USA Guide
The Rockies
Getting around
To get around the park without a car, you can either pick up a tour departing from Estes Park, which with admission (not always included in the quoted price) should cost around $70 a day or $35 a half-day; alternately, you can make the all-day trip from Denver with Gray Line (mid-May to mid-Oct; $90; 
303/289-2841, 
www.coloradograyline.com ).
The showpiece of the park is Trail Ridge Road (generally open late May to mid-October), between Estes Park and Grand Lake. This 45-mile stretch of US-34, the highest-elevation paved road in any US national park, affords a succession of tremendous views, and several short trails start from parking lots along the way. There are no services on the route, which generally takes three to four hours to drive. The definite highlight is the stretch of road on either side of the Alpine Visitor Center, halfway along Trail Ridge Road at Fall River Pass (late May– early Oct 10.30am–4.30pm); the peaks and alpine tundra here are breathtaking. The visitor center is really the only requisite stop for anyone happy enough to view the alpine tundra by car, as its exhibits relate to the flora and fauna of the tundra. Good areas for wildlife viewing are a little further east along Trail Ridge Road.
The other scenic drive in the park is along the unpaved, summer-only Old Fall River Road, which was the park's first road, completed in 1920. Running east– west along the bed of a U-shaped glacial valley, it doesn't have open mountain vistas, but it's much quieter than its paved counterpart, and there's far more chance of spotting wildlife: roaming the area are moose, coyote, mountain lions, and black bears, which with the park's plentiful natural food supply, tend to avoid contact with humans.
While many people do little more than the drive along Trail Ridge Road, the park is best appreciated on foot. As there are dozens of superb hikes to choose from, think about the kind of experience you're after – photographing a particular animal, for instance, or hiking across the Continental Divide – and enlist a ranger to help plan your excursion. Bear in mind that the delicate ecosystem of the wild, wind-blown tundra makes it essential to stay on the paths. Be watchful of your own system at this altitude as well; plan hikes conservatively and drink plenty of water to avoid altitude sickness and dehydration.
The obvious launching point for numerous day and overnight hikes is Bear Lake, a pretty spot at the end of a spur road from Estes Park where the mountains are framed to perfection in its cool, still waters. On the way, the road passes Moraine Park Museum (summer only, daily 9am–4.30pm; free), where smart exhibits explain the park's natural history. To ease traffic, free shuttle buses (late May– late Sept, daily 7am–7.30pm) operate beyond the museum. The museum itself is on the Moraine Park Route (buses every 30min), which connects the Fern Lake trailhead in the west with the Glacier Basin campground in the south. Here you can jump on a connecting shuttle to Bear Lake (buses every 10–15min).