The Moraine Park Campground reopened a week ago after being closed for a two-year long restoration project that involved replacing aging water distribution lines, renovating the sewer system, upgrading electrical lines, and improving storm drainage.
Officials initially intended that the work would take one year, but construction delays pushed the completion back until this year.
The campground was originally opened to the public at the beginning of the 1965 summer season with 170 campsites in the first year. Today the campground has 244 campsites that can accommodate 40-foot RVs, camping vans, and tents.
In all, Rocky Mountain National Park has five developed campgrounds – Aspenglen, Glacier Basin Campground, Timber Creek Campground, Longs Peak Campground, and Moraine Park Campground – with a total of 585 campsites. Additionally, there are some 200 backcountry campsites in the Park.
The Moraine Park Campground, the largest of the five, serves over 30,000 tent and RV campers annually.
Moraine Park is located on a glacial moraine, a landform made up of unsorted sediment and debris deposited by a glacier.
In 1874, at the age of 14, Abner Sprague and his parents homesteaded in Moraine Park which was originally called Willow Park. The following year, Sprague and Clarence Chubbuck built a cabin in what Sprague would rename Moraine Park.
Initially Sprague planned to ranch but as more visitors came to the Estes Valley he and his wife, Alberta, built a lodge to accommodate tourists. Dorothy, Sprague’s cousin, and her husband, J.D. “Jim” Stead, bought the ranch in 1904. The couple renamed the property Stead’s Ranch and Hotel. Over time, the amenities at the resort included a swimming pool, a 9-hole golf course, rodeo grounds, stables, guest houses and a hotel.
Rocky Mountain National Park was established in 1915. The Park encompasses 265,807 acres, the equivalent to 415 square miles.
In 1950 the Steads sold to Edgar and Dorothy Stopher and in 1962, the National Park Service acquired the property for $750,000 which included 560 acres. The buildings were raised in 1963.
The Moraine Park Campground, which sits at 8,160 feet, opened in 1965.
The campground was closed in 1974 due to bubonic plague associated with flees on deer mice. The campground was closed again on Aug. 5, 1975 for a week because of bubonic plague which was attributed to squirls.
While plague is serious, it is endemic to the Park, but cases among are very rare. In the 14th century, plague killed millions of people but today the illness is treated with antibiotics.
Clear here for information about making a reservation.