Many fires swept through what is now the national park between 1850 and the early 1900's. A walk around Bear Lake passes through forests that regenerated after large fires at the turn of the century. In 1956, Climber Patrick Dwyer fell several hundred feet from Hallett Peak.  Severely injured, several rangers including Norm Nesbit, Frank Betts, Robert Frauson, and Jerry Hammond worked cautiously under dangerous conditions, accessing Dwyer’s injuries and carrying him by litter down Tyndall Gorge, across Emerald and Dream Lake, and to the Bear Lake Ranger Station.  The four of them were awarded the National Park Service Valor Award in 1957 for this.

The Mission 66 construction program, a ten-year effort started in 1956, contained a myriad of projects to replace outdated facilities and prepare the park for a busy future. Projects enhanced the park for the pleasure of the automobile-oriented visitor. The Park was envisioned as "an outdoor museum with unsurpassed accessibility." Linked to improved roadways were "visitor centers," where those entering the Park could receive a "general interpretation of the Park's resources." One such structure was placed near the western entrance of the Park; another was developed at Fall River Pass; and a third was planned for Bear Lake. In 1960, new bridge over the Big Thompson River was completed as part of Mission 66 to provide for a continuous Bear Lake Road from Trail Ridge Road to the lake.

From 2012-2013, Bear Lake Road resurfacing completed the reconstruction or resurfacing of all major paved roads in the park in the last ten years.

Today, steep semicircular scars called cirques indicate the top of U-shaped glaciated valleys. Numerous cirques may be seen from Bear Lake Road. Glacial erosion also left scratches, grooves and polished surfaces on some of the rocks.

Credits and Sources:

“Geologic Activity.” National Park Service: Rocky Mountain, Colorado. Environmental Factors. Accessed May 30, 2015. http://www.nps.gov/romo/learn/nature/geologicactivity.htm

“Rocky Mountain National Park: A History. Chapter 8: The Price of Popularity.” National Park Service. Park History Program. Accessed May 31, 2015. http://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/romo/buchholtz/chap8.htm

“Timeline of Historic Events.” National Park Service: Rocky Mountain, Colorado. Stories. Accessed May 31, 2015. http://www.nps.gov/romo/learn/historyculture/time_line_of_historic_events.htm

“Rocky Mountain National Park: A History. Chapter 6: Paradise Founded.” National Park Service. Park History Program. Accessed May 31. 2015. http://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/romo/buchholtz/chap6.htm

“Bear Lake Snow Conditions.” National Park Service: Rocky Mountain, Colorado. Current Conditions. Accessed June 6, 2015. http://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/bear-lake-snow-conditions.htm