Rocky Mountain LEVELED BOOK • O National Park A Reading A–Z Level O Leveled Book Word Count: 644

Connections National Park Writing and Art In what season would you most like to visit the park? Draw a picture and write about it. Science Fold a piece of paper, then unfold it and lay it face down. Push the ends together to see how the Rocky Mountains formed. Discuss what you notice with a partner.

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N a ks tiona Par Written by Sean McCollum l Visit www.readinga-z.com for thousands of books and materials. www.readinga-z.com Words to Know autumn national park environments peaks range

Photo Credits: Front cover, back cover, page 5: © Ethan Welty/Aurora Photos; title page: National Park Pat & Chuck Blackley/Alamy Stock Photo; page 3: courtesy of NPS; page 4: © kjschoen/E+/Getty Images; page 7: © iStock.com/bruev; page 8 (main): James Frank/Alamy Stock Photo; page 8 (inset): © iStock.com/milehightraveler; page 9 (top): © Bill Draker/Getty Images; page 9 (bottom left): © Václav Mach/123RF; page 9 (bottom right): © Tom & Pat Leeson/ardea.com; page 10: © Curtis Martin/Lonely Planet Images/Getty Images; page 11: © Stan Osolinski/ Oxford Scientific/Getty Images; page 12: © Rolf Nussbaumer/NPL/Minden Pictures; page 13 (top): courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division [LC-USZ62-34627]; page 13 (bottom): Jim West/Alamy Stock Photo; page 14: © Andy Cross/The Post/Getty Images; page 15: © iStock.com/ SeanXu

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Focus Question Rocky Mountain National Park Level O Leveled Book Correlation © Learning A–Z LEVEL O Written by Sean McCollum Where is Rocky Mountain National Park, Fountas & Pinnell M and what can visitors see and do there? All rights reserved. Reading Recovery 20 www.readinga-z.com DRA 28 Rocky Mountain National Park

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Rocky Mountain National Park Longs First morning light burns off the fog on . Peak New The Best of the Rockies Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), in Colorado, shows off the best of the Table of Contents Rocky Mountains . The park includes The Best of the Rockies ...... 4 415 square miles (668 sq km) of natural beauty . The air is fresh and clean . It Young Mountains ...... 5 features mountain lakes that mirror high peaks From to ...... 7 above them . The park is home to mountain lions, moose, marmots, and Plan a Visit ...... 10 many other wild animals . Its sights are within reach of nature lovers, whether A Popular Park ...... 14 they are traveling by car or walking in Glossary ...... 16 hiking boots .

Rocky Mountain National Park • Level O 3 4 Young Mountains The Rocky Mountains form much of Rocky Mountain National Park is a the . This is a rocky small part of the Rocky Mountain spine that runs along Range . The Rockies, as they are called, and divides the way water flows . stretch 3,000 miles (4,828 km) from Water on the western side of the divide to . Compared to flows west toward the . other mountain ranges, the Rockies are Water on the eastern side flows toward the . young . They were pushed up between NORTH AMERICA

N A one hundred and sixty-five million N E A The Continental Divide C E O ago . Later on, glaciers moved downhill C O C

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and carved out their peaks . I A C L T

A A P Cache la er Poudre Riv

iver R Rocky Mountain o National Park ad or ol C e The Colorado is an important river id v in the . It starts i D in the park and flows southwest

l into the Gulf of . Along a t the way, it supplies water to several n e big cities. The Cache la Poudre n G i

U t (KASH LUH POO-dur) River starts

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F nearby. However, it flows east, o

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F joining larger rivers, until the water

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A flows into the Gulf of Mexico. L I F O R CO N EXI IA F M (center) in the park is one of the tallest mountains in the Rockies. Mexico GULF O

Rocky Mountain National Park • Level O 5 6 From Moose to Marmots Some animals live above the tree line . Rocky Mountain National Park has They include , Colorado’s several different environments . It state animal . Marmots are one of the has wet areas and forests of and largest members of the squirrel family . aspen trees . Mountain wildflowers They can be spotted on warm, sunny dot grassy meadows with bright colors rocks, squeaking loudly if danger is near . in summer . The trees stop growing at In rocky places, pika dash around . They about 11,500 feet (3,505 m) . look like big hamsters but This is called the are related to rabbits . tree line . Higher than this, the weather is too stormy and the pika soil too rocky for trees to grow . This flower is one of the first Different areas to bloom in the park each . in RMNP provide homes for different animals . Elk and deer feed along forest edges . Moose wade in watery places and chomp plants there . Bobcats and mountain lions live in the park, too, along with a few black bears . The curled horns of a bighorn sheep can weigh more than 30 pounds (14 kg).

