ESTES PARK — The wisdom on the street in this tourist mecca is that the true unofficial start to summer 2020 won’t be the Memorial Day holiday just passed but, rather, the weekend straight ahead.
“This coming weekend will be busier,” Amy Hamrick, owner of Kind Coffee on East Elkhorn Avenue in Estes Park, said this week as she got ready to let customers order drinks inside her shop for the first time since the coronavirus began raging through Colorado in March.
The singular reason for that one-week shift to summertime play in this town 66 miles northwest of Denver? The re-opening of Rocky Mountain National Park, which saw visitors Wednesday for the first time since the park was closed more than two months ago in response to the pandemic.
In 2019, a record 4.6 million people visited the park, which features majestic peaks and an abundance of wildlife.
“For us, it’s the key to Estes Park,” said Pat Murphy, who owns Murphy’s River Lodge and Murphy’s Resort, which have nearly 100 rooms for rent between them. “For Rocky Mountain National Park to be opening — that’s the draw.”
Kyle Patterson, spokeswoman for the 105-year-old park that covers more than 400 square miles in Boulder, Larimer and Grand counties, said lines of cars formed at all three of the park’s entrances as early as 6 a.m. Wednesday. It never got chaotic, though, she said.
“We’ve not had to meter any cars today; we’ve not had to turn anyone away,” she said. “Visitors were just really excited and really eager to come back to their national park.”
But that doesn’t mean the experience was the same that people are used to. Visitor centers remain closed, the Hiker Shuttle from Estes Park is not running, and masks are required for anyone riding on shuttle buses inside the park.
“Park operations and services will be much different this year,” Patterson said.
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