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10,000 BC
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Clovis Paleoindian hunters enter the park as the glaciers retreat.
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6,000 BC to 150 AD
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Archaic hunter-gatherers occupy park in the spring and summers. These are the ancestors to many tribes in the western United States (Ute, Comanche, Goshiute, Shoshone).
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1200-1300
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Ute enter North Park and Middle Park and Rocky Mountain National Park.
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1500
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Apache are in the high country, including the park.
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1800?
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Arapaho make first appearance in the park.
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1820
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Stephen A. Long Expedition on the plains and are first non-Indians to see Longs Peak. Records of his expedition provide some information about the park.
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1843
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Rufus B. Sage is first explorer to enter east side of park and write about it.
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1858
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Joel Estes enters what is now Estes Park and starts a ranch.
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1868
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John Wesley Powell, William Byers (Rocky Mountain News) and others make the first ascent of Longs Peak.
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1870?
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The Pole Hill stage road connects Estes Park with Loveland - all day trip one way.
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1871
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First woman to climb Longs Peak was Addie Alexander followed by a Miss Jane Bartlett and then by well-known lecturer and author Anna E. Dickinson in 1873.
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1874
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Ferdinand Vandiveer Hayden's "U.S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories" enters the park.
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1874
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Abner Sprague homesteads in Moraine Park and builds Sprague's Ranch (later Stead's Ranch) and establishes tourism and dude ranching in the park.
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1876
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State of Colorado created by Congress - "The Centennial State."
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1874 - 1886
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Mining on the west side of the park; Lulu City and Gaskill Towns established
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1880
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McGraw Ranch aka Indian Head Ranch established
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1895 - 1935
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Grand Ditch is built to bring water from Never Summer Range across La Poudre Pass and down the Cache La Poudre to the plains for agriculture.
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1896 - 1902
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Mining on the east side of the park (Eugenia and Meeker Mines)
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1906
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Antiquities Act passed protects archeological sites and allows the president to declare National Monuments
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1906
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Road up the Big Thompson River (now Highway 34) completed.
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1905
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Stanley Hotel constructed in Estes Park.
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1907
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Squeaky Bob Wheeler opens the Hotel de Hardscrabble (later known as the Phantom Valley Ranch) in the Kawuneeche Valley for tourists.
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1907
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Enos Mills, James Grafton Rodgers, and others begin lobbying for the establishment of Rocky Mountain National Park.
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1914
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Arapaho pack trip provides 30 Indian names for mountains and other topographic features in the park - trip published by Oliver Toll in 1962.
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1915
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September 4, 1915 - Rocky Mountain National Park dedicated.
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1916
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Organic Act establishing the National Park Service is enacted by Congress.
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1917
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Winter sports introduced, including first Winter Carnival
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1913 - 1920
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Fall River Road constructed as first road over Continental Divide between Estes Park and Grand Lake.
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1929 - 1933
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Trail Ridge Road constructed.
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1933 - 1942
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Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) work camps in Hollowell Park, Little Horseshoe Park, and Kawuneeche Valley.
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1936
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Hidden Valley becomes a ski area; closed in 1992 and removed by 2002.
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1936
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CCC crews remodel Moraine Park Lodge into the Moraine Park Museum and build the nearby amphitheater that ushered in a new era of park interpretation and education programs.
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1937 - 1947
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Colorado-Big Thompson Project and Alva B. Adams tunnel completed under park.
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1939
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Abner Sprague becomes first park visitor to pay entrance fee.
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1955
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National Park Service Director Conrad Worth announces Mission 66, a construction program designed to bring the National Parks into modern conditions for increasing amount of visitors.
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1960
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New bridge over the Big Thompson River is completed as part of Mission 66 to provide for a continuous Bear Lake Road from Trail Ridge Road to the lake, and the present Beaver Meadows Entrance is opened.
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1964
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Wilderness Act passed which later allows for further protection of the park.
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1966
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National Historic Preservation Act protects historic and prehistoric resources on federal lands.
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1968
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Beaver Meadows Headquarters building finished; declared National Historic Landmark in 2002 as the only building in the NPS designed by the Frank Lloyd Wright school of architecture.
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1982
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Lawn Lake dam collapses - flood kills 3 people and severely impacts Estes Park.
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1988
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McGraw Ranch purchased and buildings are remodeled and turned into a research center by 2001.
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1992
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Lily Lake area purchased and popular handicapped trail constructed.
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2000
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New Fall River Visitor Center opens. Congressional act required to allow private company to build visitor center outside the park, with NPS staff.
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2003
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Grand Ditch breach occurs.
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2004
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Hidden Valley reopens for winter sledding and summer picnics.
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2007
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Sister Park Agreement signed with Tatra National Park in Poland.
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2008
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Record of Decision on Final Elk and Vegetation Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement signed.
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2009
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Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 was passed, providing additional protection by designating most of the park's backcountry as wilderness.
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2010
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Trail Ridge Road resurfaced
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2011
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Sister Park Agreement signed with Tusheti National Park in the Republic of Georgia.
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2012-13
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Bear Lake Road resurfacing completes the reconstruction or resurfacing of all major paved roads in the park in the last ten years.
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