Beaver Ponds on Trail Ridge Road
in Colorado · centroid 57 mi from Denver
At Beaver Ponds on Trail Ridge Road visitors can see, hear, and feel one of Rocky Mountain National Park’s wetland environments. Take the 0.2 mile roundtrip boardwalk into the heart of a wetland environment. Beaver dams once blocked the stream that flows through this area.
Silt and organic material accumulated behind the dam. In time, the dam decayed leaving behind rich soil over twenty feet deep. Sedges and grasses grow in the new soil and have created wet marshy areas.
Wetland environments like this one become habitats for an enormous variety of insects, birds, and mammals.
- States
- Colorado
- Trail type
- National Park trail
- Centroid nearest city
- Denver, CO · 57 mi · ~1.7 hr drive
- Centroid coords
- 40.3990°, -105.6412°
About Rocky Mountain National Park
This trail is inside Rocky Mountain National Park, a national park managed by the U.S. National Park Service. Conditions, road status, trail closures, and reservation requirements are published on the park's NPS page — check it before driving in, especially in winter or during major weather events.
Entrance fee: $30 per vehicle (verify current rate on the park page). An America the Beautiful annual pass ($80) covers entrance to all NPS units.
Official NPS trail page: https://www.nps.gov/places/romo_beaverponds.htm
Park homepage: https://www.nps.gov/romo/index.htm
Plan your hike
Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.
Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.
When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.
If you've hiked Beaver Ponds on Trail Ridge Road and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.
Stay nearby
Other trails within 50 miles
Fern Lake Trail
4 miles from this trail's centroid
Flat Top Mountain Trail
6 miles from this trail's centroid
Trail Ridge Store
7 miles from this trail's centroid
North Longs Peak Trail
8 miles from this trail's centroid
Glacier Gorge Trail
8 miles from this trail's centroid
Tonahutu Creek Trail
9 miles from this trail's centroid
Sources
Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.