A local's guide to eloping in Rocky Mountain National Park 2024

We are so lucky to have spent hundreds of days in Rocky Mountain National Park over the last ten years! Not only did we get married there ourselves in 2017 – we work as elopement photographers up there a few times a week! The park is super close to our home in Longmont, so even on our days off, we never get tired of visiting RMNP to hike, camp and explore the crisp alpine lakes and meandering trails.

Rocky is truly one of the most amazing wedding destinations in Colorado. The views are world class, and from paved paths to rugged backcountry trails, there is an adventure accessible for everyone. It’s also a super affordable wedding venue – the public Special Use permits for weddings are $300, although we have a commercial permit with the park that allows us to make reservations for our couples. All of our packages include permit fees, so that one is on us!

Like most popular outdoor destinations, RMNP has implemented some strict rules to help preserve the integrity of the park. We want to set you up for success, so here’s some FAQs to know before you start planning your elopement:

pros and cons of getting married in Rocky Mountain NP

Why getting married in Rocky could be perfect for you:

It’s a good option for couples with guests! All of the ceremony locations are a short walk from parking, and some are even wheelchair accessible. You can ditch your guests after the ceremony and go for a world class hike after if you’re looking for more adventure.

If you’re a National Park enthusiast, Rocky is one of the very best – the mountain views are incredible from all angles, and the park is home to unique and delicate ecology as well as elk, moose, mule deer, wild turkeys, countless birds, and a few very rarely spotted bears.

Why you might not want to have a wedding at RMNP:

If you’re imagining spending the day hiking out to a pristine alpine lake and saying your vows in a private spot you worked hard to get to – Rocky is not going to be the spot for you. They don’t allow backcountry elopements, so every single ceremony in the park has to happen at one of their pre-approved locations, with no hiking involved. (Most of our Rocky couples choose to go on a hike somewhere else in the park after the ceremony!)

You want your elopement to be all about spontaneity, privacy, and getting away from the beaten path. Don’t get me wrong – we think the accessibility, facilities and regulations in place at RMNP are a good thing. Rocky is a magical place and millions of people every year are able to have incredible adventures there. But if the idea of gate traffic, walking down sidewalks and having well meaning tourists congratulate you all day doesn’t sound worth it to you – let’s chat about taking you somewhere else.

When is the best time to get married at Rocky Mountain NP?

Time of year:

Summer: May through August is lovely in the park, although in May at higher elevations there will definitely still be snow on the ground in shady spots! Expect green meadows full of sage brush and native grasses, lots of baby mule deer and super comfortable temperatures. Avoid holiday weekends like Memorial Day & the 4th of July whatever you do!
Fall: September is pretty summery still in the park, but October is just everything you could want from fall. Snow dusting the peaks, enormous elk bugling through the fog, golden aspens peppered with evergreen spruce and fir. It’s lovely and life changing, but just know that October is also peak visitation – so expect lots of competition for permits and lots of traffic!
Winter & Spring: Ok we absolutely love doing elopements in RMNP from November through April! It feels like a totally different park – super quiet and so few people that they often don’t even man the entrance gate! Of course it’s cold and snowy, but we think winter weddings are incredibly charming when done well.

Time of day:

Sunrise is always quite nice in the park, especially when you get a nice alpenglow lighting up Long’s Peak. If you’re looking to go to a popular location like Dream Lake in the summer or fall, I think honestly sunrise is a must.

Sunset (or the last two hours of the day) is our favorite lighting in Colorado, so don’t skip seeing a sunset in favor of an early dinner!

Best day of the week:

Please do yourself a favor and don’t even consider a weekend elopement in Rocky Mountain National Park. Even if you have a permit, you and your guests could sit in an hour of traffic just to get in the gate. And once you enter, parking is still first come first serve. It’s just not what we want for you! A weekday wedding is always going to be the best option almost anywhere, but especially in Rocky.

How to get a wedding permit for RMNP:

Permits offered to the public:

Download your Special Use Permit Application from [NPS.gov](http://NPS.govhttps://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/weddings.htm).
Plan in advance: wedding permits for a given month open the first of the month, one year in advance. So if you’re looking for October, 13th 2025 – you should be ready to apply on October 1st, 2024.
Choose your ceremony location from the list, as well as the time of day and an alternate option for location and time.
Submit the completed form to romo_fees_permits@nps.gov and you’ll be contacted within a few weeks if your application was accepted! At that point you’ll be invoiced $300.

How we can help you get a permit:

We’ve been CUA holders at Rocky for several years and are able to arrange ceremonies directly for our clients! We pay $350 a year and $75 per ceremony, plus do a ton of paperwork every year in order to make this happen – but we charge our clients $0, it’s all part of our packages!

While we’re still subjected to the same rules as everyone else, we do get a direct line to the permit office and a bit of insider info on permit availability. The absolute best way to get a last minute RMNP wedding permit is to ask us for help navigating the park’s availability!