Rocky Mountain National Park • Level O 7 8 About 280 kinds of Plan a Visit birds have been seen A visit to Rocky Mountain National in RMNP . They include Park can be carefree or full of adventure . eagles and ravens, Inside the park, the roads allow drivers which ride on mountain to enjoy great views . winds . Ptarmigan is the highest paved road in any U .S . (TAR-mi-gin) are great national park . As it climbs up and over at hiding in the open . the Continental Divide, it reaches more In summer, their brown than 12,000 feet (3,658 m) . This road is and gray feathers blend closed in winter, when snowdrifts can in with the earth . In be more than 20 feet (6 m) deep . winter, their feathers The western tanager is one of the most colorful birds in turn white and blend the park—and the country! in with the .

ptarmigan in summer ptarmigan in winter Trail Ridge Road is a state highway. It opens the last week in May if weather permits.

Rocky Mountain National Park • Level O 9 10 Colorado has fifty-eight peaks that rise more than 14,000 feet (4,267 m)— the “.” Longs Peak is one of the most popular.

For people who want to leave behind Each year, bull elk shed their antlers and grow a new set. The more points the sound of traffic, RMNP has on their antlers, the older the elk. hundreds of miles of hiking trails . Some hikers pitch tents near mountain Autumn is a special time to visit the lakes and rushing creeks . Others follow park . Aspen leaves turn bright yellow . rocky paths to reach mountaintops . In September and October, people also At 14,259 feet (4,346 m), Longs Peak come to watch and hear bull elk . During is the park’s tallest mountain . Hikers this time of year, they attract females, must be very fit to climb it . known as cows, with high-pitched calls .

Rocky Mountain National Park • Level O 11 12 A Popular Park Rocky Mountain National Park is one of the most popular national parks in the United States . Each year, more than four million people visit from around the , around 1905 world . During the summer months, the History of Rocky Mountain park can seem overcrowded . Sometimes National Park there are traffic jams . Many people now Ute, , and other Native peoples once lived in and ride buses inside the park rather than traveled through the land that is now Rocky Mountain National Park. Some spent summers camped in the beautiful valleys. drive their cars . Settlers and gold seekers began arriving in this part of the Rockies in the mid-1800s. For settlers headed west, these same Four Million and Counting mountains were big challenges. They had to drive their wagons over the steep passes. Others built mining towns, including 4 million This graph shows how, over a century, Estes Park, near what later became one of the park entrances. the number of visitors to RMNP has grown. In 1915, President Woodrow Wilson signed the law creating 3 million Rocky Mountain National Park. This was followed by a building boom of lodges and roads nearby. However, much of RMNP is 2 million still surrounded by forests and wilderness areas. Total visitors Total 1 million Source: 1915 1925 1935 1945 1955 1965 1975 1985 1995 2005 2015 Year

The park’s Ute Trail is named for the people who first used it.

Rocky Mountain National Park • Level O 13 14 Still, anyone willing to lace up their Glossary hiking boots can go on an adventure autumn (n.) the season after summer in this park . It is a national—and a and before winter; fall natural—treasure . (p . 12)

environments all of the things that affect (n.) life in specific areas, such as plants, animals, weather, and land (p . 7)

glaciers (n.) large bodies of ice that are found year-round and that slowly move downhill (p . 5)

national park an area of government- (n.) owned land protected for its historic importance or nature and wildlife (p . 4)

peaks (n.) tall mountains or the pointed top parts of mountains (p . 4)

range (n.) a row of mountains that Most creeks in the park are icy cold. For many hikers, bridges like this one are connected (p . 5) are a welcome sight!

Rocky Mountain National Park • Level O 15 16