RMNP Press Release:  Rocky Mountain National Park will be implementing a new pilot temporary timed entry permit reservation system beginning on May 28, 2021. Park staff are managing for significant increases in visitation to public lands in Colorado, including Rocky Mountain National Park, along with continued Covid-19 concerns, ongoing park seasonal staff shared housing challenges, reduced shuttle bus capacity and residual fire impacts in some areas of the park from historic fires in 2020.   
  
There will be two types of reservations available. One permit will be for the Bear Lake Road Corridor, which will include the entire corridor and access to the rest of the park. This reservation period will be from 5 am to 6 pm. The second permit will be for the rest of Rocky Mountain National Park, excluding the Bear Lake Road corridor. This reservation period will be from 9 am to 3 pm. Permits issued using the reservation system will allow park visitors to enter the park within two-hour windows of availability. The reservation system will apply to all areas of the park.    
    
Reservations to enter the park will go on sale through www.recreation.gov at 8 a.m. Mountain Daylight Time on Saturday, May 1. Reservations will be available to enter the park from May 28 through June 30. The next release will be on June 1, for the month of July and any remaining days that have not been booked for June. On July 1, reservations will be available 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 in August that have not been booked. On September 1, reservations will be available for October and any remaining days in September that have not been booked. Initially, 25 percent of permits will be held and available for purchase the day prior at 5 p.m. through recreation.gov. These are expected to sell out quickly and visitors are encouraged to plan ahead when possible. 
 
This year’s pilot reservation system allows for a greater number of reservations per day.  Reservations will be based on approximately 75 percent to 85 percent of the park’s total parking capacity. Last year’s system was based on approximately 60 percent of the park’s total parking capacity. This system spreads use throughout the park to better utilize all parking/trailhead areas. This system will be adaptable to changes in visitation trends and public health concerns.     
 
Last year, after being closed for two months amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Rocky Mountain National Park reopened in late May and was the first national park in the country to implement a temporary timed entry permit system to increase park access while providing the public a reasonable opportunity to comply with health guidelines. That timed entry permit system ended on October 12, 2020.   
  
In 2020, Rocky Mountain National Park was the fourth most visited national park in the country with a 28 percent increase in visitation in November and a 38 percent increase in visitation in December over those months in 2019.       
  
In February, to protect the health of those who live, work, and visit national parks and National Park Service (NPS) facilities, and in support of President Biden’s Executive Order on Protecting the Federal Workforce and Requiring Mask-Wearing the NPS implemented a mask requirement for employees, visitors, partners and contractors. At Rocky Mountain National Park, face masks are required in all park buildings and facilities. Masks are also required on NPS-managed lands when physical distancing cannot be maintained, including narrow or busy trails, parking lots, pull-offs and overlooks.   
 
When recreating, park visitors should follow local area and federal health orders, maintain social distance and avoid high-risk outdoor activities. Please do not visit if you are sick or were recently exposed to COVID-19. Park staff will continue to monitor all park functions to ensure that visitors adhere to CDC guidance for mitigating risks associated with the transmission of COVID-19 and take any additional steps necessary to protect public health.    
   
Keep your distance. Give others plenty of room whether you are on a trail or in a parking lot. If staying at least six feet from others is not possible, a mask is required. Face masks are required in all park buildings and facilities.  
   
Keep it with you. If you brought it, take it with you. Trash pickup and restroom facilities may be limited in many park areas. Follow Leave No Trace principles.    
   
Know your limits. Rocky Mountain National Park is one of the busiest search and rescue parks in the country. Many of these incidents could be avoided with visitors planning and making responsible decisions.     
    
Details and updates on park operations and services will continue to be posted on the park’s official website at www.nps.gov/romo through social media @RockyNPS or call the park’s Information Office at (970) 586-1206. 
 

Fire managers from Rocky Mountain National Park are preparing to conduct a prescribed burn in the South Lateral Moraine area, if favorable weather and fuel conditions allow.  The area included for the prescribed burn is an approximate 200-acre section near Bear Lake Road between the Big Thompson Bridge and Hollowell Park.  Burning may be conducted for several weeks in multiple segments to limit daily smoke production.  The primary goal of the project is to reduce the threat of wildland fire to adjacent communities and park infrastructure by using prescribed fire to reduce the amount of fuel available in this area.  
 
