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Rocky Mountain National Parka photo of a western red tanager bird
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Rocky Mountain National Park
Natural Features & Ecosystems

natural features & ecosystems includes:

Glaciers / Glacial Features
Glaciers
Montane
Subalpine
Alpine Tundra
 
 
Nature and Science
(NPS-RMNP)
Paradise Park
Here are more than sixty peaks over 12,000'. Here are the headwaters of the Colorado and other rivers, as well as dozens of magnificent alpine lakes. Here are permanent small glaciers overlaying rock that is often granite more than a billion years old. Rocky Mountain is the highest national park in the US, with elevations from 7860' to 14,259'. More than one-third of the park is above treeline (11,200-11,500'), and tundra is a primary protected resource of the park. Forests range from relatively moist subalpine spruce and fir through open ponderosa and aspen stands. Great meadows lie adjacent to moraines on broad valley floors. Some valleys, like that of the Fall River, are classic glacial shapes.
 
a photo of the mountains at treeline  

Did You Know?
Temperature causes tree line. Trees need an average growing temperature of about 50 degrees fahrenheit.

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Last Updated: November 27, 2006 at 16:45 EST