St Vrain State Park in Longmont, Colorado is where we usually stay when visiting Rocky Mountain NP; as it is only about 40 miles from this amazing National Park. It is a nice state park with beautiful ponds, trails and views; however, you can hear highway noise, which is not ideal.
The last time we were here in 2019, the park did not have any paved trails, so this was definitely a bonus, in addition to all the gravel paths for biking and running.
Even though we have been to Rocky Mountain National Park several times, there is still so much to see, and we love this park. This time we drove Old Falls River Road; the first automobile road in the park. It is still unpaved, very hilly and curvy. The best part was seeing Chasm Waterfall and lots of Elk. We had a wonderful breakfast at the Trail Ridge store and then hiked Medicine Bow Curve looking for white- tailed Ptarmigans, but unfortunately did not see any of these interesting birds.
While at St. Vrain SP, we had to get some diesel engine service. Mike tried several things to fix the issue; changing belts, etc.; however, the engine needed a new manifold. We ended up staying three nights in a Denver hotel, and one night at the Cumings Service Center, and then came back to our site. It actually was pretty fun! We went to three matinees, hiked and drove through the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge, hiked Bluffs Lake Nature Center, and Julie had a blast biking on the Denver trails. We were thankful to head back to our campsite and have a surprise visit with our Godson Tyler, who was in town visiting.
Next stop, Lake McConaughy in Nebraska to visit friends.
St. Vrain Campsite
View of Longs Peak from Coots Lake
Rainbow After the Storm
St. Vrain Bike Trail
Mike Birding/Hiking - RMNP
More Rocky Mountain National Park
Chasm Waterfall - RMNP
RV Needs Diesel Engine Service
Bison -RM Arsenal NW Refuge
Denver Hotel Sunset
Swainson's hawk- Bluff Lake NC
Bluff Lake Nature Center
