Ultimate Guide to the Colorado National Parks (+ 10 Day Itinerary)

In Rocky Mountain National Park, journey high into the Rocky Mountains, cross the Continental Divide, and hike to gorgeous alpine lakes and waterfalls. Get a history lesson at Mesa Verde as you tour the cliff dwellings. Explore one of the narrowest and deepest canyons in North America at Black Canyon of the Gunnison. And perfect your sandboarding skills at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.

In this guide to the Colorado national parks, get an overview to the best things to see and do in each park, important planning advice, and a sample itinerary to help you plan your Colorado road trip.

Guide to the Colorado National Parks

Map of the Colorado National Parks

Rocky Mountain National Park

With lofty mountain peaks, hiking trails that lead to alpine lakes and waterfalls, abundant wildlife, and a scenic drive along one of the highest roads in the USA, Rocky Mountain National Park is a joy to explore.

Rocky Mountain National Park is one of the highest national parks in the USA. There are sixty mountain peaks over 12,000 feet and many of these top out over 13,000 feet. Longs Peak, at 14,259 feet, is the only fourteener in the park, but for serious hikers, getting to the top of this behemoth is one of the best things to do in Rocky Mountain National Park.

The Continental Divide runs north south through the park. You can cross the Continental Divide by foot or by driving Trail Ridge Road, the highest paved through road in the national park system.

Dream Lake | Colorado National Parks

Elk on Trail Ridge Road | Colorado National Parks

Sky Pond | Colorado National Parks

Trail to Chasm Lake | Colorado National Parks

Cost: $25 per vehicle, valid for one day or $35 per vehicle, valid for one week. If you plan to visit for multiple days, consider purchasing the Rocky Mountain National Park Annual Pass ($70) or the America the Beautiful Pass ($80 and valid for all of the national parks for one year).

Top Experiences: Drive Trail Ridge Road, take your pick from the extremely long list of hiking trails in the park, take a stroll around Bear Lake, watch the elk at mating season, or go skiing or snowshoeing during the winter months.

Ultimate Adventure: For the ultimate adventure, hike to the top of Longs Peak, the only fourteener in the park. This is a tough fourteener and many people who attempt it never make it to the summit, turning around early because of storms or the difficult conditions.

Rocky Mountain National Park in One Day: With one day in Rocky Mountain National park, start off on one of the hiking trails. Emerald and Dream Lakes is an essential Rocky Mountain hike but there are tons more to choose from. In the afternoon, drive Trail Ridge Road, visit the highest visitor center in the USA, and see how many elk and bighorn sheep you can count.

Rocky Mountain Itinerary: Ideally, plan on spending at least three days in Rocky Mountain National Park. This gives you enough time to hike a few trails, drive Trail Ridge Road, see the top sights.

Cool Fact: Approximately one-third of Rocky Mountain National Park is located in the alpine tundra, at an elevation over 11,000 feet. The easiest way to venture into these high reaches of the park is on Trail Ridge Road, but numerous hiking trails also top out over 11,000 feet.

Where to Stay: There are numerous campgrounds in the park. The best place to stay outside of the park is in Estes Park.

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve

Great Sand Dunes is a gem of a national park.

This is a small park and the list of things to do is very short. A few hours are really all you need to experience it and hike out onto the dunes. But you might end up wishing you had more time. Sandboarding and sand sledding are a blast, the sunsets are gorgeous, and this park just feels all around fun.

View from High Dune | Colorado National Parks

View of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains from the dunes

Cost: $25 per vehicle, valid for 7 days

Top Experiences: The best thing to do here is to hike out onto the dunes. Those looking for a bigger thrill can rent sandboards or sand sleds (a must if you are visiting with kids).

Ultimate Adventure: Hike to the tallest dune in North America. To get here, it is a tough day hike up and over the dunes on an unmarked trail. Top off the adventure with an overnight stay, camping on the dunes.

Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve in One Day: In the morning, hike the dunes or go sandboarding. Midday, take a break and hike to Zapata Falls, a great place to cool off in the summer months. Return to the dunes in the afternoon and stick around for sunset…they are spectacular.

Cool Fact: Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve contains the tallest sand dunes in North America. At 750 feet, Star Dune is the tallest dune in Great Sand Dunes, followed by High Dune at 699 feet.

