The trail is associated with the early resort industry and tourism in the Estes Park region, and first appears on a tourist guide map in 1910.

The trail to the summit of Longs Peak reflects the principles of National Park Service Naturalistic Design from the 1920s through the 1940s.  Active tourist use of the trail began in 1873 and continues up until the present day with hundreds of personal accounts repeatedly expressing exhilaration over the scenery and exhaustion from this high-altitude effort.  Initially lodge owners maintained the trail and climbers hired local guides to assist in their mountain ascent.  Between 1900 and 1906, Enos Mills forged his skills as a public speaker and naturalist while guiding visitors up the trail

The trail is associated with the early resort industry and tourism in the Estes Park region, from its construction and initial use in 1910 through 1945, the year in which tourism in the park significantly changed due to increased automobile traffic after World War II.

Built in 1930, the small, well maintained log cabin is a good example of the National Park Service’s Rustic style design philosophy as implemented at Rocky Mountain National Park during the 1930s.  

Originally built in 1931, the five room one-story Rustic style ranger cabin has a gabled roof that is covered with wood shingles. 

This one-story, duplex-like Rustic style log building was constructed in 1932.  It is divided into a three room ranger station and a four room seasonal residence. 

Daniels Park provides panoramic views of the entire Front Range.  Originally a working ranch, several buildings representative of early 20th century rural architecture remain on the site. 

The site consists of four recognizable cabin ruins that were built starting in approximately 1879 in answer to a promising silver strike. 

The East Inlet Trail was one of the more difficult trails in Rocky Mountain National Park during the early part of the 20th century, but it still drew travelers due to the scenic beauty along the way.  The dangerous nature of the trail led to Depression-era funding for improvements with Public Works Administration labor.  Dry rock walls and intricate bridge abutments were constructed in the early 1930s and allowed for continued use by tourists to the Park.  In 1940, Civilian Conservation Corps crews made further improvements that sustained the trail through the rest of the 20th century.

Often considered to be the largest early engineering project designed to divert water from the western slope of the Rocky Mountains to the South Platte River, the 14.3 mile long Grand Ditch was first used to divert water across La Poudre Pass by the Larimer County Ditch Company in 1890.

In 1917, the Holzwarths established their homestead claim.  In 1919, the Holzwarth Ranch began operations as a guest ranch.  There are a number of guest cabins, a taxidermy shop, a wood shed, and an icehouse that were constructed in the years between circa 1902 and 1944. 

Constructed in 1926, the log building is one of the earliest structures in the park reflecting National Park Service Rustic style architecture.  

The Ute and other indigenous groups most likely traveled along North Inlet.  In 1868, an audacious mountaineering party perhaps followed the trace of a prehistoric North Inlet Trail.  It is generally believed that Major Wesley Powell and a small group of students and associates–the first group on record to successfully climb Longs Peak–approached their objective by tramping up the drainage of the North Inlet. 

Located near the summit of Shadow Mountain, the lookout is the last of four fire detection towers constructed in the park during the Great Depression.  Completed in 1933, the three-story lookout was reportedly built by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

The trail, constructed in 1930, is part of the 20th century movement to develop national parks for public enjoyment.  Shadow Mountain-known as Pine Ridge (aneXu haw a) in Arapaho-has probably functioned as a lookout since prehistory.  Its 360-degree view surveys Grand Lake, Middle Park and the national park.  The 3.3-mile trail accesses Shadow Mountain Lookout (also National Register listed), a fire lookout tower completed in 1933. 

One of three comfort stations constructed in 1939, the 25 by 10 foot Rustic style building features board and batten walls with vertical, diagonal, and horizontal exterior bracing. 

Constructed in 1939, the Rustic style comfort station was one of three built at the Timber Creek Campground at that time. 

Constructed in 1939, the Rustic style comfort station was one of three built at the Timber Creek Campground at that time.

Constructed in 1930, the one-story Rustic style building was designed by National Park Service personnel under the supervision of Thomas C. Vint, Chief Architect.  The exposed, undressed log frame walls feature board and batten detailing.

The trail, established in 1880, is associated with the late 19th and early 20th century resort industry around the Grand Lake region.  Like most trails on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park, the Tonahutu Creek Trail gained popularity with tourists later than its eastside counterparts.  However, tourists were not the first people to use and appreciate this trail.  

Trail Ridge Road, deriving its name from the Ute route through the mountains, was begun in September of 1929 and completed in July of 1939.

Bergen Park includes the starting point for Squaw Pass Road which provides access to the sub-alpine and alpine lands of Echo Lake, Summit Lake, and Mount Evans. 

