My childhood was anything but a happy one, but one summer I attended a summer camp near Rocky Mountain National Park. I signed up for a backpack trip, my first. We started from Gore Range Overlook on Trail Ridge Road, back when that was still a trail head. Our first rest stop was at the head of the Big Thompson canyon. There, for the first time I remember in my life, I realized I was happy. I have returned to that site and when ever I am near Rocky Mountain Park I drive back to that overlook and look down at that site, even now, over 50 years later.
Sincerely,
Rocky Mountain National Park
Rocky Mountain National park offers breathtaking views of the spectacular Rocky Mountain range, with 60 peaks over 12,000 feet, small permanent glaciers, lakes, waterfalls, and historic and cultural treasures including ancient trails, game drives, cattle ranches and lodges. This park’s rugged landscapes harbor hundreds of high-elevation plant and animal species — some that are increasingly rare outside the park or are found nowhere else. Some of the park’s human-made structures speak to the boom-and-bust cycles and neverending search for adequate water supplies that characterized the nation’s westward expansion.
State(s): Colorado
Established: 1915
“They are one of the most valuable legacies we can leave to future generations. Along with their beauty and peace, they remind anyone who is open that some of our most important values have nothing to do with human power, pride, and ambition.”
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