Not So Cool Fact: During the summer months, the sand temperatures can reach a scorching 150°F midday. If you plan to visit Great Sand Dunes from June through early September, plan to take a midday break.

Where to Stay: The best place to stay is camping in the dunes. If camping is not your thing, you can stay in lodging near the park entrance or in Alamosa.

Mesa Verde National Park

Mesa Verde National Park preserves ancient Puebloan cliff dwellings and archeological sites that are hundreds of years old. Short hikes, scenic drives, and viewpoints make the to-do list, but the best way to experience this park is to get up close with the cliff dwellings on a tour.

Cliff Palace | Colorado National Parks

Square Tower House | Colorado National Parks

Cost: $30 May 1 to October 31; $20 November 1 to April 30. This is the cost per vehicle and your entrance ticket is valid for 7 days. Guided tours have an additional fee.

Top Experiences: Take ranger-guided tour of the cliff dwellings, see Spruce Tree House and Cliff Palace, hike the Petroglyph Trail, see the sights along Mesa Top Loop, and enjoy the view from Park Point Fire Lookout.

Ultimate Adventure: Take a guided tour of Balcony House. This one-hour tour is the most adventurous cliff dwelling tour in Mesa Verde. You’ll climb numerous ladders, crawl through a tunnel, and scale a 17-foot ladder to exit the site.

Mesa Verde National Park in One Day: Tour one or two cliff dwellings (make your reservations in advance). Spend the remainder of the day visiting the sights along Mesa Top Road. As you exit the park, stop at the Park Point Fire Lookout.

Cool Fact: This is the largest archaeological preserve in the United States. This park preserves more than 5,000 archeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Where to Stay: Inside of Mesa Verde National Park you can stay at the Far View Lodge or Morefield Campground. The closest town is Cortez.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

If you have been to the Grand Canyon, you may have a case of déjà vu when you visit the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. In many ways, the Black Canyon is similar to the Grand Canyon, only on a much smaller scale.

At Black Canyon of the Gunnison, you can enjoy the views along both rims, hike the rim trails, or go on a real adventure by hiking below the rim.

Not only is this the least visited park in Colorado, it is also one of the least visited parks in the entire United States. Black Canyon of the Gunnison is also one of the smallest national parks in the USA.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison’s small size and low crowd level makes this park a delight to visit. During our mid-summer visit, we had no issues finding parking at the overlooks and the park felt wonderfully quiet.

Gunnison Point | Colorado National Parks

Hiking the Gunnison Route | Colorado National Parks

Exclamation Point | Colorado National Parks

The Painted Wall | Colorado National Parks

Cost: $30 per vehicle, valid for 7 days

Top Experiences: See the sights along South Rim Road and North Rim Road, hike along the rim, drive East Portal Road, and visit Exclamation Point.

Ultimate Adventure: Hike an inner canyon route. There are a bunch of inner canyon routes to choose from. The Gunnison Route is the most popular. In just one mile, you will drop 1,800 feet, ending at the Gunnison River. There are no maintained trails into to canyon, so only those with prior hiking experience and a high level of fitness should attempt an inner canyon hike.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in One Day: Visit the South Rim. Drive South Rim Road and visit the overlooks. Hike one of the short trails on the rim. Drive East Portal Road to the Gunnison River. Consider sticking around until after sunset…this is one of the best spots in Colorado to view the night sky.

Cool Facts: In some spots, the canyon is so narrow that there are sections that only get 33 minutes of sunlight per day, hence the name “Black Canyon.” On the rim, the distance between the South Rim and the North Rim is only 1,100 feet in the narrowest section. From the rim, the walls of the canyon plunge 2,000 feet almost straight down to the Gunnison River. Down by the river, the canyon is only 40 feet at its narrowest spot.

Where to Stay: There are two campgrounds in the park, one on the South Rim and one on the North Rim. The closest town to Black Canyon of the Gunnison is Montrose.

Colorado National Parks Road Trip Itinerary and Map

The best way to visit all four Colorado national parks is on a road trip. Ideally, you need 10 days. Not only is there a lot to do in each of these parks but they are spread out, so you will spend a nice chunk of time driving from park to park.

