Historic Rocky Mountain National Park: The Stories Behind One of America's Great Treasures

by Randi Minetor

Historic Rocky Mountain National Park captures fascinating moments and untold stories in the history of this magnificent national park, from the days when Paleo-Indians roamed between the mountain peaks to the settlement of the valleys by ranchers and hoteliers. Stories of the Ute and Arapaho tribes, the 1859 Gold Rush, the first people to summit 14,259-foot-high Long's Peak, the women who climbed to the top of the Rockies, the fossils revealed by snowfield melt, the advocates who worked to protect this landscape, and more provide just enough history to make your visit to the top of America even more exciting than you anticipated.

224 pages, Paperback

Published August 9, 2019

About the author

Crisscrossing America since 1992 in a quest to see all 50 states (done!), 431 national parks (76 to go), and more than 700 species of birds (623 so far), Randi and Nic Minetor bring their expertise and their love of the wilderness, American history, and birding to readers who share their many passions. A working writer for more than 40 years, Randi is now the author of more than 80 books in print under her own name, and a number of ghostwritten books on a wide variety of topics.

Reviews

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Broadly informational on RMNP, as well as the history of Estes Park and surrounding areas. There is a lot of "background" history in the first couple of chapters before the book narrows in on RMNP itself. There were several areas in the book that were dedicated to Native Americans and their influence on and usage of the RMNP/Estes area, which I appreciated.

This would be 5 stars for what it is (informational), except there were some writing errors - several times, the author would mention someone by last name as if they had already explained who that person was, but no information was preceding. There was also some repetition of information that felt unnecessary.

Overall, though, a great book to get an overview of RMNP, its history, and some important figures in its lifespan.