This park district consists of three contiguous parks, acquired and developed between 1914-1938, which together form one large, diverse recreational facility, encompassing approximately 1,338 acres.  The parks encompass some of the most attractive, gently sloping areas along Bear Creek and a long mountain ridge that affords good views to the north, east, and west. 

This 475-acre park is located in Bear Creek Valley just west of downtown Evergreen.  It includes the most diverse range of developed uses and landscapes of the Denver Mountain Parks. 

At less than half an acre, the park is the smallest within the Denver Mountain Park system.  Large Ponderosa pine trees and distinctive rock outcrops appear on the site, which was acquired in 1913. 

Beginning in 1913, a series of land acquisitions resulted in this approximately 2,400-acre park.  Genesee Mountain reaches an altitude of 8,200 feet, and numerous deep canyons, mountainous ridges, valleys, and gorges are among the natural features.  Completed in 1914, Genesee Mountain Road winds up to the Genesee Game Preserves located on the mountain’s western side.

Officially opened in 1913, Lariat Trail was the first of several scenic drives constructed as part of Denver’s mountain park system.  Beginning in Golden, where two 35-foot high stone pylons mark the entry, the drive connects with Floyd Hill Road at the top of Mount Vernon Canyon. 

The approximately sixty-five acre park includes the nearly level top of Lookout Mountain, offering panoramic views of the Colorado Plains, the Front Range mountains, and the Denver metropolitan area.  The famed William Frederick Cody (Buffalo Bill) is buried within the park boundaries. 

The park was included in the Olmsted acquisition plan.  Jules J.B. Benedict designed the circa 1923 native stone and timber well house.  

This linear district runs for two miles along Colorado Highway 74 between the towns of Morrison and Idledale.  The route is noted for its enclosing granite cliffs and diverse vegetation. 

Although included by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. in his Mountain Park System Plan of 1914, the land was not acquired until 1935. 

Previously listed in the National Register of Historic Places on May 18, 1990 under Denver Mountain Parks, the historic district is nationally significant under the themes Developing the American Economy, in the area of governmental policies and practices, and Expressing Cultural Values in the areas of architecture and landscape architecture.  The architect and builders are outlined as Burnham Hoyt, Stanley Morse, the Civilian Conservation Corps, National Park Service, Works Progress Administration, and U. S. Department of the Army.

The Civilian Conservation Corps constructed a number of buildings and structures in Rocky Mountain National Park during the 1930s.  The Bear Lake Comfort Station represents a modest structure exhibiting the use of uncoursed rubblestone indicative of the Rustic style employed by the CCC. 

The trail to the summit of Longs Peak reflects the principles of National Park Service Naturalistic Design from the 1920s through the 1940s.  Active tourist use of the trail began in 1873 and continues up until the present day with hundreds of personal accounts repeatedly expressing exhilaration over the scenery and exhaustion from this high-altitude effort.  Initially lodge owners maintained the trail and climbers hired local guides to assist in their mountain ascent.  Between 1900 and 1906, Enos Mills forged his skills as a public speaker and naturalist while guiding visitors up the trail

This collection of three Rustic style log buildings was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1936. 

Built in 1922, it is an excellent example of early National Park Service Rustic style architecture and served as a ranger station until 1932 when it was temporarily converted into a nature museum.

The district includes an intact segment of the original Fall River Road, along with a variety of historic buildings and structures associated with the road’s construction and maintenance.  The segment runs 9.5 miles from Horseshoe Park on the east to Fall River Pass on the west.  Initially utilizing convict labor, construction on what was the first highway through Rocky Mountain National Park began in 1913.  By September 1920, it was possible to drive from Estes Park to the western terminus of the road at Grand Lake in Grand County.

Built in 1925, the Rustic style cabin of hand hewn logs sits on a rubblestone foundation.  The property is associated with the Rocky Mountain National Park and the Historic Park Landscapes in National and State Parks Multiple Property Submissions.  

This property was removed from the National Register in February 2022, following its destruction during the Troublesome Creek Fire.

With the first complete route established by 1906, 4.8-mile Fern Lake Trail has long served tourists to Rocky Mountain National Park and the Estes Park area.  Providing a scenic route through the park, the trail’s destinations include Fern Lake and Odessa Lake.  In the 1920s, Fern Lake had become a ski destination with the Colorado Mountain Club making annual wintertime outings to Fern Lake from 1916-1934.  

Associated with the early resort industry and tourism in the Estes Park region, the trail grew from the 20th century movement to develop national parks for public enjoyment. 

The trail is associated with the early resort industry and tourism in the Estes Park region, particularly in its function as an equestrian route.  The trail assumed its current alignment with the completion of alterations in 1923.  