To get the full details on how to do this same itinerary, and get suggestions if you have more or less time, read our post The Perfect Colorado Itinerary: National Parks & Scenic Drives.

Things to Know Before You Go

Best Time to Visit the Colorado National Parks

The best time to visit the Colorado national parks is in the summer and early fall, when all of the scenic drives and hiking trails are open.

The summer months are the busiest months to visit the national parks, but with warm temperatures and great weather, this is also one of the best times to go hiking.

In autumn, Colorado is beautiful, as the leaves change to brilliant shades of yellow, orange, and red. This can still be a busy time in the national parks, in particular Rocky Mountain National Park, as visitors flock to the park to see the fall colors and elk mating season.

Once the snow arrives, usually by mid to late autumn, crowds begin to diminish. Temperatures are low in the winter, but so are the crowds. Several of the scenic drives that we list in this itinerary close during this time.

In the spring, warmer temperatures melt the snow and visitation picks up. Snow can linger on the higher hiking trails in Rocky Mountain National Park all of the way into July, depending on snowfall levels for that year.

Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park | Colorado National Parks

America the Beautiful Pass

If you plan to visit all four Colorado national parks, it is worth it to purchase the America the Beautiful Pass. This annual park pass costs $80 and is valid for one year. Not only will you save money on park fees for this trip but you will also get free admission to any other national park or federal recreation sites that you visit within 365 days of purchasing this pass. Learn more here. 

Important Links for the Colorado National Parks

Here are the links to each national park website. Check park conditions and road closures before you go.

• Rocky Mountain National Park 
• Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve 
• Mesa Verde National Park 
• Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park 

Learn More about Colorado

Visit our Colorado Travel Guide to learn more about the national parks in Colorado.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the four Colorado National Parks?

Here is a list of the four Colorado National Parks:

• Rocky Mountain National Park
• Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
• Mesa Verde National Park
• Great Sand Dunes National Park

What is the best Colorado national park to visit?

The “best” national park in Colorado depends on your interests. If you love hiking and mountainous landscapes, Rocky Mountain National Park is the best park to visit in Colorado. With hundreds of miles of hiking trails, you can spend weeks here and never run out of things to do. If you prefer culture and history, Mesa Verde National Park is the top park to visit. If you plan to visit Colorado, Great Sand Dunes is the most fun for kids, with sand boarding and sand sledding and the #1 thing to do in this park. And if you like the idea of small, easy park to visit that is low on crowds but has big views, don’t miss Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

What is the most visited national park in Colorado?

Rocky Mountain National Park is the most visited national park in Colorado. In 2022, 4.3 million people visited this park. It was the 4th most visited national park in the USA that year.

What is the least visited national park in Colorado?

Black Canyon of the Gunnison is the least visited national park in Colorado. In 2022, just under 300,000 people visited the park, making it the 16th least visited national park in the USA that year.

How many days do I need to visit the Colorado National Parks?

If you want to visit all four Colorado national parks on one road, plan on spending at least 10 days in Colorado. 

If you have any questions about how to visit the Colorado national parks, or if you want to share your experience, let us know in the comment section below.

More Information about Colorado and the National Parks

VISIT THE US NATIONAL PARKS: Looking for your next big adventure? Read our article about the 15 Best National Parks, where we narrow down the long list into 15 must-see parks. You can also learn more about the national parks (and get the full list) in our Guide to the US National Parks. Finally, if you are traveling as a family, here are the best parks to visit with kids.

HIKES IN ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK: In our Rocky Mountain National Park Hiking Guide, learn about the top hikes to do in the park. We also have detailed guides on Sky Pond, Deer Mountain, Emerald and Dream Lakes, the Ute Trail to Tombstone Ridge, and Chasm Lake.

SCENIC DRIVES IN COLORADO: Pikes Peak, the Million Dollar Highway, and the Peak to Peak Scenic Byway is just a short list of the scenic drives you can do in Colorado. For the full list, read our article about the Best Scenic Drives in Colorado.

ESTES PARK: In our Guide to Estes Park, learn about where to stay, where to eat, and what to do.

USA ROAD TRIPS: Planning your next big adventure in the USA? Check our our USA Road Trip Guide for travel ideas and sample itineraries.