The best ceremony locations in Rocky

Before we get into our favorite elopement locations in RMNP, let’s talk about having responsible weddings up there! We’re super passionate about limiting our impact on wild spaces, especially really sensitive ecosystems like the alpine tundra

We invite you to use your elopement as an opportunity to familiarize yourself with Leave No Trace guidelines as well as to dig deeper into the specific needs of the many unique ecosystems that make RMNP such a gem. RMNP contains 90k acres of one of the most sensitive ecosystems in the country: the Alpine Tundra. It’s critical to understand where you can and cannot travel in the park, but they make it easy for ya and put signs everywhere – keep an eye out for those and you should be just fine!

With that said, where should you get married in Rocky Mountain National Park? There’s a whole list here, but we’ve got strong opinions on which spots are the best, and how to choose a location that balances your needs.

Our three favorite ceremony spots in RMNP:

3M Curve

3M Curve is easily our favorite place by far – we got married here in 2017! The spot is about 10 minutes from the main entrance. It’s hard to find, which also means it’s super private. Just drive three miles past the entrance gate on 36 and look out for an overlook point with a big rock formation right off the road. You’ll see a hidden trail to the left of the big rock that takes you out about a hundred feet to a beautiful stone feature that’s perfect for your ceremony. It’s fairly quiet, and in our experience it’s the most private place to get married in Rocky Mountain National Park. This spot is limited to 15 people total, including the couple and any vendors.

Sprague Lake

Sprague Lake comes with some heavy pros and cons. Pros: it’s beautiful, has diverse ecological features, and it’s easy to navigate. Cons: it’s busy, busy, busy most of the time! If you want to elope at Sprague Lake, we recommend choosing sunrise or sunset, ideally on a weekday or during winter, or both!

The lake is about a mile around and is designed to be wheelchair accessible, although snow on the trail can of course change that. Depending on how large your group is, there are a few different spots to hold your ceremony. We love the big rock shown in the photo below. Sprague Lake allows 15 people in summer and 30 in winter, and it’s a 20 minute drive from the main entrance.

Upper Beaver Meadows

This location isn’t the most exciting, but it makes up for that by being just simple and easy. It’s a big open meadow in the shadow of Long’s Peak with plenty of parking and a cute little willow-lined creek. I often recommend Upper Beaver Meadows as a location if 3M is unavailable (or if there are more than 15 guests) because the view is similar. It’s also pretty quiet, although you’ll definitely see people hiking by on a nearby trail. Up to 30 people.

Bonus! Bear Lake in Winter

Bear Lake rules in winter when the lake is frozen, but I wouldn’t recommend it in a million years otherwise. It’s absolutely one of the park’s most popular locations. They don’t even allow ceremonies in the summer because the road and parking area can get so congested that visitors are often turned away. And fall isn’t much better – you’ll be right on the trail with so many people walking just feet away from your ceremony.

If the lake is frozen, you can safely head right out onto the ice for a peaceful ceremony with a great view of both Long’s and Hallet’s Peaks. A good photographer will be able to easily remove any hikers or cross country skiers in the background. Up to 20 people here for some reason, but we wouldn’t recommend more than 10 if the lake isn’t frozen.

Bonus! Moraine Park Amphitheater

The main drawback of Moraine Park is that it doesn’t really have great views – it’s a paved area with seating surrounded by trees. Because it’s the only dog friendly location and relatively accessible we wanted to be sure to include it. But if you’re not bringing a dog or someone with mobility concerns, there are better choices! You can have 30 people here.

Details on the other ceremony locations:

All the other ceremony spots available to book in the park! Don’t let us stop you from choosing any of these spots if they hold special significance to you by any means! It’s just that none of these are going to compare to our fave options we outlined above.

Alluvial Fan Bridge - 20 people, 5 cars
Copeland Lake (Wild Basin Area) - 30 people, 10 cars
Harbison Meadow Picnic Area (West Side near Grand Lake) - 30 people, 10 cars
Hidden Valley - 30 people, 10 cars
Lily Lake Dock - 10 people, 10 cars (Vehicle limit of 10 applies from the Friday before Memorial Day weekend through 2nd Tuesday of October)
Lily Lake Trail - 10 people, 10 cars (Vehicle limit of 10 applies from the Friday before Memorial Day weekend through 2nd Tuesday of October)
Lily Lake Southside Picnic Area - 20 people, 30 cars (Vehicle limit of 10 applies from the Friday before Memorial Day weekend through 2nd Tuesday of October)
Timber Creek Campground Amphitheater - 20 people, 5 cars (Limited parking)

FAQs

Can you get married anywhere in Rocky Mountain National Park?

The park only allows ceremonies to be performed at designated locations. They’re super strict on this – no matter what your wedding looks like, they want all vow readings, ring exchanges, “I do”s and license signings to happen in a designated area. After the ceremony though, you can go anywhere in the park for photos as long as you’re following park rules. This includes saying your vows even if you already signed your license on another day or at a different location.

How many people can attend a wedding in the park?

Each ceremony location has its own guest count, the max is 30 in some locations, but less in others. It’s important to remember that the “guest count” for all ceremony locations in the park includes everyone – the couple, their guests including children and vendors.

