park County Club, a modest course where Elk graze on the fairways.

Elk are as common in EP as squirrels or rabbits in other places.

We like the architecture, the log or cedar-sided lodge style of houses.

We go into town, to shop, walk around, and eat lunch by the river(s).  We like to eat brunch at The Egg and I.

Sometimes we meet some of my college buddies at the casinos in Central City/Black Hawk.

We like to sit in the the lobby of The Golden Eagle with a fire going in the big stone fireplace.

We like to watch the hummingbirds.  We like to watch the tram going up to the top of the mountain.

Don't mess with the Elk if a baby is nearby!

Oh, you mean the OP.


----------



## cheter (Feb 20, 2006)

*Reply*

Dave and how else would like to post- Our trip would be the end of May the 27th to be exact.  The only activities would be driving to see what the park has to offer - beauty, lakes, wildlife, easy hiking, horseback riding.  No shopping malls, and golf.  I think Mountainside at Silver Creek, would be a perfect resort for this.  Also, how far are the Tetons from here, in case we decide to stay a few days in Jackson Hole.  Thank you.


----------



## riverdees05 (Feb 20, 2006)

*Map Quest*

Silver Creek, CO US 
Revise | New Directions


Jackson Hole, WY US 
Revise | New Directions

Total Est. Time:  9 hours, 39 minutes
Total Est. Distance: 482.68 miles


----------



## cheter (Feb 20, 2006)

*Reply*

Sorry JLB just read your post.  It sounds like Trail Ridge is a important road.  So maybe the end of May wouldn't be good.  I have 22 resorts in an on going search for the Teton's, Yellowstone, Banff, and West Glacier(we were there last year).  Last year we didn't get W.G. until the end of March.  We also took that trip the end of May and the "Going to the Sun" road had opened, (I was nervous about the opening).  Then the other day I conducted an ongoing search and this resort came up.  I never thought of this National Park.  I've enjoyed traveling at this time because most schools are not out yet, and parks are not that crowded.  My son gets out May 23.  Please help me make a decision.  I really wanted Jackson Hole, but I don't think I'll get it.  I didn't make my week deposit until June of 2005, the RCI guides said my chances are 0.


----------



## JLB (Feb 20, 2006)

cheter said:
			
		

> Sorry JLB just read your post.  It sounds like Trail Ridge is a important road.



Your enjoyment of RMNP will be limited if you stay on the west side.  And May is a little early. June 15 or later would be best.

The areas you are looking for, the western national park areas, are in great demand for late Spring through early Fall, with limited resorts.  If you are looking for this year, and if you are looking through RCI, you may be a year late in searching.

Where are you coming from?

I just checked Colorado through RCI for 6/1-8/1 for this summer and next, and Estes Park is not available.  It's really tough to get it in the summer.  I saw both Mountainside and Inn at Silvercreek.


----------



## cheter (Feb 20, 2006)

*Reply*

So is Mountain Side at Silver Creek not a great place to stay?


----------



## cheter (Feb 20, 2006)

*Reply*

Sorry, I live in Florida.


----------



## Texas Traveler (Feb 20, 2006)

Mountainside is a fine place to stay if you're prepared to drive to do things.  There is very little to do at the resort.  They do have an outdoor pool, but I would think it would be waaaaayyyyy to cool to enjoy in May.  

Trail Ridge is an awesome drive (JLB-we've seen moose, twice  but I'm afraid it won't be open during your time.


----------



## cheter (Feb 20, 2006)

*reply*

The only driving we plan to do is the National Park, and Grand Lake and anything to do with the park for seeing animals.  Don't care about the resort ammenities like a pool, (we have one).  Just as long as the resort is clean and has a TV.  We will just be there to sleep and bathe, I don't cook when I'm on vacation.  Do you think we would enjoy this resort and it's surroundings?  I'll be traveling with my son who will be 17 and that's what he likes also.


----------



## Dave*H (Feb 20, 2006)

JLB said:
			
		

> Oh, you mean the OP.


Yes, I did mean the OP, but I'm sure your additional information will be helpful.    

As others have stated, Trail Ridge road will probably not be open the end of May which will severely limit the amout of the park that you can sightsee.  It is a long drive around to the other side if you can't take Trail Ridge. Although much more crowded, I think the east side of the park is more scenic.  If your dates are set, you might be able to get a reasonable rental in or near Estes Park since that is before peak summer season and peak summer rates really set in.  If your dates are flexible, I would wait until at least late June when the park should be fully open.  That said, I think RMNP is a beautiful place and know I could enjoy a late May vacation there.

There really is not a lot to Grand Lake unless you want to fish in the summer or snowmobile in the winter.  You could maybe spend a day there otherwise.  There are a couple of places that offer trail rides out of Grand Lake, but that is available lots of places.


----------



## JLB (Feb 20, 2006)

I am very familiar with SilverCreek.  There is nothing wrong with it.  It's just that's there not much there, not like Estes Park.  The main focus of RMNP, the big visitors' centers and the main activties are at the East Entrance.  Plus, Estes Park is a nice town.

I personally don't think there's much point of going RMNP if Trail Ridge is not open and if you at not at the east end.

