Rocky Mountain National Park

An award winner! Color travel guides really focus mainly on National Parks. This comprehensive guide includes various recreation activities in the park—from hiking to an auto tour of Trail Ridge Road. Additionally, it offers valuable visitor guides, wildlife guides, and even photography guides, along with several chapters about the area and the park's history.

Moon publishes a lot of travel guides, including hiking guides, photography guides, and wildlife guides. They are generally well done, and this is no exception. The visitor guide covers general travel questions like lodging, camping, what to see in the park, and what to do in the two gateway towns - Estes Park and Grand Lake. It also includes a section on the background of the park and essential tips for travelers.

A good all-around resource for general information about the park includes details on its history, geology, wildlife, and plants, as well as basic information in the visitor guides about some of the more popular hikes. Additionally, it provides insights valuable for both photography guides and wildlife guides. While it was first published 25 years ago, the information remains relevant.

These National Geographic maps are excellent for navigating and hiking in the park, making them a perfect resource for those using hiking guides. The map covers the entire park and is also available in a package with the Day Hikes book, which is an essential addition to any visitor guides. For those interested in a more detailed experience, there is also a map focused specifically on the east side of the park, featuring higher detail around popular spots like Longs Peak and Bear Lake, which are great for photography guides and wildlife guides.

This is a small hiking guide that covers some of the more popular day-hikes in the park, making it an essential resource for outdoor enthusiasts. It is also part of a package that includes the Trails Illustrated map, which is a great addition to any visitor guides, photography guides, or wildlife guides you may be using.

Rocky Mountain National Park offers a variety of trails suitable for all skill and fitness levels, making it an essential destination for hikers. This book serves as a comprehensive hiking guide, featuring information on 55 popular hikes, which range from a short nature loop at Bear Lake to a challenging trek to the summit of Long's Peak. Each hike includes detailed descriptions with information about the trailhead and other essential details. Additionally, it highlights key attractions of the hike and provides a basic map of the route. However, it's important to note that these maps are not sufficient on their own; hikers should also consider using more detailed resources like the Trails Illustrated map. For those interested in capturing the beauty of the park, this book can also serve as a photography guide, and it complements various visitor guides and wildlife guides available for a richer experience.

This guide serves as a valuable resource within our hiking guides, focusing on shorter, easier trails in the park that top out at about 7 miles. It provides a handy overview of which trails are best suited for specific situations, such as when you have children with you. Among the 24 trails outlined, most are fair season trails, but it also includes 12 trails that are perfect for the winter season. Additionally, this guide complements our photography guides and wildlife guides, enhancing your overall visitor experience.

While many hikes are out-and-back adventures, this book focuses on circuit (loop) hikes that connect multiple trails together, making it a valuable resource among hiking guides. The authors provide an excellent table detailing the various hikes, showcasing their effort levels, with loops ranging from less than a mile to an impressive 26-mile loop on the continental divide. Additionally, the trail descriptions include both clockwise and counterclockwise travel directions, making it an essential companion for any outdoor enthusiast, alongside photography guides and wildlife guides.

Put together by the Colorado Mountain Club, this guide features twenty of the club's members favorite hikes in the park.  As with most guides, it is mostly focused on the east side (most visited) side of the park but does have a few hikes on the west side.  The guide is compact and has hikes from easy half miles to difficult fifteen mile hikes.

This guide features thirty-one different hikes, making it one of the most comprehensive hiking guides available. While there is some overlap with other visitor guides, this one stands out by including unique overnight hikes that stretch up to 23 miles. Additionally, it highlights some trails that are a bit off the beaten path. Whether you're looking for lakes, peaks, or solitude, this guide offers a great listing of hikes tailored to specific experiences, making it an excellent resource for both hikers and outdoor photography guides as well as wildlife guides.

This guide is specific to the park and serves as a valuable resource for wildlife guides, covering animals, insects, plants, and even lichens. Its smaller format makes it an easy addition to a daypack, helping nature lovers identify that flower or bird while enjoying their hiking adventures. Additionally, it complements photography guides and visitor guides for a comprehensive outdoor experience.

I am a fan of these sort of compact guides that fit easily in the day pack.  Twelve panels cover the most common  plants in RMNP.  I used it to identify two flowers on my last trip - Pearly Everlasting and Golden Banner.  Great for kids as well as an activity to identify as many plants as possible - it keeps the hikes from being boring for them.

This visitor guide is specific to the park. It begins with a brief section on the park's history before exploring the geology and climate of the mountains. The largest section focuses on various ecosystems within the park, making it a valuable resource for hiking guides, photography guides, and wildlife guides.

For those looking to go fishing in the park, this small book covers a number of areas on the east side of the park.  Each area covers specific locations with advice on how to get there as well as the species of fish and what flies work well.  The guide advocates catch and release and has information specific to the Greenback Cutthroat  - the native species of trout. 

This comprehensive guide serves as an excellent resource, covering a larger geographic area with top-notch thoroughness. It starts with the geologic history and formation of the Rockies, making it a valuable addition to any hiking guides, photography guides, or visitor guides. It then transitions to detailed coverage of the sixteen different ecosystems represented in the area, ensuring that wildlife guides are also well-represented.

Not specific to just RMNP, this excellent guide is organized by flower color for quicker identifications, making it a valuable resource among hiking guides, photography guides, and visitor guides.

This guide covers more than just the park and is a great intro for those just getting into birding. It serves as an excellent resource in the realm of wildlife guides, and the color system makes it easy to quickly find the right page for hiking guides, photography guides, or visitor guides.

While this book covers all of Colorado, it provides a good overview of the geological history of the area, along with about a dozen pages specifically on areas of the park. Additionally, it serves as a valuable resource for hiking guides, photography guides, visitor guides, and wildlife guides, making it a comprehensive reference for outdoor enthusiasts.

An interesting history of the park and its evolution over the last century.  The book starts with the groups that worked to establish the park.  The book then follows the history by examining the park through the lens of the forces that shaped public opinion and policy - automobiles, trees, trails, and wildlife, to name a few.

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The author uses Long's Peak as the canvas for the story of the park and park service management of the various mandates it has been give over time against the backdrop of the evolution of the country over the last hundred years.  The book tackles numerous uncomfortable and controversial issues. 

There was history before there was a park. Half of this book covers the time before the park, beginning with the paleolithic people and Native American tribes.  The book proceeds to cover the first ascent of Longs Peak and the establishment of the park.  The history from founding to present day highlights a couple of major events such as the CCC work and making of Trail Ridge Road.

As with other books in this series, multiple different ways to die are documented in this book.  The book covers everything form hypothermia to falls to drowning.  Each different cause has multiple examples.  Definitely a darker read.

Thirty-six short vignettes about different events in the park.  From the first documented climb of Long's Peak to wildfires and floods.  This book is as much about little snippets of history as it is adventure stories.