You don't have to go to ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK to appreciate the full splendor of the Rockies; it is simply one small section of the mighty range, measuring roughly twenty-fie by fifteen miles. A tenth of the size of Yellowstone, it attracts the same number of visitors - around three-and-a-half million per year - and with the bulk of those coming in high summer, the one main road through the mountains can get incredibly congested. However, it is undeniably beautiful, straddling the Continental Divide at elevations often well in excess of ten thousand feet. A full third of the park is above the tree line, and large areas of snow never melt; the name of the Never Summer Mountains speaks volumes about the long, empty expanses of arctic-style tundra. Lower down, among the rich forests, are patches of lush greenery; you never know when you may stumble upon a sheltered mountain meadow flecked with flowers. Parallels with the European Alps spring readily to mind - helped, of course, by the heavy-handed Swiss and Bavarian themes of the region's motels and restaurants.

This is not an area that humans have ever made their home, though it lies on the route of old Indian trails, and the Ute would come here to hunt in summer. Early white mining ventures came to nothing, and the region was dedicated as a national park in 1915. The original proposal was for it to be much bigger, extending from Wyoming to Pikes Peak; the existing boundaries were drawn up as a compromise, after long negotiations with Colorado's powerful logging and mining interests

Approaching the Park
Approaching the park from the east, you barely penetrate the foothills of the Rockies before you arrive at the gateway town of ESTES PARK, 65 miles northwest of Denver and 90 miles southwest of Cheyenne. At the end of the nineteenth century, Estes Park was the private hunting preserve of the Irish Earl of Dunraen; once he was squeezed out, the town took on the more democratic function it still serves, of providing visitors with food, lodging and other services. In itself, it's not an attractive place, but its presence does at least ensure that all the necessary evils of mass tourism are confined into one neat alley. The park headquarters and main visitor center (daily: June-Aug 8am-9pm; Sept-May 8am-5pm, information phone 970/586-1206; weather phone 970/586-1333) is a couple of miles north, on US-36.

To reach the western entrance, 85 miles from Denver, turn north off I-70 onto US-40, a small detour beyond the junction takes you to the former mining community of GEORGETOWN, one of the best preserved Victorian mining towns in Colorado. The town is however most known as the starting point of the Georgetown Loop Railroad, 1106 Rose St (summer daily every 80min 10am-3.20pm; phone 303/569-2403 or 1-800/691-4386). On the line, 1920s steam trains run a tortuous six-mile round-trip to Siler Plume, on a route that loops in big arcs - added to enable the engines to overcome the six percent climb - and includes a trip across a precarious trestle above Clear Creek.

Back on US-40. the highway negotiates Berthoud Pass en route to GRAND LAKE, a more low-key version of Estes Park. This unlikely yachting center, high in the mountains, consists of one main boardwalk-lined street beside the lake, lined with family amusements, lodgings and restaurants. The Kawuneeche visitor Center of Rocky Mountain National Park is a mile north of town (daily: May-Sept 8am-6pm, Oct-April 8am-5pm;phone 970/627-3471).

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