Trail Ridge Road is the name for the 48-mile (77 km) stretch of U.S. Highway 34 that traverses Rocky Mountain National Park from Estes Park, Colorado in the east to Grand Lake, Colorado in the west. Together with the connecting 6.9-mile (11 km) Beaver Meadow Road, Trail Ridge Road forms the 55-mile (89 km) Trail Ridge Road/Beaver Meadow National Scenic Byway, an All-American Road. With a high point at 12,183 feet (3,713 m) elevation, Trail Ridge Road is the highest continuous paved road in North America. The higher portion of Trail Ridge Road is closed from October to May.
Trail Ridge Road, with Longs Peak (left of center), Pagoda Mountain (center, in sun), Chiefs Head Peak (right of center, in shadow), and Terra Tomah Mountain (at far right edge, in shadow), from 12,000 feet (3,700 m) above sea level in Rocky Mountain National Park
View of Trail Ridge Road
The wooden poles mark the edge of the road for the spring snowplowing. The height of the poles illustrate how deep the snowpack gets; the road is closed through the winter.
Rocky Mountain National Park
Rocky Mountain National Park is an American national park located approximately 55 mi (89 km) northwest of Denver in north-central Colorado, within the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The park is situated between the towns of Estes Park to the east and Grand Lake to the west. The eastern and western slopes of the Continental Divide run directly through the center of the park with the headwaters of the Colorado River located in the park's northwestern region. The main features of the park include mountains, alpine lakes and a wide variety of wildlife within various climates and environments, from wooded forests to mountain tundra.
View from Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park
View from Forest Canyon Overlook along Trail Ridge Road
View from Many Parks Curve on Trail Ridge Road. The "parks" in the Rockies are meadows that formed when glacial lakes drained.
Bull elk in a meadow near the headwaters of the Colorado River