Scenic Drives
Old Fall River Road and Trail Ridge Road are both scenic and thrilling drives.
Plan Around Scenic Drives
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Scenic Drives Details
Feeling the pioneer spirit? A drive along Rocky Mountain National Park's Old Fall River Road is a chance not only to experience a route used by the earliest park visitors but also to trace the steps of Native American hunters, who blazed this path long ago. Old Fall River Road opened in 1920 as the park's first road and remains a narrow, twisting, gravel-paved transit between Horseshoe Park (just west of the park's Fall River Entrance) and Fall River Pass. You'll have plenty of views and thrills as you climb to 11,796 feet on a steep mountain road with no guardrails: the 15-mile-per-hour speed limit is entirely justified and should be strictly observed. Built in 1931, Trail Ridge Road is less perilous but no less awe-inspiring. Traversing the park east-to-west for 46 miles between Estes Park and Grand Lake, Trail Ridge Road offers 11 glorious miles of unobstructed views of the Rockies as it climbs above the treeline, entering a harshly beautiful alpine world and crossing the Continental Divide. Just outside the park are several other spectacular auto tours, including the Colorado Scenic Byway and the Peak to Peak and Colorado River Headwaters drives.
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Nearby Parks Around Scenic Drives
Compare nearby parks around Scenic Drives when deciding whether to expand the route after this stop.
Nearby Points of Interest Around Scenic Drives
Use nearby POIs to quickly expand your options beyond Scenic Drives while the map context is still fresh.
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