I’ve long said Rocky Mountain National Park is my favorite place in the world. And it’s easy to assume that would mean a lot of time spent in and around Estes Park, gateway to the park. However, the majority of my vacation time in the area, dating back to early childhood, was actually spent in and around Allenspark, a little town at the southeast corner of the park, 15 miles south of Estes on Highway 7. This new (to me, anyway) webcam is located just east of Allenspark and features the RMNP view I’m most familiar with — Mt. Meeker and Wild Basin.
No, that’s not Longs Peak on the right. It’s Mt. Meeker, effectively hiding Longs directly behind it. In truth, down here on the plains in Thornton, when I refer to the most prominent peak on the horizon, I usually say or think Longs even though I know it’s Meeker. Perhaps on some level I’m just acknowledging that they are both part of the Longs Peak Massif.
In addition to the panoramic view above, the website features a number of “detail” views. They update every 20 minutes during daylight hours.
These are all beautiful high-resolution color views (I was too excited to wait for a sunny day). Clicking the images will take you to the current full-screen views.
These images also appear on My favorite webcams: Estes Park, Rocky Mountain NP, Pikes Peak, Denver/Boulder
The best part of the park! (and still beautiful after all these years)
Believe it or not one of the actual Meekers moved to Houston and lived near us at our old house. And the stories/history they could tell.(We could never figure out why they relocated – even if the job was good, location, location, location.)
Thanks for the wonderful pix and the cam!
I haven’t been up into Wild Basin in quite a few years. Last time I checked, the parking had gotten really bad and it was hard to get in there. I used to value it for being sort of quiet and relatively unknown. And because you could hike directly in from Allenspark. (It’s been decades since I could do that.) Also, in later years I came to appreciate the amenities available in Estes, even though I hate the traffic.
Can’t imagine leaving there to move to Houston. I might have left a mountain home to move into Longmont or north Denver, but all the way to Houston? Not a chance.