Pictured here are Fern Lake, Notchtop Mountain, and the Little Matterhorn by ranger Al Rozum. Just across from the Moraine Park Museum in Rocky Mountain National Park is a 3-mile road leading to the Fern Lake trailhead. The elevation at the trailhead is 8,155 feet. The first part of the trail is nice and flat through ferns and parallels Big Thompson Creek. Then it begins a series of switchbacks. A walk of 2.5 miles leads to Fern Falls that plunges 60 feet amid a jumble of downed timber. The hike all the way to beautiful Fern Lake is 3.8 miles. In the background of this picture, Notchtop Mountain is to the left and the Little Matterhorn to the right. The Little Matterhorn reaches a height of 11,586 feet. Notchtop Mountain has an elevation of 12,129 feet, and its true summit is a technical climb.

ON THE COVER: A mountaineer rappels down this steep side of rock in the Eagle Cliff area of Rocky Mountain National Park. Eagle Cliff Mountain is near the Beaver Meadows Park entrance. This photograph, taken by Roger Contor, geologist and former park superintendent, on August 23, 1963, shows one of many exciting climbs available to qualified visitors to the park. (Courtesy Rocky Mountain National Park archives.)