Rocky Mountain National Park Rocky Mountain National Park is a showcase of the grandeur of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The Park has elevations ranging from 8,000 feet in the wet, grassy valleys to 14,259 feet at the weather-ravaged top of Longs Peak. Rocky Mountain National Park provides visitors with opportunities for countless breathtaking experiences and adventures.
Millions of years ago massive glaciers shaped these Colorado meadows and peaks, Rocky Mountain National Park was an inhospitable land. It was not until some 11,000 years ago that humans began venturing into what would be called Grand County. Spearheads broken in the fury of a mammoth's charge and scrapers discarded along a nomad's trail tell us little about the area's early native peoples. Even though it was never their year-round home, the Ute tribe favored these Colorado Mountains for their lush green valleys, tundra meadows, crystal blue lakes and the thousands of Elk Herds for the summer hunting grounds. The Utes dominated the area until the late 1700s.
With the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, the U.S. government acquired the land now known as Rocky Mountain National Park. Spanish explorers and French fur trappers skirted the area during their wilderness forays. Even Major Stephen H. Long, the explorer for whom the peak is named, avoided these rugged barricades in his famous 1820 expedition. The Pikes Peak gold rush of 1859 drew hopeful miners and speculators. Their settlements at places like Lulu City, in what is not the northwest part of the park, were ephemeral. The rousing boom times yielded to an industrious homesteading period starting in the 1860s. Harsh winters proved inhospitable to grazing, but the abundant bears, deer, wolves, and elk howled and grazed through the trees and the Colorado mountains continued to draw Easterners impressed by the sublime landscape. Mountain water proved more precious than gold. January 26, 1915, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Rocky Mountain National Park Act.
Since 1915, legislators focused on the scenic and natural wonders Colorado. After World War II, with park visitation increasing across the country, the National Park Service implemented Mission 66, a nationwide development and improvement program. Rocky, like many parks, suffered from outdated facilities. Mission 66 brought new comfort stations, overlooks, employee housing and visitor centers to Rocky Mountain National Park.Every year, more cultural resources are identified and protected in Rocky Mountain National Park. Rocky Mountain National Park can be accessed from both the West and the East side of the Colorado Rocky Mountains.
The Circle H Lodge is minutes away from the western entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. Take advantage of our location and explore the park for a couple of days we guarantee you will come back again.
Fall in Rocky Mountain National Park
Snowmobiling Grand Lake
Circle H Retreat & Glass Art Center ~ 6732 US Highway 34 ~ Granby, CO 80446 ~ 970-887-9814