When fighting the East Troublesome Fire in 2020 and the Fern Lake Fire in 2012, firefighters were able to take advantage of previous and existing prescribed fire and hazardous fuels treatment areas that provided a buffer between the fire and the town of Estes Park.  Prior hazard fuels projects were instrumental in stopping the fire from jumping Bear Lake Road and Trail Ridge Road. 
 
Depending on when weather and fuel conditions are suitable, prescribed burning operations may begin in March or any time through early spring.  Ignitions will likely occur on weekdays with smoldering and smoke emissions lasting for an additional 3-10 days. If conditions are not suitable for the South Lateral Moraine Prescribed Burn, ongoing pile burning in the park may continue. 
 
Smoke may be visible both inside and outside the park.  Every effort will be made to minimize smoke impacts on visitors and the adjacent community; however, some smoke is anticipated to disperse east of the park.  Smoke may affect your health: For more information see https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/wood-smoke-and-health
How to protect your health from wood smoke   Most healthy people have no more than minor and short-term health difficulties with wood smoke. However, excessive smoke can result in unhealthy or hazardous air quality. If smoke is affecting your health, contact your doctor or other health professional.
www.colorado.gov

. No trail or road closures are anticipated but visitors passing through active burning areas may be escorted by fire personnel to ensure their safety. 
​Safety factors, weather conditions, air quality, personnel availability and environmental regulations are continually monitored as a part of any fire management operation.  For more information please contact the park’s Information Office at (970) 586-1206. 

RMNP Update

Each year to protect raptor nesting sites, Rocky Mountain National Park officials initiate temporary closures in areas of the park.  To ensure that these birds of prey can nest undisturbed, specific areas within the park are closed temporarily to public use during nesting season and monitored by wildlife managers.  Due to high nesting activity last year closures will begin earlier this year on February 15 rather than March 1.  These closures will continue through July 31, if appropriate.  These closures may be extended longer or rescinded at an earlier date depending on nesting activity.   
  
A new closure is being implemented in the Loch Vale area which includes Cathedral Wall. The areas above the Loch Vale-Sky Pond Trail are closed to off trail travel.  In the Lumpy Ridge area closures include Checkerboard Rock, Lightning Rock, Batman Rock, Batman Pinnacle, Sundance, Thunder Buttress, The Parish, The Book, and Twin Owls, Rock One. These closures include the named formations.  Closures include all climbing routes, outcroppings, cliffs, faces, ascent and descent routes and climber access trails to the named rock formations.  Check the park’s website at www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/area_closures.htm for updated information on raptor closures. 
 
The National Park Service is committed to preserving birds of prey.  If nest sites are located or territorial behaviors such as aggressive divebombing/vocalizing or birds fleeing nest sites due to human disturbance are observed, please report the general location to ROMO_Information@nps.gov.  
 
The same cliffs that are critical for raptors also appeal to climbers.  The cooperation of climbing organizations and individuals continues to be essential to the successful nesting of raptors in the park. 
 
For further information on Rocky Mountain National Park, please visit www.nps.gov/romo or call the park’s Information Office at (970) 586-1206. 

RMNP Press Release -  In a typical year, beginning on March 1, visitors to Rocky Mountain National Park could make their wilderness campsite reservation request in person through a lottery system or online.  Due to current public health guidance related to Covid-19, there will not be any in-person Wilderness Campsite Reservation requests taken at Wilderness Offices in Rocky Mountain National Park from March 1 through March 15, 2021. Wilderness Campsite Reservation requests will only be processed online during that period, starting March 1, at 8 a.m. Mountain Standard Time for a permit for the current calendar year. Phone, mail, email and fax reservations will not be accepted.  On March 1 at 8 a.m., the link for reservations will be found at www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/wilderness-camping.htm The link to the reservation system will not be available prior to that date and time.        
      
Park staff will continue to assess wilderness backcountry site availability this year due to fire impacts from 2020.  There will be less campsite availability this year in areas that were burned or sites that are accessed through burn areas. 
      
Wilderness camping permits help provide a quality experience, minimize impacts to resources, and ensure that sites are available for those who plan ahead and reserve a permit in advance.  An overnight permit is required for backcountry camping year-round, and from May through October demand typically exceeds availability in many areas of the park’s backcountry.  Staff and volunteers in the park’s wilderness office provide trip planning advice and information for a safe and enjoyable trip into the wilderness.  Requirements for food storage necessary to protect bears and other wildlife, mountain weather, hazards, and Leave No Trace ethics are among the information received during the permitting process. 
 
