Grand County, Colorado – Rocky Mountain National Park, in northern Colorado, is one of the top ten most visited national parks in the U.S.; during 2004, the park hosted nearly 2.8 million visitors. But no one comes to the mountains for the crowds! There is a way, however, to enjoy this natural wonderland without the hassle: visit the Park’s “quiet side.” Generally, the western side of the Park – accessed via the Kawuneeche Visitor Center – receives less than10% of the total traffic into the park (according to 2004 statistics).
On the quiet side, you’ll find sweeping vistas, rugged terrain, peaceful meadows, and plentiful wildlife, but no crowds. Worth visiting on this side are the Kawuneeche Visitor Center and the historic Holzwarth Never Summer Ranch and trout lodge. Adams Falls is just a short hike from the parking lot at the East Inlet Trailhead, just east of the village of Grand Lake. Other local trailheads are the starting point to longer hikes that include Lone Pine Lake, Granite Falls, and the remains of the former mining camp, Lulu City.
Several of the facilities on the western side are wheelchair-accessible, including the Kawuneeche Visitor Center, Never Summer Ranch, and the restrooms at the Beaver Ponds Picnic Area and the Green Mountain, Coyote Valley, Timber Lake and Colorado River trailheads. The Bowen/Baker Trailhead boasts six accessible picnic tables and firepits as well as restrooms; the nearby Baker Gulch 1-mile interpretive trail is not wheelchair accessible but is an easy walk through one of Colorado’s oldest spruce-fir old-growth forests.
The village of Grand Lake, at the western gate to Rocky Mountain National Park, is a charming lakeside town with a beach, marina, hotels, shops, and restaurants. During the summer and fall, the town’s community building is the venue for nightly performances by the Rocky Mountain Repertory Theater. The town park hosts arts-and-crafts fairs and musical performances, and there’s bingo in the Pavilion every Friday and Saturday night during the summer. One of the town’s oldest buildings, the Kauffman House, has been restored and is now a museum. During the winter, Grand Lake is a haven for icefishing and snowmobiling.
Year-round, Rocky Mountain National Park’s “quiet side” can be reached from Denver via I-70 and U.S. Highway 40. Trail Ridge Road (US Highway 34) travels through the Park from the town of Estes Park and is open during the late spring through late fall. During the winter, the Kawuneeche Visitor Center is open, and snowshoe and Nordic trails are accessible, but automobile access further into the park is determined by weather conditions.
Grand County, Colorado is the perfect year-round destinations with activities ranging from a family ski adventure to a real Western trail ride. For additional information on Grand County and an online Trip Planner check out www.grand-county.com or call 800-729-5821. 
