Rocky Mountain National Park

From Freepedia

Rocky Mountain
Image:Map of USA Locator Rocky Mountain NP.PNG
Designation	National Park
Location	Colorado, USA
Nearest City	Longmont, Colorado
Coordinates	40°24′ N 105°35′ W
Area	265,769 acres (1,078 km²) 107,800 ha
Date of Establishment	January 26, 1915
Visitation	3,187,889 (2000)
Governing Body	National Park Service
IUCN category	II National Park

Rocky Mountain National Park is located in the north central region of the U.S. state of Colorado.

Rocky Mountain National Park features majestic mountain views, a variety of wildlife, varied climates and environments—from wooded forests to mountain tundra—and easy access to back-country trails and campsites. The park is located north-west of Boulder, Colorado in the Colorado Rockies, and includes the Continental Divide and the headwaters of the Colorado River in its land area.

Image:Moraine Park-1.jpg

The park has five visitor centers. The park headquarters, Beaver Meadows Visitor Center, is a National Historic Landmark, designed by the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture at Taliesin West. [1]

The park is accessed by three roads, U.S. Highway 34 and 36, and Colorado State Highway 7. State Highway 7 enters the park for less than a mile, where it provides access to the Lily Lake Visitor Center. 36 enters the park on the east side, where it terminates after a few miles at 34. 34, known as Trail Ridge Road through the park, runs from the town of Estes Park, Colorado on the east to Grand Lake, Colorado on the south west. The road gets up to 12183 feet elevation, and is closed in the winter due to snow.

Longs Peak is the only fourteener in the park.

The park is surrounded by Roosevelt National Forest on the north and east, Routt National Forest on the northwest, and Arapaho National Forest on the southwest.