Built in 1930 of logs on poured cement, the station is typical of National Park Service Rustic style architecture in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Often considered to be the largest early engineering project designed to divert water from the western slope of the Rocky Mountains to the South Platte River, the 14.3 mile long Grand Ditch was first used to divert water across La Poudre Pass by the Larimer County Ditch Company in 1890.

The National Park Service (NPS) completed the first section of the Lake Haiyaha Trail to Nymph Lake in 1930.  Construction progressed in stages.  The next half-mile, up to Dream Lake, was completed in 1931.  Work on the final section between Dream and Haiyaha commenced in 1933, under the supervision of Rocky Mountain National Park’s first landscape architect to specialized in trail work - Allison van V. Dunn. 

Lost Lake gained popularity with tourists in the 1910s.  Guests at Sprague’s Resort enjoyed guided horseback trips up to the lake.  Hotels, railroads, and other tourist industry businesses acknowledged and promoted the charms of the Lost Lake area.  Initial construction of the trail began in 1911, several years before the formal establishment of Rocky Mountain National Park. 

Constructed in 1923, the log building sits on a foundation of uncoursed rubblestone.  The lodge served as the central building of a summer resort until it was converted to a museum in 1931. 

The Ute and other indigenous groups most likely traveled along North Inlet.  In 1868, an audacious mountaineering party perhaps followed the trace of a prehistoric North Inlet Trail.  It is generally believed that Major Wesley Powell and a small group of students and associates–the first group on record to successfully climb Longs Peak–approached their objective by tramping up the drainage of the North Inlet. 

The utility area reflects the National Park Service’s concern for blending structures with the natural environment.  The half-log and plank buildings, begun in 1923 at the Beaver Meadows Entrance, were completed during the 1930s under government work projects.

This stone Rustic style structure, built in 1925, originally served as living quarters for workers on the Fall River Road.  Subsequently, it has served as a patrol cabin and caretaker’s cabin.

The trail, established in 1880, is associated with the late 19th and early 20th century resort industry around the Grand Lake region.  Like most trails on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park, the Tonahutu Creek Trail gained popularity with tourists later than its eastside counterparts.  However, tourists were not the first people to use and appreciate this trail.  

Trail Ridge Road, deriving its name from the Ute route through the mountains, was begun in September of 1929 and completed in July of 1939.

This small native stone building, constructed by the Forest Service in 1914 and acquired by the Park Service in 1925, now serves as a radio repeater station and fire cache. 

Constructed in 1927 near the top of Long’s Peak to provide shelter for climbers, its native stone construction is in keeping with the Rustic ideal of National Park Service architecture. 

Located 300 yards south of the Moraine Park Visitor Center, the compound consists of five structures, purchased or built by W.A. White after 1912.  The property is associated with the Rocky Mountain National Park and the Historic Park Landscapes in National and State Parks Resources Multiple Property Submissions. 

The log Rustic style building was constructed in 1923 to serve crews maintaining the Fall River Road.  It has seen little use since the opening of Trail Ridge Road in 1932. 

Essentially unaltered since it was built in 1926, this stable is a good example of the Rustic style.  The property is associated with the Rocky Mountain National Park and the Historic Park Landscapes in National and State Parks Multiple Property Submissions.

Completed in 1907, the 4.5-mile Ypsilon Lake Trail predates the establishment of Rocky Mountain National Park in 1915.  The Estes Park Protective and Improvement Association likely established the current alignment to reach Ypsilon Lake.  

Constructed in 1941 with Emergency Conservation Works funding, the Rustic style shelter is significant for its association with the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration.  Built of locally quarried sandstone, to serve as a comfort station and picnic shelter, it is the only such structure in Colorado National Monument. 

Constructed between 1931 and 1950, the district is significant for its role in the development of automobile access and tourism in Colorado National Monument and its contribution to the local economy during the Great Depression.  The district’s contributing features are representative of National Park Service Rustic style architecture in their use of native building materials. 

Constructed between 1912 and 1921, Serpents Trail provided the only automobile access to Colorado National Monument until 1937 when the Fruita Canyon portion of Rim Rock Drive opened.  Serpents Trail reflects engineering techniques used in the construction of early automobile roads in difficult terrain and was specifically designed to optimize the scenery of the park.

The core administrative buildings at Mesa Verde - the superintendent’s residence (1921), park headquarters building (1923), post office (1923), ranger club (1925), museum (1923-4), and community building (1927) - are the first National Park Service structures to experiment with architectural designs based in strong local cultural traditions.

Begun in 1919, Pueblo Mountain Park is an early municipally owned automobile oriented, mountain park designed to offer Pueblo area residents easily accessible recreational facilities outside the urban environment.