For further information about Rocky Mountain National Park please visit www.nps.gov/romo or call the park’s Information Office at (970) 586-1206.   

RMNP Press Release

Fire managers from Rocky Mountain National Park plan to take advantage of any upcoming wet or winter weather conditions to burn piles of slash generated from several fuels reduction projects and hazard tree removals. Slash from these projects has been cut and piled by park fire crews and contractors during the last two years and are now dry enough to burn.   


When fighting the East Troublesome Fire in 2020 and the Fern Lake Fire in 2012, firefighters were able to take advantage of previous and existing prescribed fire and hazardous fuels treatment areas that provided a buffer between the fire and the town of Estes Park.  Prior hazard fuels projects were instrumental in stopping the fire from jumping Bear Lake Road and Trail Ridge Road.   


 Pile burning operations will only begin when conditions allow.  The piles are in a variety of locations including west of East Portal, west of Deer Mountain, along Bear Lake Road between Sprague Lake and the Bierstadt Trailhead and near the Big Thompson Bridge, near Moraine Park Campground, and on the west side of the park along the East Inlet Trail.   
 The fuels reduction projects are designed to reduce significant accumulations of forest fuels that can generate extreme or problematic fire behavior adjacent to urban interface. By reducing the potential fire behavior the wildland fire risk to firefighters and the public is significantly reduced.  However, these projects are not designed as a stand-alone defense against wildfires nor are they guaranteed to hold a wildfire in the worst of conditions.  Please do your part and complete wildfire mitigation on your property. To learn more about wildfire mitigation around your home visit www.firewise.org 
 
Safety factors, weather conditions, air quality and other environmental regulations are continually monitored as a part of any fire management operation.  Prescribed fire smoke may affect your health. For more information see https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/wood-smoke-and-health

RMNP Press Release

Today, Tuesday, December 22, additional areas reopened in Rocky Mountain National Park, as park staff continue to assess impacts from the East Troublesome Fire.    
 
On the west side of the park, the North Inlet Trail reopened to Cascade Falls and will remain closed past the Falls.  The Lower Tonahutu Trail, a short section of trail from the Kawuneeche Visitor Center to the North Inlet Trail, reopened as well.   
 
On the east side of the park, the Moraine Park Road reopened to the Fern Lake Road winter turnaround.  The Fern Lake Road, Fern Lake Trail and Cub Lake Trail remain closed. 
 
The Bierstadt Trail system has reopened.  The Bierstadt Trail can now be accessed from Bear Lake, from the Bierstadt Lake Trailhead, and from the Park & Ride area.  The two sections of trail that drop into the Mill Creek Basin will remain closed.   
 
The Upper Beaver Meadows Trail has reopened to the Moraine Park area.  However, the Beaver Mountain Trail and the Ute Trail from Upper Beaver Meadows remain closed.  The trails between Upper Beaver Mountains Road and Deer Mountain have reopened.       
 
For the most current status of trails, including maps, please visit https://www.nps.gov/romo/learn/fire-information-and-regulations.htm 
      
On Wednesday, October 21, the East Troublesome Fire ran approximately 18 miles before it moved into the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park, and then spotted approximately 1.5 miles from the head of Tonahutu Creek on the west side of the Continental Divide to the head of Spruce Creek on the east side of the Continental Divide.  Rapid evacuations took place in Grand Lake on October 21. Evacuations for the majority of the Estes Valley were implemented on October 22, as weather predictions forecast major winds on the night of October 23 through October 24 pushing the fire further to the east.  Firefighting actions and favorable weather on October 24 and 25, helped halt the major movement of the East Troublesome and Cameron Peak Fires.  
 
Approximately 30,000 acres or 9 percent of Rocky Mountain National Park has been impacted by the East Troublesome and Cameron Peak Fires.   
 
Rocky Mountain National Park’s non-profit partner, The Rocky Mountain Conservancy, is accepting donations to support the park’s future restoration efforts from this season’s fires https://rmconservancy.org/join-or-give/donate/  
    The East Troublesome Fire has been called 100% controlled and contained.  The Cameron Peak Fire has been declared 100% contained.  
 
For information on the East Troublesome Fire visit https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7242/ 
For information on the Cameron Peak Fire visit https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6964/   
     
For further information about Rocky Mountain National Park, please visit www.nps.gov/romo or contact the park’s Information Office at 970-586-1206.