Rocky Mountain and Garden of Gods Self-Guided Driving Audio Tours

Beaver Meadows Visitor Center, also known as Rocky Mountain National Park Administration Building, is the park headquarters and principal visitors center of Rocky Mountain National Park in central northern Colorado.

Up next are Beaver Ponds, featuring an easy boardwalk through secluded, very pretty wetlands. New, Lifetime access, no expiry. Use it anytime, on any trip, as many times as you want.

The first hiking trail you'll reach is the Deer Mountain Trailhead, which leads up 1,000 feet to some spectacular views from a mountainous summit.

Welcome to Rocky Mountain National Park! This tour will take you through the most picturesque stretch of this majestic mountain range. Get ready for stunning vistas, lush meadows, and prime wildlife-spotting! Note: The tour is over 40+ miles long, with more than 60+ audio stories, and takes about 2-3 hours to complete. New, Lifetime access, no expiry. Use it anytime, on any trip, as many times as you want.

You'll arrive next at the Many Parks Curve Overlook, which offers stunning views of not one or two but three gorgeous mountain meadows.

The next overlook you'll reach is Rainbow Curve Overlook, which sits right at the altitude beyond which most trees can no longer grow. Suffice to say it boasts some pretty incredible views!

At the next trail, the Ute Trailhead, you'll learn about the Ute tribe which once called the Rockies home.

Continuing on, you'll come to the Forest Canyon Overlook, featuring a vista from 12,000 feet up. You'll also get some facts about the Arapaho tribe while taking in the views.

You might not think "lava" when you think of the Rocky Mountains, but these 28 million year-old cliffs are sure to change your mind about that!

This ominously-named range gets its name from the deep red coloring it takes on at certain times of the day, and you might just catch sight of that striking image while visiting!

You'll pass the Alpine Visitor Center next. This isn't just a great place to stop for snacks and restrooms, it's also the highest-elevation visitor center in any US national park!

This vista is so high up you can see the state of Wyoming from it!

Ever seen an alpine lake? That's next, at Poudre Lake. This lake is so high up that it freezes all the way through, top to bottom, each winter.

Continuing on, you'll arrive at Fairview Curve Viewpoint, offering an excellent look at the Never Summer Mountain Range.

The next trail leads to some great views of the famous Colorado River. Here, you'll also learn some of that river's surprising history.

Once the home of a small family, this became one of the nation's first dude ranches before the area was a national park.

Experienced hikers looking for a challenge will definitely want to check this one out!

The next trail, the Coyote Valley Trail, is a great choice for hikers looking for an easier, shorter journey. This trek also has opportunities for fishing!

You'll learn about another, the Onahu, at the Onahu Trailhead up next.

The main tour concludes in the town of Grand Lake, which has all the amenities you'll need after a long, rewarding day in the Rockies.

If you chose to take the Bear Lake detour, you'll come first to the Moraine Park Amphitheater, which dates all the way back to the park's earliest days.

After that you'll come to Cub Lake Trailhead, where you'll learn about the lasting damage caused by wildfires within the park.

Beyond that is Fern Lake Trailhead, the perfect stop for hikers looking for a bit of peace and quiet away from the crowds.

for the golden eagles and bald eagles which can frequently be seen in this area.

Looking for a picturesque picnic spot? You'll find it next, at Hollowell Park.

Continuing on, you'll come to Sprague Lake, one of the best spots in the entire park to catch the sunrise. If you can get here early enough, it's highly recommended!

After that is the Bierstadt Lake Trailhead. This lake is every bit as beautiful as Sprague Lake, and tends to have fewer visitors, so be sure to stop by if you want to enjoy a bit of wilderness solitude.

The next trail, at Glacier Gorge Junction, offers a great trek through the park's famous quaking aspens. These iconic aspens are among the hardiest trees around!

Finally, you'll arrive at Bear Lake. This immense lake is a phenomenal spot to end your journey, get a few final photos, and bask in the pristine beauty of the Rocky Mountains.

The Central Gardens is an easy, two-mile trail through the heart of the Garden of the Gods. It’s an excellent introduction into this fantastic place, giving us a chance to see some of the most famous formations in the park. Note: This 6.5-mile-long tour covers the essentials of Garden of the Gods in 1-2 hours.

The first thing to know is that the two camels aren’t actually two different rocks. At one time, they looked no different than the rest of this rock face. But there was a small crack within one layer of the sandstone. A crack so small it was practically invisible.

This mile-long trail takes about 20 minutes, and features two amazing rocky spires. Turn into the parking lot on the right if you’d like to hike the trail.

This huge formation appears to balance impossibly on a red sandstone platform. So how does it do it? Despite the name and appearance, this rock is actually not balancing. It’s all part of one formation!

Literally! Ordinarily the strata of rock are horizontal, like a lasagna. But here, they’re diagonal, pointing at a 45-degree angle. It's like a giant stepped on a loose floorboard.

Notice all the little pockmarks in the face of it? Those actually point to one of the more challenging features of climbing this kind of sandstone.