Rocky Mountain National Park

Rocky Mountain National Park is a place of inspiration, reflection, wonder, history, and wilderness adventure. Park visitors across the United States and the world continue to visit Rocky Mountain National Park to discover a wide variety of experiences that are found only in this incredible place.  

In the summer of 2021 and winter of 2022-2023, we invited you to join us in envisioning the future of day use visitor access at Rocky Mountain National Park. Your feedback was instrumental in helping National Park Service (NPS) staff develop the plan and environmental assessment (EA). We have outlined three action alternatives to help the National Park Service protect park resources and values while providing for high-quality experiences for today's visitors and future generations.  

Thank you for your continued interest and support in this process!

-Rocky Mountain National Park Planning Team  

Rocky Mountain National Park was established in 1915. In 1916, Congress passed the Organic Act establishing the National Park Service as an agency under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, with the stated purpose of promoting use of national park lands while protecting them from impairment. Specifically, the Act states that the National Park Service has a dual mission: to conserve park resources and to provide for their use and enjoyment “in such a manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” In 2009, 95 percent of Rocky Mountain National Park was designated as wilderness. The Wilderness Act defines wilderness as “an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.” 

To provide additional planning guidance and to meet the park’s dual mission, Rocky Mountain National Park’s fundamental resources and values were identified in a  foundation document . Fundamental resources and values are the features, systems, processes, experiences, stories, scenes, sounds, smells, or other attributes that warrant primary consideration during planning and management processes because they are essential to achieving the purpose of the park and maintaining its significance. Fundamental resources and values are closely related to a park’s legislative purpose.

To learn more about these fundamental resources and values for Rocky Mountain National Park, click the arrows below to scroll right.  

The park provides opportunities for people to experience, understand, and care for the park environment. 

Explore Rocky Mountain National Park in the map below

Park staff use a variety of tools to protect park resources and help provide great visitor experiences, including education and enforcement. In recent years, using a variety of communication tools, the park emphasized the importance of planning ahead and the realities of full parking lots and area closures Park staff installed webcams on the main east-side entrances to demonstrate real-time length of lines. Park staff used social media and the park website to share information with visitors before they arrived to help spread use throughout the day and throughout the park.

In 2016, park staff shared tips on how to have a low-impact visit to the park, with an emphasis on fire regulations, human waste etiquette, approaching wildlife, illegal parking, dogs on trails, and more. In 2017, the park moved forward with the creation of the Rocky Pledge, encouraging all those who cared about the park to commit to actions to protect and care for it. Another strategy the park has used includes ongoing parking management with physical barriers and signs. Along all park roads, park staff use signs, parking delineators, fences, and striping to keep vehicles within designated parking areas to minimize resource damage and traffic impacts.  

Park staff have tried to manage increasing day use visitation for decades. In 1978, park staff implemented a shuttle system to accommodate visitor recreation in the Bear Lake Road Corridor. Park staff have adjusted the shuttle bus schedules, stop locations, and frequencies since the shuttle system began. In 2000, the National Park Service implemented major improvements to the shuttle system by expanding the Park & Ride lot, formalizing most shuttle stops, and improving transit equipment.

Hiker Shuttle service began in 2006, providing limited service between Estes Park and the park. Over the years of its service, the National Park Service has expanded its season and adjusted its operations and schedule. For example, in 2017, park staff discontinued the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center shuttle stop due to a high volume of riders parking in the lot all day, which disrupted regular visitor services at the visitor center.

The National Park Service experimented and piloted several day use visitor management strategies from 2016 to 2022 to address crowding and congestion, as well as residual impacts. Each pilot program gave park staff important information about changes in visitor use and issues associated with implementation. These short-term temporary pilot programs, and those used by other federally managed lands in similar situations, provided valuable information for possible long-term management strategies developed during this planning process. Pilot programs at Rocky Mountain National Park included the following:  

The National Park Service is required by the NPS Organic Act and the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) to plan and make decisions that help preserve park resources and values. The NEPA process is intended to “help public officials make decisions that are based on understanding of environmental consequences, and take actions that protect, restore, and enhance the environment” (1500.1). In accordance with the NEPA process, park staff developed a plan and environmental assessment (EA). The plan and EA presents alternative management strategies, the park’s preferred alternative strategy, and an analysis of potential affected environment and environmental consequences of each alternative.

This StoryMap provides an overview of the Rocky Mountain Day Use Visitor Access Plan and Environmental Assessment and serves as a quick reference guide to access parts of the plan and EA that are most important to you. The plan and EA has four chapters and detailed appendixes for additional information.  

This chapter introduces the document and provides important background information on why the plan and EA is needed, issues the plan and EA will address, and the purpose of the project.

Park staff have observed a wide range of issues when visitor use is concentrated temporally and spatially. Issues that arise from concentrated use impact four primary objectives that this plan and EA is trying to address, including impacts on park resources, visitor experience, staff and visitor safety concerns, and facilities and operations.  

The day use visitor access plan and EA project planning team developed three action alternatives (or “alternatives”) to achieve the purpose and need for the plan and EA. Park staff created these alternatives with input from the public and stakeholders. These alternatives help protect the park’s fundamental resources and values and improve visitor access and opportunities. This chapter also includes a description of the no-action alternative (alternative A), which would be a return to the management of the park before the timed entry reservation pilots in 2020–2023. While alternative A does not meet the purpose and need for this plan, it provides a basis for comparing the impacts of other alternatives. 

