Elk, bighorn sheep, moose, deer, squirrels, chipmunks, and marmots are some of the more commonly-seen mammals at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. But they are not the only wildlife, and certainly not the only animals you might see during your park visit.

It’s possible you’ll spot a black bear in the woods, or perhaps a tiny pika scampering among the rocks, padding its haystack with fresh greenery. Keep a sharp lookout and you might enjoy a rare coyote sighting or perhaps a momentary view of an elusive mountain lion before it fades into the shaded forest background. The park is home to 67 mammal species, in addition to four amphibian and two reptile species, seven native (one listed as endangered) and four exotic fish species, and even 140 species of butterflies!

Elk

Elk like to frequent the high-elevation tundra along Trail Ridge Road, Rocky Mountain National Park / Rebecca Latson

While you may see elk anytime of the year in this park, they are especially visible during the fall in the lower-elevation meadows and at high elevations on the tundra on either side of Trail Ridge Road. Bring your telephoto lens or telephoto setting to view these behemoths from a safe distance. Watching elk from afar is especially important during the mating season as the bulls get more than a little testy when feeling threatened. To prevent disturbance and harassment of elk during the fall mating period and to enhance visitor elk-viewing opportunities, areas in Horseshoe Park, Moraine Park, Upper Beaver Meadows, Harbison Meadow, and Holzwarth Meadow are often closed to foot travel off both open and closed established roadways and trails, and fishing in some sections of Fall River, Big Thompson River, or Colorado River during the evenings through mid-mornings.

Bighorn Sheep

Bighorn rams, Rocky Mountain National Park / NPS file

Bighorn sheep move to low elevations in late spring and early summer, descending from the Mummy Range to Sheep Lakes in Horseshoe Park. Here, they graze and eat soil for minerals to restore nutrient levels depleted by the stresses of lambing and a poor-quality winter diet.

Be aware you might or might not see bighorn sheep at Sheep Lakes. Best times for sightings are between 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Groups between one and sixty sheep move from the ridge on the north side of the valley, across the road and stay up to two or three hours before reversing the trip back to the high country. In late spring and throughout the summer, rangers control traffic to protect the sheep move within the Horseshoe Park area.

Pika and Yellow-Bellied Marmots

A yellow-bellied marmot grabbing a little lunch, Rocky Mountain National Park / NPS file

One of the largest members of the squirrel family, your best bet for yellow-bellied marmot sightings will be in the open or rocky areas of the higher elevations. You might see even more than one marmot in the same area, since there’s usually a sentinel keeping watch while others feed or sun themselves.

Pikas are hamster-sized relatives to the rabbit and you might see (or hear) them as they scamper from rock to rock above treeline. Pika prefer cooler temperatures which is why you won’t see them at lower elevations. These pint-sized furballs live in and around talus slopes and in mountain meadows and may be found in areas on the tundra such as Rainbow Curve, Rock Cut, and Tundra Communities Trail. They are frequently seen along the trail to Lake Helene, near Timberline Falls, and after the Emerald Lake Overlook on the Flattop Mountain Trail. Take time to stop, stand quietly, and just listen. It might be tricky to spot a pika, but more than likely you will hear their high-pitched “eek” somewhere nearby, warning others of your presence.

Black Bears Versus Grizzly Bears

Black bears are the only bear species within Rocky Mountain National Park, and they make it a point to avoid humans. That doesn’t mean you won’t see one and, if camping, you need to store your food in your campsite’s food locker. Bears have an incredible sense of smell – seven times better than that of a bloodhound, which in turn is 1,000 times better than a human’s sense of smell. If you see a black bear, stop and do not run. Stay calm and pick up small children. Make lots of noise, shouting and clapping your hands. Back away slowly. Stand tall, but if you are attacked, fight back. Again, though, your chances of actually seeing a black bear are slim to none.

Grizzly bears, along with gray wolves and bison were locally extirpated (destroyed completely) in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The lynx and wolverine are either extirpated or extremely rare. Moose are now commonly seen in the park, but they were not historically recorded as being part of this particular area of the Rocky Mountains.

Beaver

You might spot a beaver in the riparian (wetland) areas of Rocky Mountain National Park / NPS-Jim Ecklund

Active in riparian (rivers, streams, lakes) zones, beavers are "nature's engineers" because of their dam building activities. These activities, in turn, create habitat favorable to plants and other wildlife.

Since the 1940s, beaver populations have declined in many areas of Rocky Mountain National Park. Beaver surveys in the past 10 years indicate they are now rare, and recent park surveys suggest that beaver occupy only 10 percent of the most suitable stream side habitat in the park.

Featured In The National Parks Traveler

Under The Willows: Beavers Partner With Rocky Mountain National Park

The gate on the ten-foot-tall fence opened easily, and inside the wire enclosure was a tall willow forest. Beyond the wall of leaves and branches were the sounds of rushing water, backed up by a complex of beaver dams, cascading down, hidden beneath the brush. The beavers were back. But also hidden in the thicket was a large, mature bull moose, who had jumped the tall fence in a single bound. Here in Horseshoe Park, he was content and munching happily on the willows, oblivious to the large rodents.

To read more of this Feature Story highlighting the role of beavers restoring ecosystems at Rocky Mountain National Park, head over to this page.

