Summer Private Rocky Mountain National Park Driving Tour
Description
Join us for an unforgettable experience in our 3-row Subaru Ascent! Drive through the Rocky Mountain National Park on a 4, 5, or 6 hour private tour with only your party & your guide! Our Summer Rocky Mountain Tour starts you in the lower valley meadows, then takes you on a journey up iconic roads that are open for your visit (Trail Ridge Road June - Sep., or off-road on Old Fall River Road July - Sep.) where you will see beautiful mountain views & waterfalls, we’ll make a short stop at the highest visitor center in the US National Park system, and drive back down the highest continuous paved road in the United States, Trail Ridge Road, on our way back to Estes Park. This tour is NOT a hiking tour, and focuses more on driving in the National Park with small strolls throughout. We are only able to offer pickup for guests staying in Estes Park. If you are staying outside of Estes Park, we can meet you at the free parking garage for the Estes Park Visitor Center for pickup.
Tour Options
Itinerary
See the historic and famously haunted Stanley Hotel on your drive towards Rocky Mountain National Park with history and stories of this iconic location.
Our tour in Estes Park is all about taking a beautiful drive into the Rocky Mountain National Park. We'll take you as high up the mountain as the weather allows through beautiful scenic mountain passes. You'll see the city of Estes Park from above, beautiful lakes, meadows, waterfalls, and wildlife. Don't worry about the timed entry permit, your entrance and permit into the Rocky Mountain National Park are included!
Our your way up to the tundra, you'll stop for a guided walk around the Alluvial Fan to see Horseshoe Falls and learn the history of this unique feature in the National Park
When open (typically July through September), your guide Riley will take you up Old Fall River Road, a one-way dirt road that goes up to the Alpine Visitor Center. You'll experience thrilling cliff-side mountain driving, see beautiful wildlife, flowing waterfalls, and more! When Old Fall River Road is not open, you will drive up Trail Ridge Road as far as it is open for the season.
Make a short stop at the highest Visitor Center in all of the US National Park System! Your guide will spend 20 minutes here for you to shop. Grab a snack, snap some photos, or get your National Park Passport stamped before heading back to Estes Park
On the drive back to Estes Park, your guide will take you down the highest continuous paved road in the United States, Trail Ridge Road. (Typically June through September) Witness the changing beauty of the ecosystems within the Rocky Mountain National Park from the upper tundra to the lower montane.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
We are only able to offer pickup for guests within Estes Park. Send us your pickup address in Estes Park (any location) and we'll be sure to arrive promptly at your tour start time. If you’re staying outside of Estes Park, please meet us at the Estes Park Visitor Center Parking Garage. Just look out for our blue Subaru Ascent!
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Please note that you need to bring your own infant seats if you are with an infant during the tour.
Reviews(120)
Riley at Explorer Estes Tours gave a detailed and inspirational term of this lovely national Park. His knowledge of this park and the detail of explaining its history an inspirational detailed stories. He knew where all the major wildlife sighting spots were and we had a fabulous time and saw the tank the bull Moose. I highly recommend this to Group. If you happen to be in the Estes Park area five stars just fabulous tour.
I booked the 6 hour private Rocky Mountain National Park Tour. Riley picked us up promptly at the front door of our hotel and took us on an awesome adventure through the park. He kept our 10 and 12 year old entertained with information about the park, and found something like 11 moose with his keen eyes! We were able to see them super clearly with his spotting scope and phone (plus he shared all of the videos with us!). The kids loved the waterfall rock climbing at the Alluvial Fan (sorry for them scaring you Riley!) We have done many different tours other places, and Riley has, by far, been our favorite! We had plenty of time every place we wanted to go. He spotted things others wouldn't have. He had amazing knowledge of the park, the history, the animals, the plants, and the town. You won't regret booking this tour!!
It was everything as stated and more. Riley had so much knowledge and history of the area. He knows where the wildlife can possibly be found and we saw elk, moose, pica, and marmots. Great tour thanks Riley.
Riley was a fantastic guide. Very knowledgeable and friendly. He was a wealth of knowledge and very entertaining. He was great at finding animals like moose and elk for us to see from the mountain using his binoculars and spotting scope. Even recorded it and provided us a copy. Thoroughly enjoyed this tour. It was just the three of my family with him so it felt like a friend showing us around the park for the first. Can't thank him and his wife enough for a memorable tour.
Riley was absolutely fantastic! He is extremely knowledgeable about Estes Park. All way from the vegetation to the trees and wildlife. By the end of the tour he felt like a friend. We were sad it had to end!
Riley was awesome. Made what would have been a great day even much better. His knowledge, professionalism, and friendliness were special and made for an amazing day in the beautiful park. Look no further than Explore Estes and Riley for the best tour of Rocky Mountain National Park if you are headed that way.
I've lived in Colorado for over 20 years and been to RMNP many times. I thought there wasn't much else for me to learn about the park, but I was wrong! I toured with visiting out of town family recently and we were treated to Riley's wealth of knowledge and experience, including zoology, botany, geology and climate. He customized the trip to our interests and his keen eye could spot animals in the distance that were only little dark dots to us. When I have future out of town visitors, I will seriously consider booking with Explore Estes. Highly recommend!
Tour guide Riley was awesome. Even with a bit of rain he gave us a fantastic view of the park, some great history, and tons of wildlife. Been to the park multiple times previously and none of those trips even came close to what we got.
We had a wonderful experience, saw many animals including a bear!! Riley was very knowledgeable and accommodating. I would do this again in a heartbeat.
Riley was awesome! I had never been to RMNP and he gave us an exceptional tour that we were all raving about! He went above and beyond showing us all the wildlife, and answered all my questions along the way about all the plants and trees around us! Totally worth it and would do it again in a heartbeat! The perfect mix of nature and history tour is the best way to describe it!
