Our Collection of Beautiful Rocky Mountain National Park Photos from Locations in and around Park.
Rocky Mountain National Park is one of the most beautiful National Parks in the United States of America. Located in Northern Colorado, and nestled up in the Rocky Mountains near Estes Park, the park spans over the Continental Divide encompassing forests, mountains, and even Alpine Tundra 10,000 feet above sea level. The park is also home to many animals such as Moose, Big Horn Sheep, Elk, Mule Deer, and Bears. There are also many other small species of animals that you are sure to spot when you visit the park. We hope that our collection of these Beautiful Rocky Mountain National Park Photos gives you a sense of the beauty that encompasses the 265,461-acre region. Most of these were taken over the last several years and include an annual summer trip.
View from Trail Ridge Rd
This is a from Trail Ridge Rd down into Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a fairly clear day with some afternoon thunderstorms that rolled in. Anytime you visit Rocky Mountain National Park or the mountains for that matter, you want to plan your high elevation activities for the morning hours. It’s pretty typical that you will have afternoon thunderstorms develop and are usually accompanied by lightning. That can be extremely dangerous at higher elevations where you might be out in the open, and potentially be one of the higher structures for lightning to strike. Always pack a rain jacket as well. Even in the summer, the weather can change rapidly in the mountains, thunderstorms can drop the temperature quickly, and having that rain jacket with you could be a lifesaver.
Calypso Cascades
Here is the view from Calypso Cascades on the bridge crossing over the waterfalls. One way to get to this is by accessing Rocky Mountain National Park from the Wild Basin entrance. You will need to hike up from the Calypso Cascades trailhead to get to this waterfall. It’s a pretty good elevation change and distance so take plenty of water, snacks, sunscreen, and a rain jacket if it is during the summer. The effort to get to this area is well worth the views and calming sounds of the waterfalls. It’s also very scenic as you hike the trail along the river and lower falls areas.
Calypso Cascades Trails Signs to other Trails
Once you get to the Calypso Cascades upper waterfall area you will see trail signs to keep going to Finch Lake (3.2 Miles), Pear Lake (5.2 Miles), Allenspark (3.0 Miles), Ouzel Falls (0.9 Miles), Ouzel Lake (3.1 Miles), Thunder Lake (5.0 Miles), and Lion Lakes (5.2 Miles). The hike up to Calypso Cascades is already a pretty good hike with elevation, so if you are going to continue on make sure you watch your time and have plenty of snacks, water, and a rain jacket for the summer months.
Ute Trail from Trail Ridge Rd
Hiking the UTE trail from Trail Ridge Rd is an absolutely beautiful experience on a clear day. You can start from the trailhead along the road and hike up Timberline Pass over to the Upper Beaver Meadows trailhead or Moraine Park. You can see tons of Marmot, and even some Elk laying out in the sun if you are lucky. As always it is best to keep your distance from the animals and stay on the trail. Walking off the trail and on the Alpine, Tundra can do long-term damage to the vegetation which can take years to recover.
Lake Haiyaha
Lake Haiyaha is as beautiful as it is rugged. Nestled in Rocky Mountain National Park at about 10,200 feet, this high elevation alpine lake boasts some of the most gorgeous emerald green water you will ever see. It’s fairly common for emerald-green alpine lakes such as Lake Haiyaha to be created from glacial runoff. This is what gives the lake its beautiful green color. It’s also the perfect environment for Cutthroat Trout, which is what you will see in its clear emerald green waters.
Lake Haiyaha is also very rugged with massive boulder fields on the trail up, and surrounding the lake. It does require some good balance, and slight bouldering skills to get too close to the lake. There isn’t any major climbing involved, however, you will need to make your way through the boulder fields I previously mentioned. Take your time with this part. To get to Lake Haiyaha you can start at the Bear Lake Trail Head and hike up to Nymph lake. From there you will need to head up to Dream Lake, and turn left at the trail signs for Lake Haiyaha. The round trip hike from the Bear Lake Trail Head is just under 4 miles, with about 860 feet of elevation gain. It may not sound like much, but if you are a flatlander it’s best to pace yourself, bring plenty of water and snacks, and as always pack that rain jacket.
A Resilient Tree
I stuck this in here because I thought it was such a cool photograph of what I believe is a baby Douglas Furr growing up from inside a dead tree stump. How the seedling got there I will never know. Mother nature always has that mesmerizing way of impressing us with her beauty. Sometimes from loss, there is life. You see many areas of Rocky Mountain National Park have had wildfires. The fires roll through, burn the ground up, then new vegetation takes hold.
Emerald Lake
Emerald Lake is another beautiful subalpine Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. Emerald Lake sits at around 10,110 feet of elevation with views of the 12,713 feet Hallet Peak located front and center. This Lake can be accessed by hiking from the Bear lake Trial Head about 1.8 miles up. On the way, you will pass both Dream Lake and Nymph Lake making this hike well worth the effort. The views from this area are absolutely stunning so it’s a great spot to stop and rest as well as take photos.
Sprague Lake
Sprague Lake got its name from Abner Sprague who settled a homestead in this area around 1874. The Sprague’s homestead even grew into a fairly successful resort for the time. Eventually, the resort was sold off to James Stead and then finally purchased by the National Park Service. The walk around Sprague Lake is under and a mile and is absolutely beautiful in the morning, and late in the day before sunset. Even with smoke from the wildfires I took this photo to illustrate the reflection from the calm waters on the Lake.
During the summer you can also find fishermen wading in the water casting lines to try and catch some of the brook, brown, and rainbow trout. And if you are lucky a Moose will come down for a drink and eat some of the reeds that grow from the bottom of the lake.
