Rocky Mountain National Park, the most popular National Park in Colorado, has reopened. Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) will reopen with limited services, per guidance from the White House, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and state and local health officials, park officials said. The park closed to all visitors on March 20. All visitor centers, as well as the Wild Basin area, will remain closed during this phase.
A timed entry system will be implemented starting June 4. Reservations to enter the park will go on sale through Recreation.gov . Reservations will be available to enter the park from June 4 through July 31. The next release will be on July 1, for the month of August and any remaining days that have not been booked for July. On August 1, reservations will be available for the month of September and any remaining days that have not been booked for August. On September 1, reservations will be available for the month of October and any remaining days in September that have not been booked.
Permits issued using the reservation system will allow park visitors to enter the park within two-hour windows of availability between 6 a.m. through 5 p.m. This process will facilitate advance payment of entrance fees, minimize contact between park entrance station staff and visitors and limit congestion in parking lots. The permit system will apply to all areas of the park.
In the initial opening phase, the park will open approximately 60 percent of the park’s maximum parking capacity or 4,800 vehicles (13,500 visitors) per day.
Regarding camping at the park, Moraine Park and Glacier Basin Campgrounds will partially reopen on June 4, with about half of the total campsites available for reservations. Some of the other campgrounds — including Aspenglen, Timber Creek and Longs Peak Campgrounds — will remain closed until further notice. They may reopen later this summer, park officials said. Backcountry backpacking permits will be issued on Wednesday through the fall. Many outlying areas in the park will be open in his phase.
Trail Ridge Road, which extends from the Estes Park side of the park up to the Alpine Visitors Center and down to Grand Lake on the west side of the park, will be restricted on both sides. The road will remain open on the east side up until the Rainbow Curve, and on the west side up to the Colorado River trailhead. The road will reopen fully once park snowplow operators have cleared the roadway, park officials said.
Fall River Road is not open to motorized vehicles during his reopening phase, but bicyclists and pedestrians are welcome to use it.
RMNP is the third-most-visited National Park in the country, attracting more than 4.6 million people last year. Crowds typically spike between late May and early October. Just last July, more than 1 million people visited the park.