Rocky Mountains: Glass-Top Van Tour & Alpine Visitor Center

4.98

(357 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

I didn’t expect to feel so small, honestly. The first time the roof slid back on that glass-top van and I looked up — just sky and those jagged Rocky peaks — it was like being let in on a secret. Our guide, Jamie, grinned when she caught me gawking and said, “Wait till you taste the air at twelve thousand feet.” She wasn’t kidding. It’s cold and thin and smells like pine needles and something older than I can name.

The drive up Old Fall River Road is all tight curves and sudden meadows. At one point, we stopped for a quick walk — not long, maybe ten minutes — but the sound of water under the snowmelt falls was louder than any traffic. I tried to take a photo but ended up just standing there breathing (and okay, shivering). Jamie pointed out some tiny yellow flowers poking through gravel; apparently they only bloom for about two weeks each year. I forgot their name already — something Latin-sounding — but she laughed when I asked if they were edible (they’re not).

At the Alpine Visitor Center, which is higher than any other in North America (I checked), people moved slow because of the altitude. There was this weird camaraderie among strangers clutching hot drinks from the cafeteria. Someone handed me a cookie from their snack bar stash — turns out snacks are included with Purple Points’ day trip through Rocky Mountain National Park. The wind up there could knock your hat off if you’re not careful. I saw a marmot sunning itself on a rock near the parking lot; it looked completely unbothered by us.

Trail Ridge Road felt like driving on top of the world. The weather changed every ten minutes: sun, then mist, then sudden blue again. I kept thinking about how most tours would have left us freezing or fogged-in behind regular windows, but here we just slid the glass closed or open as needed. So yeah, if you want to see Rocky this way — really see it — this is probably how you do it.