The best of the Rocky Mountains is captured in this high mountain national park, located along the Continental Divide in north-central Colorado. Established in 1915, the park can be seen in various ways, from the safety and comfort of a car driving along Trail Ridge Road, or from a precarious perch on the edge of an icy wall of rock. To get an overall view of the park, most visitors combine a car trip with at least several walks and hikes, and we suggest that you do this as well.
Although Trail Ridge Road is Rocky's main attraction and certainly the easiest way to see the park's famous alpine tundra, don't neglect other sections of the park, such as Bear Lake Road, which provides excellent views and leads to several particularly scenic hiking trails. Perhaps the best piece of advice we can give, though, is to refrain from rushing through the entire park in a single visit. Take your time and get to know the park more intimately, on its own terms.
Where to Find Restrooms
The all-important restrooms at Rocky Mountain National Park are generally well maintained but vary considerably in the facilities offered. As at most national parks, the best are at the visitor centers and museums, where you'll find heated rooms with flush toilets and sinks with hot water.
Along Trail Ridge Road there are vault toilets at Rainbow Curve Overlook, the trail head for Tundra Nature Trail, Rock Cut, Fall River Pass, Milner Pass, Colorado River Trailhead, Timber Lake Trailhead, Holzwarth Trout Lodge Historic Site, Bowen/Baker Gulch Trailhead, Green Mountain Trailhead, Coyote Valley Trailhead, and East Inlet Trailhead. There are flush toilets with cold-water sinks at all of the park's developed campgrounds and the Bear Lake Trailhead, which are open in summer only. Once freezing temperatures arrive, only vault toilets are available. There are also vault toilets in other areas throughout the park.
Although essentially outhouses, vault toilets have come a long way in the past 25 years -- now they're clean, they're sanitary, and, best of all, they don't smell. However, they have no lights and no heat, and although vault toilets do not have water for hand washing, most of those in the park do provide waterless hand soap.
During busy times, the less-developed restroom facilities may run out of toilet paper, so it's best to carry a small packet of facial tissues or a similar backup source of this important commodity.
