Rocky Mountain NP

A Visitor's Center is located within a cirque. Here in the park are the headwaters of the Colorado River. The upper reaches of the Colorado River flow through the mountains. Where the highway crosses the Divide, elevation is 12,005 feet - that's over 2 miles high!

The Continental Divide runs through the park, separating east-flowing waters from west-flowing rivers. Only small "glacierets" remain today. The main erosive agent is now water, exemplified by Fall River. Gneiss records ancient mountain-building episodes. The rocks of the high country are Precambrian granite and gneiss.

Tight folds in gneiss bear witness to compressive forces that shape mountains. A granite outcrop is visible in this roadcut. Present-day topography, such as here at Hayden Gorge and Peak, is due to the action of Pleistocene glaciers. View the high country from Gore Range Overlook above Gorge Lakes valley.

High on an old uplifted erosion surface, tundra vegetation grows . The trail up Long's Peak rises above treeline. Long's Peak is probably the most famous mountain in the park. Nestled under the side of Long's Peak, a tarn (lake) occupies a cirque.

The glaciers piled up moraines, where now grow forests of lodgepole pine. Lateral moraines along valley walls and medial moraines within valleys mark the positions of the former glaciers. The oldest moraines are the most extensively weathered and overgrown. Rock polygons form under periglacial conditions, where frost action and slow mass movement arrange the rocks in patterns.

Welcome to the park! There's good skiing in RMNP! Hiking the trails is necessary, to truly appreciate the park. Tundra glows with flowers in the spring.

Lateral moraines along valley walls and medial moraines within valleys mark the positions of the former glaciers. A valley stretches upward toward the mountains.

This page created on a Macintosh using PhotoPage by John A. Vink.


A Visitor's Center is located within a cirque.	Here in the park are the headwaters of the Colorado River.	The upper reaches of the Colorado River flow through the mountains.	Where the highway crosses the Divide, elevation is 12,005 feet - that's over 2 miles high!

The Continental Divide runs through the park, separating east-flowing waters from west-flowing rivers.	Only small "glacierets" remain today. The main erosive agent is now water, exemplified by Fall River.	Gneiss records ancient mountain-building episodes.	The rocks of the high country are Precambrian granite and gneiss.

Tight folds in gneiss bear witness to compressive forces that shape mountains.	A granite outcrop is visible in this roadcut.	Present-day topography, such as here at Hayden Gorge and Peak, is due to the action of Pleistocene glaciers.	View the high country from Gore Range Overlook above Gorge Lakes valley.

High on an old uplifted erosion surface, tundra vegetation grows .	The trail up Long's Peak rises above treeline.	Long's Peak is probably the most famous mountain in the park.	Nestled under the side of Long's Peak, a tarn (lake) occupies a cirque.

The glaciers piled up moraines, where now grow forests of lodgepole pine.	Lateral moraines along valley walls and medial moraines within valleys mark the positions of the former glaciers.	The oldest moraines are the most extensively weathered and overgrown.	Rock polygons form under periglacial conditions, where frost action and slow mass movement arrange the rocks in patterns.

Welcome to the park!	There's good skiing in RMNP!	Hiking the trails is necessary, to truly appreciate the park.	Tundra glows with flowers in the spring.

Lateral moraines along valley walls and medial moraines within valleys mark the positions of the former glaciers.	A valley stretches upward toward the mountains.