![]() Take in stunning views of Mount Chapin and Chasm Falls as you. Experience an incredible 9-mile scenic drive on Old Fall River Road, beginning at the Endovalley Picnic Area and ending at the summit of Fall River Pass and the parking area for the Alpine Visitor Center at an elevation of 11,796 feet. Elk, bighorn sheep, and the occasional marmot often cross the road. Our birding cups were full, our moods Rocky Mountain high. Old Fall River Road is a narrow, dirt road. Trail Ridge Road historically opens on Memorial Day weekend last year the road opened on June 3, due to a late May snowstorm. The road is usually open late-May through mid-October, depending on the weather. But I heard no complaints - not at the end, not all week. A few hoped-for birds eluded us, like scaled quail, ferruginous hawk, and American three-toed woodpecker. ![]() We tallied 129 species over the five days. Trail Ridge derives its name from the numerous. However, crews always aim to have it open to visitors by Memorial Day. The latest it has ever opened was in late June. When TRR is not passable by common automobile due to snow, the road is closed. Any trip to the Denver area isn’t complete without a Trail Ridge Road Trip. The highest paved road in the United States, its a treat to experience rising above the treeline as your explore its bends. However, this byway’s human history starts well before the national park was founded. The earliest Trail Ridge Road ever opened was on May 7, decades ago. Traveling in September would be hit and miss on whether the road would be open or closed on any given day. Situated in the immensely scenic Rocky Mountain National Park, Trail Ridge Road is a unique experience for road trip enthusiasts. These were special, too: band-tailed pigeon broad-tailed hummingbird golden eagle (two youngsters on a massive cliffside nest) Williamson's sapsucker Cordilleran flycatcher Clark's nutcracker (yes, that Clark) pygmy nuthatch American dipper pine grosbeak green-tailed towhee MacGillivray's warbler Lazuli bunting and western tanager. Built from 1926 to 1932, this route is the highest paved through-road in the United States and was a landmark achievement for its day the road itself is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Lifers are great, but the Colorado tour produced many birds that I'd only encountered once or twice before. I'd wanted to see one quite badly ever since missing my chance in 2019, when for several days a vagrant Lewis's visited a nature center feeder in downstate Effingham County - the first Illinois record of the species. ![]() The woodpecker is named after Meriweather Lewis, who collected the type specimen during the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-06). Carl had staked out a nest hole where an adult bird was coming and going, delivering food and taking out the white trash (fecal sacs). Again, we were surrounded by houses, this time in Buena Vista. Trail Ridge Road is OPEN Trail Ridge Road is the stretch of U.S. ![]() Lewis's woodpecker, my phone bird, came next. ![]()
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