Do you need a permit?

Public permits are $300 for a two hour time slot, here’s how you apply! (Again, if you’re our clients, we’ll take care of this for you!) You can actually call to confirm availability, which I highly recommend doing before committing the rest of your plans around a specific date and time. Popular locations, like the ones below, sell out months in advance as the park limits how many ceremonies per day may take place in each spot. Your permit will include your officiant and photographer, but all guests and vendors will need to pay an entrance fee at the gate or show their annual pass.

Do we also need a timed entry pass?

Nope! RMNP has implemented an advance reservation system in the last few years to limit the amount of people in the park from May through October, but don’t worry, your wedding permit is your timed entry pass. It’s worth getting familiar with the system, because if you want to visit on a different day during high season, you’ll need to prepare in advance. They do have options to arrive early or late in the day without a reservation in case you miss them!

Are photographers, officiants & other vendors covered by the wedding permit?

Yes, your photographer and officiant will be allowed to operate under your permit, which means they also get to avoid the timed entry system! For all other vendors like instrumental musicians or an on-site florist or HMUA, be sure to ask the park for permission to bring those people in.

Can we have any seating, arches or decor?

All of the weddings in Rocky have to be more or less “elopement style” with no decorations, arches, tables, chairs, or loud music allowed – ****which we love anyway, because who needs an arch when you’ve got Longs Peak presiding over your ceremony? Anyone needing a seat is allowed to have one, but general seating is prohibited. You are allowed to play music over speakers, at about conversation level. There is one exception – Moraine Park Amphitheater allows arches and tables to be set up, and it has some seating.

Are dogs allowed?

In almost all cases, no. Dogs are allowed in the park itself, but only where cars can go – mostly parking lots and along roads. All trails, campgrounds & ceremony sites are off limits to dogs – except Moraine Park again!

How much does it cost to elope at Rocky Mountain NP?

It really depends! Your basic costs will be:

$0 or $300 for a permit
$30-$35 for a marriage license
$30 per car at the gate, unless you have an annual parks pass
Costs for photography, officiation, florals, lodging & flights vary wildly – but there is truly an option here for every budget and every vision!

Are there places to explore before or after the ceremony?

Definitely – some really well known hikes in Rocky are:

the trail that starts at Bear Lake, with stops at Nymph Lake and Dream Lake before ending at Emerald Lake. We’ve hiked this one a million times and think it’s so beautiful every step of the way, but it’s also the signature hike of the park and can be quite crowded on peak visitation days. This hike is fairly easy, with minimal elevation gain – but definitely be prepared with good footwear, including traction spikes in winter!
Sky Pond & The Loch: not an easy or short hike, so plan for lots of time, but it’s absolutely worthwhile! Once of the best front country locations in the park for an experienced hiker!
Some secret spots: it wouldn’t be responsible for us to give away some of our favorite hidden gems in the park – over-visitation to backcountry spots can be a huge problem in places like RMNP, and we’ve seen really beautiful locations get closed off due to too much traffic. To avoid this, we only share our fave locations with our booked clients. We’ve got a ton of them up our sleeves and would love to share them with you!

Can you elope on Trail Ridge Road?

Unfortunately no. Trail Ridge Road is the part of Highway 34 that follows a historical migratory route of the Ute people. It’s the highest elevated continuous road in the US, with unbelievable views and lots of great hiking!

None of the approved ceremony locations are on Trail Ridge Road, but you’re welcome to explore up there before or after your ceremony! The closest ceremony spots are 3M Curve and Hidden Valley, both of which are on the highway that turns into TRR. Eloping at any of the spots on the Bear Lake Corridor will add an additional 20-30 minutes of drive time to your adventure if you’re heading up to the summit of Trail Ridge.

Are there accessible ceremony sites?

Yes! The Lily Lake Dock, Trail & Picnic Area, Sprague Lake, and Moraine Park Amphitheater are all classified as wheelchair accessible – just keep in mind that from late October through early May snowfall could alter the accessibility of any trail in the park.

Can you have a reception in the park?

Only at the Lily Lake Southside Picnic Area. You’ll need an additional permit, and must limit your reception to simple food and un-amplified music.

Where should we stay?

Rocky is an absolutely enormous park, with an East entrance and a West entrance. From Memorial Day weekend through mid-October, those halves of the park are connected by an hour drive along Trail Ridge Road. TRR is closed in winter, creating a 3.5 hour drive the long way around. We’ve seen couples make the BIG MISTAKE of choosing the wrong place to stay for their wedding, so we’ll break it down for you:

East: If your ceremony is at 3M Curve, Alluvial Fan Bridge, Bear Lake, Copeland Lake, Hidden Valley, Lily Lake, Moraine Park, Sprague Lake or Upper Beaver Meadows – you need to stay on the East side of the park in or near the town of Estes Park (Allenspark, Drake, Lyons or Boulder are ok options too, but be prepared for a drive.)

West: If your ceremony is at Harbison Meadow or the Timber Creek Campground Amphitheater – you need to stay on the West side of the park in or near the towns of Granby or Grand Lake.