Below are some tips offered by park staff for where you might see certain wildlife and how to stay safe while viewing that wildlife:

• Elk can be seen anytime, a popular viewing period being the fall rut, or mating season. Look for elk in meadows and where meadow and forest meet. Elk spend much of their time at or above treeline during the summer, moving to lower elevations in the fall, winter and spring. Favorite feeding times: dawn and dusk.
  
  
• Bighorn sheep are commonly seen at Sheep Lakes from May through mid-August.
  
  
• Moose frequent willow thickets along the Colorado River in the Kawuneeche Valley on the park's west side.
  
  
• Otters were reintroduced into the Colorado River area and are doing fairly well. These animals are difficult to spot.
  
  
• Mule deer are common and can be seen anywhere. They are most often found at lower elevations in open areas.
  
  
• Bats feed over lakes and ponds at dawn and dusk.
  
  
• Marmots and pikas favor rocky areas. Marmots are best seen on the alpine tundra along Trail Ridge and Old Fall River roads. Pikas - small, light-colored mammals - are common in rock piles. Listen for their sharp, distinctive bark and watch for movement.
  
  
• How close to too close? When viewing wildlife, follow the "Rule of Thumb." When viewing wildlife, make a thumbs up; extend your arm all the way; close one eye and see if you can hide the animal with your thumb. If you can still see the animal, you are too close. Take steps back until the animal is completely hidden.
  
  
• If wildlife approaches you, back away and maintain a safe distance. If a wild animal changes its behavior due to your presence, you are too close. 
  
  
• For animals like elk and bighorn sheep, keep back at least 75 feet, or two bus lengths.
  
  
• Harassing or feeding wildlife is illegal in all national parks. Feeding junk food to wildlife reduces its ability to survive the long mountain winter. When they panhandle by roadsides, animals fall easy prey to automobiles. As they become habituated to humans and lose their natural fear, the animals become aggressive and may be destroyed. Harassing or feeding wildlife is illegal in all national parks.
  
  
• It is illegal to use artificial lights or calls to view or attract wildlife.

For a full species list of wildlife at Rocky Mountain National Park, click on this IRMA Portal NP Species website.

Wildlife Photography

Capturing photos of the wildlife is part of your park experience, and you can achieve great shots no matter what camera you use. Below are a few tips that might help you with those wildlife images.

• Wildlife tends to be busiest at dawn and dusk, which is great for photographers since those are also the best times for dramatic, saturated lighting.
  
  
• Arrive early at whatever spot you intend to stake out for wildlife viewing, and make sure it is far enough away to prevent stressing the wildlife. Stay still and quiet. If wildlife notices you, it will relax after a time when it senses no sudden movement.
  
  
• Turn off your camera’s sounds. The audible focus beep and click-click-click of your camera may startle wildlife in an otherwise quiet setting.
  
  
• Tripods are handy for utilizing a large telephoto lens to balance the weight and allow you a better chance at capturing clear shots with no camera movement blur.
  
  
• If you are handholding your camera, use the “burst method” of holding down the shutter button for several clicks. Out of all those shots, you should get at least one sharp, clear image. The burst method takes up memory card space, however, so carry extra cards with you.
  
  
• Look to the edges of the landscape (e.g. where forest trees meet a grassy area).
  
  
• Pull safely off the road, and use your car as an enclosure for viewing and photographing from a distance. Not only do cars provide a layer of protection, they also provide surfaces for stabilizing your camera.
  
  
• Use your zoom, and to steady your shot, touch your elbows to your ribcage, or rest your elbows on your knee or another stable surface.
  
  
• Focus on the eyes. That’s the first thing people look at when viewing a wildlife photo. The eyes are, indeed, the window to the soul and should always be clear and sharp.
  
  
• If your telephoto lens or setting just can’t get that reach you need for a close-up wildlife portrait photo, go ahead and get the shot anyway. Your viewing audience will see some amazing landscape surrounding that wildlife and they will get an idea of the environment in which that wildlife lives and feeds.

Featured In The National Parks Traveler

Photography In The National Parks: Wildlife In The Landscape

I’ve mentioned this more than once in my photo articles for the Traveler, including this 2022 article about a winter visit to Yellowstone National Park. Sometimes, you see amazing wildlife during your national park adventure, but you just don’t have the right lens on your camera, or maybe your telephoto lens (or setting) doesn’t far enough reach for a sharp, close-up shot. Go ahead and capture that wildlife image anyway! Sure, that bear or moose or elk might be quite a distance away from you and your camera (as it should be, actually), but you’ve photographed something very important in relation to the wildlife: you’ve achieved a beautiful landscape shot of the environment in which that wildlife dwells. You’ve got wildlife in the landscape … or rather, a landscape with wildlife.

This month’s column is all about examples of the beauty of a landscape image containing wildlife along with tips for getting great shots without a big honkin’ telephoto lens. Photographers must make do with whatever they are handed, be it weather or wildlife, and these examples are proof you can get awesome images even if they aren’t what you’d originally planned on capturing.

To read more of this article, head over to this page.

There are 140 species of butterflies (yes, insects are considered wildlife) documented within Rocky Mountain National Park / NPS-Jacob W. Frank via Flickr