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At roughly 265,000 acres, Rocky Mountain National Park isn’t the country’s largest national park, nor is it the most-frequented with about 4 million annual visitors (compared to Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s more than 12 million visitors). But there is something definitively magical about RMNP, which rises 14,259 feet into the Colorado sky at its highest point, Longs Peak. The main attraction is hiking the park’s 350-some miles of trails that wind through pine and spruce forests, glittering alpine lakes, swaths of wildflowers and, if you’re lucky, some elk or bighorn sheep. And maybe it’s the thinner atmosphere that goes to visitors’ heads, but even the most jaded report feelings of awe and wonder after a day or two of breathing in that refreshing mountain air.
When it’s time to come back down to earth, or at least down to an elevation of 7,500 feet or so, visitors can devour some homemade ice cream, take a spooky tour of the Stanley Hotel or simply meander through the delightful village of Estes Park. Plus, neighboring Colorado hot spots – Boulder and Denver – are each just a short drive away.
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