Frommer's National Parks of the American West - Don Laine [351]
Park visitors also often see mule deer, beavers, coyotes, and river otters. Watch for moose among the willows on the west side of the park. The forests are home to an abundance of songbirds and small mammals; particularly plentiful are gray and Steller's jays, Clark's nutcrackers, chipmunks, and golden-mantled ground squirrels. You also have a good chance of seeing bighorn sheep, marmots, pikas, and ptarmigan along Trail Ridge Road. For detailed and current wildlife-viewing information, stop by one of the park's visitor centers and check on the many interpretive programs, such as bird walks.
Camping
INSIDE THE PARK
The park has five campgrounds with a total of almost 600 sites, nearly half of them at Moraine Park. Moraine Park and Glacier Basin require reservations from Memorial Day through early September. For reservations, call ☎ 800/ 365-2267 or visit the park's website. In summer, arrive early if you hope to snare one of the first-come, first-served campsites. Campsites cost $20 per night during the summer or $14 in the off season, when water is turned off. No showers or RV hookups are available. Camping is limited to 3 days at Longs Peak and 7 days at other campgrounds.
NEAR THE PARK
THE EAST SIDE
Choices on the east side include the Estes Park KOA, 2051 Big Thompson Ave., Estes Park, CO 80517 (☎ 800/ 562-1887 for reservations, or 970/586-2888; www.estesparkkoa.com), 1 mile east of Estes Park on U.S. 34. Scenically located across the street from Lake Estes and within walking distance of the Big Thompson River, this KOA lacks a swimming pool but has cable-TV hookups, a basketball court, and a game room. In addition to the campsites, there are camping cabins ($40–$60 double) and cottages with kitchens and bathrooms ($95–$130 double). There are fire pits in the tent and cabin areas, but not at RV sites.
The National Park Retreats, 3501 Fall River Rd., Estes Park, CO 80517
(☎ 970/586-4563; www.nationalpark retreats.com), is a wooded campground on the border of the park, just across the street from the Gateway Visitor Center. It accommodates both tents and RVs. All sites have at least water and electricity; full hookups include electricity, water, sewer, and cable TV. A coin-operated laundry is nearby. Cabins, available year-round, cost $80 and up.
The most luxurious camping is at Spruce Lake R.V. Park, 1050 Mary's Lake Rd., Estes Park, CO 80517 (☎ 800/536-1050 or 970/586-2889; www.sprucelakerv.com), about a mile west of the intersection of U.S. 34 and Business U.S. 36. Here you'll be pampered with miniature golf, a heated swimming pool, a large playground, a stocked private fishing lake (fee), large sites, cable-TV hookups, and numerous scheduled activities such as ice-cream socials. Fully equipped cabins are available ($94–$140). Ground tents are not permitted.
Two Roosevelt National Forest campgrounds lie within easy driving distance of the park's east entrances: Olive Ridge, 14½ miles south of Estes Park
along Colo. 7, has pleasant, shady, well-spaced sites and an amphitheater. A less developed campground, for those who carry their own drinking water, is Meeker Park Overflow, about 12 miles south of Estes Park on Colo. 7. Both campgrounds have vault toilets.
In Estes Park, a Forest Service Information Center is at 161 Second St. (☎ 970/586-3440); it's usually open daily from 9am to 5pm in summer. For year-round information, contact the Forest Service Information Center, 2150 Centre Ave., Building E, Fort Collins, CO 80526 (☎ 970/295-6700; www.fs.fed.us/r2).
For reservations (Olive Ridge Campground only) contact the National Recreation Reservation Service (☎ 877/ 444-6777;