title: A Natural History of Trail Ridge Road: Rocky Mountain National Park's Highway to the Sky
author: Amy Law
description: Amy Law has been lucky enough to live near Trail Ridge Road and so has made many trips over this fascinating highway. To learn more about the natural history of Trail Ridge Road and other ecosystems, Amy earned a master's degree from the College of Natural Resources at Colorado State University. In the years since, she's spent much of her time filling in the gaps in her education. Amy lives west of Denver with her husband, two kids and two dogs.
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  ![cover.jpg](images/cover.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  This one's for John and his husband, Andrew.
  
  
  Andrew spins, John knits, and together,
  
  
  they warm the hearts of everyone who knows them.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **Chapter 1  
  Bald**
  
  
  
  
  
  Crawford watched the new resident of #15 Llama Lane move in with interest. It
  was early September in Granby, Colorado, and the snows were not that far off.
  
  
  Granby, Colorado, part of Grand County, sat in a bowl of a valley which was,
  itself, set shallow in the midst of the peaks of the Rocky Mountains.
  According to the computer, it was a mere thirty-four miles away from the more
  populous Fort Collins, but that thirty-four miles was over a road so
  treacherous and so winding that they had made it a state park. From June to
  August, people from all over the world traveled over Trail Ridge Road
  (otherwise known as Highway 34) in awe. For one thing, it made it to over
  12,000 feet in elevation, making it the highest road in the country. For
  another, it still had s