Your guide to watching the elk rut in Rocky Mountain National Park this year

Come fall, it's difficult to determine if elk bugling is Robin and aspen viewing Batman or the other way around in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Aspen still have a week or two to shine so until then, there's no doubt elk are playing the Batman role.

Here are keys to navigating the park's timed-entry permit reservation system, the best elk viewing locations and best times of day to visit when elk are most active:

How Rocky Mountain National Park's timed-entry reservation system can affect your elk viewing

For the third straight year, the park has implemented a timed-entry permit system.

There are two timed entry permit reservation options:

Option 1: Access to Bear Lake Road and the entire park. This option is required if you wish to access Moraine Park, which offers the best elk viewing in the park. It also offers access to Horseshoe Park and Upper Beaver Meadows, the other favorable elk viewing locations on the park's east side. The permit is required for the corridor from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.

Option 2: All of the park except for the Bear Lake Road Corridor. This option does not allow access to elk viewing in Moraine Park but does in Horseshoe Park and Upper Beaver Meadows. This permit is required from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.

As of the morning of Thursday, Sept. 15, there were still timed-entry permits available daily. The permits are required through Oct. 10.

To book a reservation, you must visit www.recreation.gov. For more information about the park, visit www.nps.gov/romo/.

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Do I have to buy a timed-entry permit to enter Rocky Mountain National Park?

No.

You can access the Bear Lake Corridor without a timed-entry permit if entering the park before 5 a.m. or after 6 p.m. You can access the rest of the park without a permit if entering before 9 a.m. and after 3 p.m. You will be required to pay the entrance fee, which is $30 for a daily pass.

The park's entrance stations are not staffed before 7 a.m. and there are no pay stations at the entrance stations. However, the park still requires you to pay an entrance fee online if you don't have a valid annual pass. To purchase a pass, visit www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/fees.htm.

Where are the best places to see elk in Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park?

Moraine Park, Horseshoe Park and Upper Beaver Meadows are the three prime spots on the east side of Rocky. The Kawuneeche Valley is the best place on the west side of the park.

In Estes Park, the two golf courses generally offer the best elk viewing. Both are located at 1480 Golf Course Road. Please be considerate of golfers playing the courses.

What's the best time to view elk?

Dawn to mid-morning and late afternoon to dusk. That's when the light is best for photographs and videos and when the elk are most active.

The peak of the elk rut generally lasts from mid-September to mid-October, although it is often possible to hear elk bugling into November. 

For more information on elk viewing, including all about the mating ritual and bugling, visit https://www.nps.gov/romo/learn/nature/elk.htm.

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Elk viewing etiquette

• Keep a safe distance away and don't approach elk. Selfies might look cool but put you in a dangerous situation.
• Keep 25 yards or more between you and the elk. Additionally, you should not be within any distance that disturbs their movement or creates potentially hazardous situations. If the elk react to you, you are too close.
• If approached by an elk, you should slowly back away.
• If elk are near the road, remain in or next to your vehicle at a safe distance from the animal.
• Stay near the road and out of the meadows. Trails in Horseshoe Park, Moraine Park, Upper Beaver Meadows are closed from early evening to morning through October to protect the elk.
• The Elk Bugle Corps, a group of park volunteers, will be on hand to direct traffic, keep you safe and answer any questions you have about the elk. They will be at Horseshoe Park, Upper Beaver Meadows and Moraine Park nightly through mid-October.
• Keep your pets at home.
• Keep talking and other sounds to a minimum to enhance the experience for all.
• When photographing, use a long telephoto lens. Flash photography is prohibited.

Source: Rocky Mountain National Park