Driving the Trail: Driving Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park offers motorists some of the most beautiful scenery of any road in the country. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Peaks and Valleys: Scenic overlooks and parking areas allow visitors a view of forested valleys and rocky peaks high above treeline. Longs Peak in the distance is 14,259 feet. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
By GARY WARREN
Photographer
Formerly of Los Alamos
One of the real jewels of the Rocky Mountains lies in Rocky Mountain National Park. This week’s Post From the Road features Trail Ridge Road, also is known as the Highway to the Sky, which traverses the park from Estes Park on the east to Grand Lake on the western side of the park.
U.S. Highway 34, Trail Ridge Road, stretches for 48 miles within Rocky Mountain National Park. Eleven of those miles are above treeline, which is about 11,500 feet in elevation. The highest point on the road is 12,183 feet above sea level. This is the highest continuous paved highway in the U.S.
There also is an Alpine Visitors Center and restaurant near the highest point on the road.
Due to the high altitude of the road, Trail Ridge is a seasonal road. The road is usually open from about Memorial Day through mid-October.
Editor’s note: Longtime Los Alamos photographer Gary Warren and his wife Marilyn are traveling around the country and he shares his photographs, which appear in the ‘Posts from the Road’ series published in the Sunday edition of the Los Alamos Daily Post.
Celebrating the View: A couple celebrates the view from the end of a trail overlooking the valley below and the towering peaks above. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Highway to the Sky: Trail Ridge Road also is known as the Highway to the Sky. This view of the road as it twists and traverses across the terrain illustrates the drive to the sky. Eleven of the miles on the road are above treeline as seen here. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Viewpoint: A visitor enjoys views from the lookout point at the Forest Canyon overlook. The short hike at this overlook allows views in multiple directions from east to west. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Elk: An added feature of driving Trail Ridge Road is the abundance of wildlife. We saw a family of elk above treeline and as we descended, elk were spotted several times including these two bull elk. We also saw moose, deer and other smaller animals but no bear on this trip. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Last Light: The last light of day reflects on Poudre Lake, near the road as it passes through Kawuneeche Valley on the western boundary of Rocky Mountain National Park. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com