Regardless of the alternative selected, park staff will continue to use the following visitor use management strategies. 

Across all action alternatives, this plan and EA would establish management zones for day use and desired conditions in those zones. The zoning and desired conditions from this plan and EA complement the park’s Backcountry/Wilderness Management Plan (NPS 2001). Park staff identified zones and desired conditions to clarify the answer to the question, “what are we managing for?” in terms of day users in each area of the park. Each alternative was developed to be compatible with attaining these desired conditions, as well as meeting the purpose and need for the plan. Common to all action alternatives, the park would start managing to three day-use zones.    

Under any action alternative, indicators and thresholds would be established. This iterative practice of monitoring, implementing management strategies, and then continuing to monitor to gauge the effectiveness of those actions would allow park managers to maximize the benefits for visitors while achieving and maintaining desired conditions for resources and visitor experiences in a dynamic setting. These indicators, along with other recurring and ongoing monitoring at the park, will inform if and when reservation system adaptations are needed. 

Across all action alternatives, park staff would require visitors in private vehicles and on the Hiker Shuttle to obtain a timed entry reservation to access the Bear Lake Road Corridor and other areas of the park. For purposes of this plan, this corridor is defined as the northern point on Bear Lake Road at the intersection with Beaver Meadows Road (Highway 36) and all associated roads that branch off Bear Lake Road in the corridor to the Bear Lake parking area at the end of the road. The reservation system would allow for visitor arrivals within a distinct block of time (e.g., from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.) on the day of the reservation. Upon initial implementation of this plan, this system would be in place from May through October from 5:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. each day.  

Across all action alternatives, park staff would adaptively manage both the timed entry reservation for the Bear Lake Road Corridor and any reservation system described in the subsequent alternatives and based on monitoring indicators to ensure that desired conditions for resources and visitor experiences are being maintained and achieved. The seasonality, time of day, distribution, and exceptions may shift annually, depending on factors including, but not limited to, visitor use patterns, staff availability, and shuttle operations. Any changes to the reservation system would be within the range of adaptive management strategies listed below and would be communicated with the public before implementation.    

Operation and management of the reservation system would be funded through an expanded amenity fee associated with each reservation. The expanded amenity fee would cover both the cost of operating and managing the reservation system, as well as any fees associated with the Recreation.gov platform.

Concession contract holders would not be required to acquire reservations, as market entry is already managed via the competitive contract bid process. Commercial use authorization (CUA) holders would not be required to acquire reservations (as described in the action alternatives) as long as total CUA clients remain below 2% of average annual visitation. To monitor CUA client numbers, the park would continue to require CUA operators to report their annual visitor use statistics. If the 2% threshold is exceeded for two consecutive years, then park staff would develop a reservation system specific to CUA operators and would communicate these changes before implementation.  

Visitor capacity is the maximum amounts and types of visitor use that an area can accommodate while achieving and maintaining the desired resource conditions and visitor experiences that are consistent with the purposes for which an area was created. By identifying and managing the maximum amount and types of visitor use (visitor capacities), the National Park Service can help ensure that resources are protected and visitors have the opportunity for a range of high-quality experiences, not only today but for future generations, as directed by the NPS Organic Act (1916) (54 USC 100101). 

This chapter describes the current and expected future condition of visitor use and experience; socioeconomics; alpine tundra; lakeshore and streamside vegetation; opportunities for solitude in wilderness; and the natural quality of wilderness character that may be affected by the alternatives under consideration, including the reasonably foreseeable environmental trends and planned action(s) in the area (40 CFR 1502.15). The effects of the proposed actions under each alternative are compared to the conditions of the resources. The resources relate to the key issues, and this impact analysis will inform the NPS decision on how to provide day use visitor access in a way that protects and enhances the park’s fundamental resources and allows visitors to have high-quality experiences.

Please see chapter 3 of the plan and EA for a full analysis of the affected environment, environmental consequences, and comparative conclusions across alternatives for each topic.  

The National Park Service is in the third and final phase of a multiphase planning process (see graphic below).  

We are eager to hear from you on the potential environmental impacts of the alternatives. Reading the plan and EA (not just this StoryMap) is necessary to provide your feedback. Comments that are not helpful include those that (1) vote for or against a potential management strategy or alternative without giving reasons why; (2) agree or disagree with laws, regulation, or NPS policy; (3) discuss other projects or other areas that are not related to the plan; and/or (4) contain vague language or open-ended questions or statements.

To be most helpful, your comments should address:

• (1) the purpose and need for action;
• (2) the environmental issues/impact topics analyzed;
• (3) your opinions on the alternatives, including mitigation measures that could reduce potentially harmful effects; and
• (4) the information used to describe the affected environment and environmental consequences.

Rocky Mountain National Park will be accepting public feedback via the NPS Planning, Environment and Public Comment website from October 30, 2023, through December 14, 2023. To share your comments, visit the park's project page and select the "Open for Comment" button/link located on the left side of the screen.