This visitor center is located on Bear Lake Road. The building is one of the few surviving original structures, built by one of the pioneering women in the area as part of a larger development of lodges, cabins, dining hall, and social area. It was first used as a dining hall and dance hall. (No, not a saloon-style dance hall.)
If you miss stopping at a visitor center driving into Rocky Mountain National Park, this is your closest East side option. It is a nice visitor center with an interesting museum, park-affiliated store (books, tshirts, mugs, water bottles, and jr ranger & kid-related items), short nature trail, and Summer headquarters for Discovery Days on Tues. and Wed. It is also home to Treena the puppet tree. If you come in, the kids will make a beeline to Treena.
There is a nice amphitheatre popular for weddings and the occasional ranger program. Great place to pick up Jr Ranger books, be sworn in as a Jr Ranger when the books are finished, get trail maps and hiking suggestions, and ask general park information questions.
It is only open seasonally, from Memorial Day through Columbus Day. Hours are generally 9 - 4:30 but double check the...
Read moreThis was a great stop while we were visiting Rocky Mountain National Park. The rangers were very helpful and informative. They were able to help our kids with the junior ranger program, and also had great suggestions for avoiding the crowds and traffic. The center has an interesting museum area upstairs and a shop and kid's play area downstairs. Best of all it has real bathrooms with running water, unlike the glorified port-o-potties that are necessary at the higher elevations (like on Trail...
Read moreNice stop to make while in the Rocky Mountain National Forest. The park rangers were friendly and made it a point to come talk to the kids and tell them about the Junior Ranger program. They gave all the kids booklets geared towards their specific age and told them to fill it out along our journey through the forest and then find a ranger when complete. The kids had fun with the booklet and were super proud to be sworn in & given their very own Junior Ranger badge! Now they are official...
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