Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
A steep creek path fades into a high mountain meadow.
Overview
Map & elevation
Plan your hike
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Rocky Mountain Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Rocky Mountain National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Rocky Mountain audio tourRecorded for this trailhead
Chapin Creek: A Steep Return from the Meadow“The Chapin Creek trailhead is ahead, for a short but steep walk down toward a mountain meadow.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Rocky Mountain Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“…No cell service for majority of the day but had continuous access to the app - the maps, the tour guide as you drive is amazing. Highly recommend purchasing the subscription.”
Trail guide
Chapin Creek Trail is a 1.3-mile out-and-back from Chapin Creek Trailhead, following a mapped path about 0.66 mile downhill before returning the same way. It is short, but the return climbs roughly 600 feet at elevations above 10,500 feet; allow about 1 to 1½ hours. Choose it for a brief creek-side walk rather than the separate Chapin, Chiquita and Ypsilon summit climbs. Some trail listings give a longer distance, but no matching route line confirmed the extra segment; this total covers the mapped path out and back.
The signed junction sends you onto the creek branch, away from the summit route. The footpath is rough and overgrown, and becomes indistinct after entering a meadow. The mapped segment ends at the last clear trace; do not assume a faint continuation is a maintained trail. Turn around there and retrace the same path, with the climb back concentrated into the final two-thirds of a mile.
Wildlife
3,124 sightingsElkMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
1,601 sightingsMooseMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
19 sightingsMountain GoatMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
19 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
30 sightingsGolden EagleMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
270 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 11 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Rocky Mountain. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ModerateAlpine Ridge Trail0.6 mi · 45 min · 1.3 mi awayA steep stair climb to a 12,000-foot, four-direction view.
ModerateUte Trail West4 mi · 2.5 hr · 1.4 mi awayA high tundra traverse ending at the Continental Divide
EasyTundra Communities Trail1.2 mi · 1 hr · 1.7 mi awayA short paved climb to a memorial among mushroom rocks.
EasyChasm Falls Trail0.1 mi · 15 min · 3.3 mi awayForty rough steps lead to Fall River's narrow granite chute.
ModerateUte Trail East to Timberline Pass3.9 mi · 2 hr · 3.5 mi awayLong tundra views on a gentle trail to Timberline Pass.
ModeratePoudre River Trail from Milner Pass6 mi · 3.5 hr · 4.1 mi awayA 6-mile headwaters out-and-back through high, wet meadows.
ModerateForest Canyon Pass Trail4.7 mi · 3.5 hr · 4.5 mi awayTundra ponds and canyon views reward this high-country climb.
ChallengingMount Ida Trail9.6 mi · 6.5 hr · 4.5 mi awayA hard climb to a wide-open Continental Divide summit.
Food · 1.3 mi awayTrail Ridge Store & CaféA stone café and gift shop at Trail Ridge Road's high pass.
Visitor center · 1.4 mi awayAlpine Visitor CenterThe National Park System's highest visitor center, above the treeline.
Sight · 1.5 mi awayMedicine Bow CurveFollow the Cache la Poudre valley toward Wyoming’s mountains.
Sight · 1.5 mi awayLava Cliffs OverlookA rare lava exposure beside Trail Ridge Road.
Sight · 1.7 mi awayRock CutA road cut through the tundra, with pikas among the rocks.
Sight · 2.1 mi awayGore Range OverlookCatch the Never Summer skyline without adding a hike.
Sight · 2.9 mi awayForest Canyon OverlookFive minutes of walking reveals a canyon carved by ice.
Sight · 3.3 mi awayChasm FallsA short walk to a waterfall tucked into a granite cleft.Parkwolf’s Rocky Mountain ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