The Inn at SilverCreek has an indoor/outdoor pool, and shops, and a convention facility.  Mountainside is at the same location, on up the hill.  They are under the same management.

http://www.silvercreeklodging.com/

although I just tried it and it did not open.


----------



## Judy (Feb 20, 2006)

JLB said:
			
		

> The two timeshares in Estes Park are Ram's Horn Village and The Golden Eagle.


You don't mention Worldmark Estes Park.  Is it in a good location and a desirable place to stay?


----------



## Dave*H (Feb 20, 2006)

Judy said:
			
		

> You don't mention Worldmark Estes Park.


This resort is brand new.  I think sales started last year.  From the map, the location looks fine.  Can't tell you much else.


----------



## JLB (Feb 20, 2006)

Worldmark is new to me.  We haven't been there for a couple of years.  If you go to the Mapquest map associated with their site, and zoom out one click, The Golden Eagle, Ram's Horn Village and Worldmark are all in that map, all in the same area of Estes Park, near one of the East Entrances to RMNP.

We have driven Riverside Drive and the location of Worldmark a gazillion times.  I recall some newer cabins in that location but they were not Worldmark at the time. There is also a campground in that vicinity and a trout fishing park, one where you pay and they clean your fish. 

Open the Mapquest map on the Worldmark site and zoom out one click. About four blocks to the right of Worldmark you will see Crags Drive intersecting Riverside.  The Golden Eagle is up the hill on Crags Drive, that first little dead-end road up Crag's drive. 

Ram's Horn Village is at the Y formed by US 36 (Moriane Ave.) and HWY 66, about three blocks to the left in this map.  You can see the three little circles, which are the roads in Rams Horn.  Between Ram's and the entrance to RMNP there is a huge campground.  HWY 66 goes to the YMCA of the Rockies camp.

The Elk just wander free in all of that area.

This is a good map to play with.  If you will zoom out one more click, you will see US 34, Fall River Road, at the top.  It goes to the other Eastern entrance to RMNP.  That is the road that goes to the Sheep Meadows and Endovalley park.  At the end of Endovalley Park is another road over the Continental Divide, an old, crude, rough road.  It has never been open when we have been there the first or second week of June.  

US 34 then turns back, winds up the hills, and meets US 36, which winds it's way to that point with some very popular roads running off from it.

It is exactly this area that is the main focus of RMNP and gets the most traffic.

Once 34 and 36 meet, they become Trail Ridge Road, and the drive to the top elevations begins.  Zoom out another click and you will see that.  If your zoom work like my zoom, you can now see Grand Lake over to the left.

Click out one more zoom and you will see that SilverCreek is not even shown.  Neither is Granby.  SilverCreek is north of Tabermash, just south of where 34 and 40 meet.  The purple dotted line in this view is the Continental Divide.

http://www.worldmarktheclub.com/resorts/ep/

For the map, click on _Driving Directions from MapQuest _


----------



## cotraveller (Feb 20, 2006)

We spent a few nights at the WorldMark in Estes Park in January of 2005, not too long after it opened.  It is a purchased resort which is being upgraded with additional units.  When we were there all of the units were pre-existing ones.  Construction is in progress for 37 new units and was initially listed as scheduled for completion in Spring 2006.  I haven't heard any updates to know if they are still on that schedule.

It's a good location, right on the Big Thompson River.  The WorldMark description lists it as less than 1 mile from downtown Estes Park and 2 miles from the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park.

Trail Ridge Road is a fantastic drive.  Always take a jacket or a coat, even in summer.  At over 12,000 foot altitude it will not be hot at the top.  The Colorado Department of Transportation tries to have the road open by Memorial Day weekend which sometimes means plowing through snowdrifts that are over 20 feet deep.  Considering how much snow the mountains have been getting this winter that could prove to be a challenge this year.


----------



## JLB (Feb 20, 2006)

cotraveller said:
			
		

> It is a purchased resort which is being upgraded with additional units.  When we were there all of the units were pre-existing ones.



That's what I was guessing, in which case, yeah, we've seen it, the pre-existing part of it.

We have always done Trail Ridge on the first weekend it is open.  The snow is still 20-feet high on both sides in some locations.


----------



## dlmom53 (Apr 25, 2006)

cotraveller said:
			
		

> We spent a few nights at the WorldMark in Estes Park in January of 2005, not too long after it opened.  It is a purchased resort which is being upgraded with additional units.
> 
> We were having a debate about World Mark at dinner the other night: what was the name of the cabins that World Mark is rehab-ing--does anyone remember?
> 
> ...


----------



## jillk (Apr 25, 2006)

Nice article last week in our newspaper; however, last night we got several inches of snow down here on the Front Range  , so obviously that could set them back on opening the road.


Big rig digs into Trail Ridge's drifts
Denver Post, The (CO)
April 16, 2006
Author:  Rich Tosches ROCKY MOUNTAIN RANGER, VIEWS FROM THE WEST

Rocky Mountain National Park

Far below the mountain peaks that dot this land, on a busy street shortly before 9 a.m. on Friday in the tourist town of Estes Park, spring had unmistakably arrived. The moment was marked, unofficially, when a traveler emerged from his car, a car with Indiana license plates. The man was wearing a flower-print shirt, sneakers, Bermuda shorts and black socks pulled halfway to his knees.
There is nothing quite like springtime in the Rockies.

