Has anyone gone camping in Rocky Mountain National Park before? I am looking to only stay a night or two with my girlfriend. Ideally solitude and lake views would be nice, but I know it's not the BWCA. Would love to hear if anyone of you have some suggestions. Thanks!

Yes, my daughter I stayed at the Golden Banner site in June of 2015. It's only a 2.5 mile hike but it's a nice sandy site next to a stream. We were going to do a ~4 mile day hike from that site to Lawn Lake, but had a thunderstorm come through and we were only staying 1 night. Lawn Lake has 2 campsites and is supposed to be very nice.

Lawn Lake PDF

Moraine Park is one of the best campgrounds in the park. Great views across the valley of Long's Peak. It is stunning.

I have stayed at Lawn Lake backcountry site in June of 2000-- highly recommend it. The hikes that you can do from there are pretty incredible and are mainly above treeline. Back then some of the sites at LAWN were for hikers only - some for horses. It was obvious which ones had Horses at them :O) Mummy Mtn just to the NE of LAWN Lake is basically a sheer 1000' cliff. We had elk within 20 yards at times. With sore legs- I do remember it being a trek (compared to the BW/Q) down to get water from the lake. One day we hiked above Crystal Lake and below Hagues Peak-- it was surreal as your since of distance without tall objects (trees) along with the openness played on your mind as you hiked. We got our water from Lawn Lake and various creeks (no filter) -- I was fine but I think my buddy got a little bug-- (he was sick to begin with,, and then altitude quickly, but he swears he got something from the water. If you hike above tree line,, make sure you are prepared for almost daily occurrence of afternoon thunderstorms. Some have rain-- some are "dry" and the lightning can come out of a cloud that is not as dark as we are used to in the Upper Midwest. Plan accordingly and always have a reasonable quick idea to not be the highest object around.

I have also stayed at the Longs Peak Campground on the SE side. Smallish and more quiet compared to the others in more popular areas. We hiked/climbed to the top of Estes Cone. Simply amazing views.



View of Longs Peak (the only fourteener in RMNP) from Estes Cone- below


Headed to Wyoming for a family vac / training trip for upcoming canoeing challenge. Have some peaks picked out in the Medicine Bow / Shoshone National Forests as potential day climbs, but if anyone has some pointers/ideas-- feel free to let me know!!!

Thanks everyone! I booked a trip for Lawn Lake.

I'll be going there in a few weeks, thanks for the info!

I don't think you can go wrong, i have yet to see a site in any of their campgrounds i would not like to stay at

I camped at Goblins Forest campground in 2003. It's a little over a mile to get to from the trailhead. Pretty steep trail to get there. Nice campsite at about 10,000 feet. Well positioned if you want to hike up to Long's Peak. We got up early (4AM) to hike to the top of Long's Peak. Really cool trip. if you do decide to hike to the top of the peak , make sure to get to the top and start heading back down by noon. Lightening storms are typical in the mountains in the afternoon. It was roughly a 10 hour round trip hike from Goblins. Slow goin once you get to the Keyhole.

We rented a cabin with a place called Bear Paw located in Thompson Canyon just outside of Estes. We weren't sure what to expect but the place was so nice it brought tears to my wife's eyes. Rustic with cedar etc but with all high end woodsy furnishing. Classy!

If you can catch the 4th of July rodeo in Estes don't fail to attend. A small venue and a first class rodeo with the Rockies as a backdrop. At the end they have the fireworks display. Impressive!

I'm taking the family (wife and 2 college age daughters) for a long weekend before school starts back up but we haven't decided on where to stay yet. Estes Park vs Winterpark? Estes Park seems to have more shops, etc the ladies would like as well as proximity to hiking, but Winterpark lodging is much cheaper and has more adventurous things like the mountain bike parks, etc. Any recommendations?

JD

I've stayed at FloAnn's Cottages in Estes Park. It was a nice rustic cottage up in the hills. We were able to hike behind the cabin up to a pretty nice view point and it was close enough to RMNP as well. Seemed like a decent rate.

Estes park all the way if you have college age kids and the wife along.........it is a nice diversion.

And do the white water rafting..........not overly spectacular but it will being some smiles and memories.

You can always drop mom and the girls in town to do the whole shopping thing and grab your rod and a few lures and head into the park for a hike and fish. Hello??? "Back at 3, love ya, and heres $100, have fun".

quote jdevries: "I'm taking the family (wife and 2 college age daughters) for a long weekend before school starts back up but we haven't decided on where to stay yet. Estes Park vs Winterpark? Estes Park seems to have more shops, etc the ladies would like as well as proximity to hiking, but Winterpark lodging is much cheaper and has more adventurous things like the mountain bike parks, etc. Any recommendations?


JD"

Either is a good choice. If you stayed in Winter Park, you can enter RMNP on the west side, my preferred entry point - it's not as busy as the Estes Park entry point. You're likely to see more wildlife on the west side. I've seen moose, herds of elk and mule deer hiking up the Colorado River on the west side of the park. Other benefits to the west side:
- Grand Lake (very nice, quaint little town on picturesque lake)
- Boating on Grand Lake
- Fly fishing in the Colorado near Hot Sulphur Springs - gold medal waters for rainbow and brownies

Nice Park, very crowded when we were there last summer in late July. Busiest National Park in the country the park service told us.
CB

If you get the chance a great mix of views without being overly tough is Hallet Peak, it's also a great prep trip if you have a layover day before hiking up Longs Peak.