Images of Rocky Mountain National Park – Colorado, taken in July 2025.

Celebrating a small portion of one of the world’s longest mountain ranges, Rocky Mountain National Park is accessible via the Trail Ridge Road, the highest continuous paved road in the nation. Along the road, you travel through three distinct ecosystems; below 9,000 feet, the Montane, forested with tall trees like the ponderosa pine; from 9,000 to 11,400 feet, the Subalpine, populated with spruce and fir trees; and above 11,400 feet, the Alpine ecosystem where bitter cold and high winds mean that only small plants hug the ground in the area known as the tundra. The highest point on the road is 12,183 feet, just a little more than 2,000 feet lower than the park’s tallest mountain, Longs Peak (14,259 ft).

The park is home to animals ranging from the tiny Pika and larger Marmot, to the huge Moose and only slightly smaller Elk. It is also home to the humble beginnings of the Colorado River where it starts out as a tiny trickle of snowmelt on its way to becoming the river responsible for creating the Grand Canyon!