Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Bighorn Sheep
Rocky Mountain National Park is a special place: 'Bighorn Crossing Zone' is a sign
you're unlikely to encounter elsewhere. From late spring through summer, three or four
volunteers and an equal number of rangers provide traffic control on US 34 at Sheep
Lakes Information Station, 2 miles west of the Fall River Entrance Station. Groups of up
to 60 sheep - typically ewes and lambs - move from the moraine ridge north of the high-
way across the road to Sheep Lakes in Horseshoe Park. Unlike the big under-curving
horns on mature rams, ewes grow swept-back crescent-shaped horns that reach only about
10in in length. The Sheep Lakes are evaporative ponds ringed with tasty salt deposits that
attract the ewes in the morning and early afternoon after lambing in May and June. In
August they rejoin the rams in the Mummy Range.
To see bighorn sheep on rocky ledges, you'll need to hike or backpack. The estimated
200 animals in the Horseshoe Park herd live permanently in the Mummy Range. On the
west side, an equally large herd inhabits the volcanic cliffs of the Never Summer Moun-
tains. A smaller herd can be seen along the Continental Divide at a distance from the rim
of the crater near Milner Pass. Three miles west of the Alpine Visitors Center on Trail
Ridge Rd, Crater Trail follows a steep course for 1 mile to the observation point.
State and federal wildlife authorities list seven amphibians, 19 birds, 23 fish, 13 mammals (including
lynx, fox and wolf), 10 reptiles and two mollusks as threatened, endangered or Species of Special Con-
cern in Colorado.
Elk
Seeing a herd of North American elk, or
wapiti
(a Native American term meaning white,
reference to the animal's white tail and rump), grazing in their natural setting is unforget-
table. According to National Park Services (NPS) surveys, about 2000 elk winter in the
Rocky Mountain National Park's lower elevations, while more than 3000 inhabit the
park's lofty terrain during summer months. The summer visitor equipped with binoculars
or a telephoto lens is almost always rewarded by patiently scanning the hillsides and
meadows near the Alpine Visitors Center. Traffic jams up as motorists stop to observe
these magnificent creatures near the uppermost section of Fall River Rd or Trail Ridge
Rd. Visitors are warned by signs and park rangers not to harass, call to or come in contact
with the animals.
