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4 Hour Private Geology Tour in Rocky Mountain National Park

4 Hour Private Geology Tour in Rocky Mountain National Park

Overview

In the comfort of your own vehicle, our knowledgeable step-on geologist guide, Ranger Rod, will direct you through Rocky Mountain National Park. He will take photos of your group's adventure as you travel through time in RMNP witnessing evidence of major rock and mineral forming processes that took place billions of years ago. Discover ancient mountains that started rising shortly after the dinosaurs went extinct, as well as landscape formed by later volcanic eruptions. More recently (in geologic time) learn how the mountains were sculpted by massive ice age glaciers and about early human history after the valley glaciers covering the area melted 12 thousand years ago. Seeing these natural wonders through the eyes of an experienced local geologist, will evolve your worldview of mountain landscapes and enhance future RMNP adventures.

6 hour tour times are only available in the summertime when Trail Ridge Rd is open, 4 hour tour reservations are available year-round.

City: Rocky Mountain National Park

Thu 17 Apr

Other dates

You can choose the date already on the booking website

Starting at $175.00

Make a reservation

Thu 17 Apr

Starting at $175.00

Make a reservation

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What's Included

Retired Geologist, Professional Guide

Gear Rentals (when needed)

Timed Entry Reservations (when required)

Professional Photos (digital download)

Additional Info

Service animals allowed
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Wheelchair accessible

What To Expect

Beaver Meadows Visitor Center

Upon meeting Ranger Rod at the BMVC, you will explore a 3D map located in the building's basement to get good orientation of the park and its formations before passing through the RMNP entrance gate.

Rocky Mountain National Park

On your geologic tour of RMNP you will: be oriented to the park using 3D Maps explaining major geologic topography; explore evidence of the powerful tectonic, volcanic, and glacial forces that created the park’s landscape; decipher the geologic story behind the breathtaking scenic vistas of the park’s best overlooks and active wildlife habitats; learn how to recognize major RMNP rocks and minerals, including metamorphic Gneiss and Schist, and intrusive and volcanic rocks from inner earth; locate 5 ancient glacial valleys and today’s 8 named glaciers along with prominent peaks, and the park’s 3 mountain ranges. Relive Indigenous American legacies dating back over 11 thousand years and colorful pioneer history starting in 1800’s.

Beaver Meadows Visitor Center

After your tour, you will return to the BMVC

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Traveler Photos

Reviews (18)

carolsZ9508KE

Oct 2024

The entire tour was wonderful!!! My tour guide, Rod, was friendly, knowledgeable, and included taking pics of me around the park. He can make the geology simple or more complex as you wish. So many mountains and so many rock samples. Go if you can.

Travel50046439497

Oct 2024

A delightfully comprehensive tour of the geology, landforms, ecology, and human history of Rocky Mountain National Park. As I geologist myself, I was very impressed by the knowledge and expertise our guide Rod had across such a diverse spectrum of subject matter. I learned many new things about the park, and specifically about the geology. Some examples include the comparatively recent flooding that created the alluvial fan area; that the flat, smooth topography on the high peak is likely the result pre-glacial erosion (peneplanes); the existence of the 'iron dike' trending NW through the park: And that 20 million year old 'lava' flows are preserved near the high point of Trail Ridge Road. The tour was further enhanced by Rod's knowledge of the best places to view the stunning natural beauty of the park, including sightings of both elk and bighorn sheep. A fantastic experience and time very well spent - thoroughly enjoyable!

geoffhX3276PL

Sep 2024

On a beautiful early summer day, my wife and I, and a good friend of ours, were treated to an outstanding geologic tour of RMNP led by Ranger Rod. My friend and I are geologists who recently retired in the Fort Collins area. We have a reasonably good level of knowledge of the geology of Northern Colorado that we have gained from numerous hikes in the area. My wife is not a geologist but she is a geology enthusiast. Our tour started outside the park with an overview of the metasedimentary rocks along Hwy 34 in the lower portion of the Big Thompson Canyon, and then a stop along CR43 to look at an outstanding pegmatite outcrop on the way to Glen Haven. Once in the park we learned about the granite exfoliation domes and Tors that make up the area around Lumpy Ridge. We were then treated to an overview and a tour of the role glaciers have played in shaping the landscape of RMNP. With the use of a fantastic hand-painted panoramic hiking map of RMNP (painted by James Nehues of ski area map fame), Rod pointed out a number of long glacial valleys, cirques and moraines including some very impressive lateral and terminal moraines that we had not noticed during previous visits to the park. A stop to see the man-caused alluvial fan from the 1982 Lawn Lake dam failure, and hear the story of how it blew through the Fall River Valley lateral moraine, was very interesting. We continued on up Trail Ridge Road with a stop at Hidden Valley to see the 1 billion year old Iron Dike that we had never seen or heard of before. We then continued up to the higher country to get an overview of the Never Summer Mountains and to learn that they are the glaciated remnants of magma chambers formed "only" 23 million years ago. The tour ended with a short walk around Sprague Lake with impressive views of Long's Peak. What a great day with a great guide. Rod's knowledge of the geology of RMNP is tremendous and his ability to tell the geologic story in a way that geologists and non geologists alike can easily understand, was impressive. I highly recommend this guided trip for geologists and curious non geologists as well.