Rocky Mountain National Park: Wild and Wonderful

01Our National Parks journey this week takes us to an extreme landscape in Colorado.

02Around us are clear lakes, aspen and fir trees, and mountain peaks that rise over 4,400 meters.

03Welcome to Rocky Mountain National Park.

04National Parks in both countries protect many of the huge peaks.

05Here in Colorado, Rocky Mountain National Park covers about 1,100 square kilometers.

06Although it is much smaller than other western parks like Yellowstone, it welcomes almost as many visitors each year.

07People from around the world come to experience its alpine or high mountain environment.

08In the spring and summer, wildflowers burst to life, and many kinds of butterflies arrive.

09In the fall, the aspen trees turn bright yellow and orange.

10In the winter, deep snow blankets the park.

11Its peaceful alpine lakes freeze over.

12One of the major sites here is the Continental Divide.

13The area in the high mountains separates the rivers that flow into the Pacific Ocean from the rivers that flow into the Atlantic Ocean.

14The Rockies' huge glaciers form the rivers.

15Glaciers help tell the natural history of the land.

16Over millions of years, glaciers carved deep canyons out of rock.

17Erosion from wind and water formed the mountains' sharp summits that we see today.

18Rock at the top of these summits is some of the oldest found on Earth.

19It was not until 11,000 years ago that humans began living in the area.

20The Utes tribe settled here for part of the year thousands of years ago.

21Winter was too severe to survive.

22When the weather warmed, they lived in the green valleys and meadows and near the lakes.

23In 1803, the U.S.

24government gained control of the land we now call Rocky Mountain National Park.

25It came as part of the Louisiana Purchase, which almost doubled the size of the United States.

26In the 1840s, American writer Rufus Sage came to the Rockies.

27He wandered the area from 1841 until 1843, spending time with fur trappers, Native Americans, soldiers, and hunters.

28His long and detailed account of mountain life was published in 1846.

29He called it Scenes in the Rocky Mountains.

30Rufus Sage wrote, Further on were yet higher summits, surmounted by pines and cedars, raising their heads in stately grandeur, far above the sweet valleys at their feet.

31Taken together, the scenery was not only romantic and picturesque, but bewitching in its beauty and repulsive in its deformity.

32Beginning in the late 1850s, gold and silver rushes brought huge crowds to the Colorado Rockies.

33Miners arrived in search of the precious metals.

34They settled temporary cities.

35One of the best known is called Lulu City.

36It was settled in the late 1870s, after miners discovered silver nearby.

37By 1880, more than 500 miners lived in Lulu City.

38It had a meat shop, a post office, and many houses and mining companies.

39Lulu City was short-lived.

40In just five years, miners left town, seeking other opportunities.

41Today, some visitors choose to hike to this ghost town, where they will find old cabins and remains of buildings.

42As more and more people came to the area, concern for protecting the natural environment grew.

43In 1909, the nature guide and naturalist Enos Mills began pushing for the creation of a national park here.

44He first climbed the towering Long's Peak when he was just 15 years old.

45Long's Peak is the area's tallest mountain, at 4,346 meters.

46Mills made the hike 40 times by himself during his lifetime, and almost 300 times as a mountain guide.

47Mills wrote and gave talks about the Long's Peak area to urge Congress to make it a national park.

48On January 26, 1915, Mills got his wish.

49President Woodrow Wilson signed the Rocky Mountain National Park Act to make America's 10th national park.

50The Denver Post newspaper called Mills the father of Rocky Mountain National Park.

51Today, more than 3 million people visit Rocky Mountain National Park each year.

52In 2015, it was the third most visited national park in the country.

53Many visitors arrive by car.

54They drive the Trail Ridge Road, which winds through meadows and forests and up the mountains.

55The road was built in the 1930s, during the Great Depression.

56At the time, many of the western national parks were served by the railway.

57Travelers arrived on trains.

58But a railroad never served Rocky Mountain National Park.

59The National Park Service described it as always an auto park.

60The high number of visitors and vehicles caused concern.

61In the 1970s, park officials began managing crowds.

62They started using buses in the park and created a campsite system in the wild backcountry.

63Today, conservation efforts continue.

64Park officials educate visitors and urge them to respect the natural environment.

65Rocky Mountain National Park's scenery and wildlife attract huge numbers of visitors.

66The park has over 480 kilometers of hiking trails.

67They include challenging climbs up some of the tallest mountains and forest hikes that lead to the park's many waterfalls.

68They also include trails to crystal blue alpine lakes.

69One leads to Mills Lake, in honor of Enos Mills.

70The view of Long's Peak from the lakeside is one of the finest views in the whole park.

71One of the most extreme hikes in the park is the Continental Divide Loop.

72The 86-kilometer path cuts through glacial valleys and past lakes and waterfalls.

73It takes most hikers at least six days to complete.

74Long hikes give visitors a chance to experience Rocky Mountain wildlife.

75Within the park are hundreds of elk and bighorn sheep, as well as a small moose population.

76The park's huge number of large animals makes it one of the best places in America for wildlife watching.

77Butterflies fill the park's meadows.

78Some of the most common kinds are the Painted Lady, the Arctic Blue, and the Western Pine Elfin.

79Butterflies help researchers in the park study the effects of climate change.

80Scientists and volunteers collected information on butterfly populations from 1995 until 2011.

81They identified more than 140 butterfly species.

82Park visitors also come to fish, bike, and go horseback riding.

83The animals are permitted on most of the park's hiking trails.

84You can ride in the park on horseback.

85You can explore on foot.

86You can sleep under the stars.

87You can sit by a clear, quiet lake.

88However you visit Rocky Mountain National Park, you will likely find, in the words of Enos Mills, The Paths of Peace and a Repose that is Sweeter Than Sleep.

89I'm Katie Weaver.

90And I'm Ashley Thompson.

91I'm Ashley Thompson.

92I'm Ashley Thompson.

93I'm Ashley Thompson.

94I'm Ashley Thompson.

95I'm Ashley Thompson.

96I'm Ashley Thompson.

97I'm Ashley Thompson.

98I'm Ashley Thompson.