Up above, though, 8 miles past the Beaver Meadows entrance to the national park on a twisting ribbon of asphalt known as Trail Ridge Road, snowdrifts towered 20 feet high and winter still held tight.

But its grip was about to be shaken by the roar of a snow-chomping monster. The brand new yellow beast - a massive John Deere tractor equipped with a gigantic rotary snow-blower attachment and a separate, rear-mounted 200- horsepower engine to drive its heavy blades - arrived in the park just a few weeks ago. It cost a bit more than $300,000.

And when operator Arnie Johnson climbed into the cab 12 feet above the ground, turned the key and brought it to life just before noon on Friday, Trail Ridge Road had begun once again to grudgingly give up another winter.

Park officials hope to have the road cleared by Memorial Day.

"But," said Rocky Mountain National Park road-clearer Rudy Marquez, "you just never know. The weather up there on Trail Ridge, well, it's like being in another world."

The road was completed in 1932. It snakes its way through the mountains and tundra, slicing over the Continental Divide and then dropping down to the town of Grand Lake. At its highest point, it takes vehicles 12,183 feet into - or above - the clouds.

Friday, the ritual of clearing the road began with a bit of pomp.

Park superintendent Vaughn Baker and Estes Park Mayor John Baudek stood before an 8-inch wide red ribbon and shared a pair of gigantic scissors as reporters stood in the slush and watched.

A TV station was there to capture the moment. "So, Arnie, have you given the machine a name yet?" the TV person asked.

"Uh, no," Johnson said. "I just call it 'the new one."'

The snowblower was a big hit. With Johnson driving, it attacked a huge drift at Many Parks Curve, chewing into the heavy, wet snow and blowing it some 100 feet into the air. Later, Johnson welcomed visitors into the cab. Among the first was Mayor Baudek.

"I've been up to the top of Trail Ridge with the snow-clearing crews in past years," he said, "and you wonder how they can ever get this road open."

And then he smiled and looked around at the stunning scenery and the blue, cloudless sky.

"There are," he said, "some great parts about being the mayor of Estes Park."

Marquez, the park road-clearer, knows the feeling.

"There's nothing else like being up here, clearing this road," he said. "The danger is part of it. The clouds come in, you get a whiteout and you can't see a thing. These machines get a little topsy-turvy and they slide a bit on you and, well, it makes you pucker a little."

He described one such day.

"I was driving a truck loaded with fuel tanks to feed the big plow truck," Marquez said. "The plow has a big, bright blue beacon. I'm following that beacon and out of nowhere a storm hits and in a few seconds I can't find the beacon. I can't see two feet.

"I sat there for a while, and then started to inch the truck forward. … Then I hit a snow bank and can't move so I wait until the storm blows by. When it cleared, I'm facing the downhill side of Trail Ridge, the tires six inches from the edge of an awful long drop down the mountain. I'd turned that truck 90 degrees, across the road, and almost went straight down the mountain. And I never knew it."

Marquez glanced over at the park's latest piece of snow-fighting machinery and laughed.

"That's an impressive machine, but it will get into a whiteout, a snowstorm up there," he said, "and it will get stuck just like the rest of the trucks get stuck."

Marquez took a deep breath of the thin air and rubbed his shaggy, graying goatee. He is 47, and will, on Monday, begin his 23rd spring of pounding the snow off Trail Ridge Road.

"What a life," he said.


----------



## cotraveller (Apr 25, 2006)

dlmom53 said:
			
		

> We were having a debate about World Mark at dinner the other night: what was the name of the cabins that World Mark is rehab-ing--does anyone remember?



According to an old article I found, it was the Big Thompson Timberland Lodge.



			
				jillk said:
			
		

> But its grip was about to be shaken by the roar of a snow-chomping monster. The brand new yellow beast - a massive John Deere tractor equipped with a gigantic rotary snow-blower attachment and a separate, rear-mounted 200- horsepower engine to drive its heavy blades - arrived in the park just a few weeks ago.



I saw the story about the new snowblower.  That sounds like one awesome John Deere.  They could probably charge admission just to watch it chomp the snowdrifts.


----------



## jillk (Apr 25, 2006)

Just as an aside, on the Million Dollar Highway between Durango and Ouray (I think), Colorado, there's a memorial to snowplow drivers who have gone off the edge of the very precipitous road. It really gave me a new appreciation for the dangers of the profession.


----------



## JLB (Apr 25, 2006)

I remember well the campground near where Worldmark now is.  It has been there a long time.  It is at a curve in Riverside Drive, just before Mary's lake road.  Not long before we last visited (and we visited the first week in June for several years) some new log style cabins were built on the same curve.

It is not a very busy area, not like the busier streets in Estes Park.  It is more like a main throughfare through a residential area.  It is a nice location, but it is not like it is up in the mountains or in a secluded area.


----------

