Rocky Mountain National Park
 

Just wondering if RMNP can be done as a day trip from Evergreen Colorado? We do not necessarily want to stay there, but would like to go over Trail Ridge Road and see some of the other sites. We thought we might get up very early and arrive back to Evergreen late. Any thoughts? Thank you!

Yes.

A few years ago, we started the day in Denver and finished in the evening in Colo Sprgs.

you need to contact the highway dept and find out if trail ridge is even open. it is not maintained in winter!

Yes, you can certainly do a daytrip to RMNP very easily from Evergreen; if you want to drive over Trail Ridge Road, you need to do it between Memorial Day in May and approx. mid-October when the snow has been cleared. If you want to travel to RMNP in the winter, go through Estes Park where more roads are open and you can see much more of park (and it's definitely worth it!)

From Evergreen, you could reach the park from the west side by driving west on I-70 to the Hwy 40 exit and driving over Berthoud Pass through Winter Park. You'd enter park by Grand Lake, which is worth a stop for lunch or a little sightseeing. Then you'd drive through the park and exit at Estes Park, another good stop for eating and shopping. Returning to Evergreen, you could go through Boulder on Hwy. 36, or take the very scenic Peak-to-Peak Hwy (Hwys 7 & 119) through the gambling towns of Blackhawk/Central City.

Lots of choices, so hard to say exactly how much driving, but without stopping, I'd say the drive alone is three-four hours, so how much you stay up there would be up to you. Very doable, though!

Thank you for the very informative reply. It helps alot in our planning.