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Identification:
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Preferred Structure Name:
| East Long Peak Trail
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Structure Number:
| LP-05
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Other Structure Name(s):
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Other Structure Name(s)
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1.
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Longs Peak Trail
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2.
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Keyhole Route
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3.
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Shelf Trail
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Park:
| Rocky Mountain National Park
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Historic District:
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Historic District
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| No records. |
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Structure State:
| Colorado
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Structure County:
| Larimer
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Region:
| Intermountain
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Cluster:
| Rocky Mountain
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Administrative Unit:
| Rocky Mountain National Park
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LCS ID:
| 663163
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Historical Significance:
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National Register Status:
| Entered - Documented
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National Register Date:
| 07/10/2007
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National Historic Landmark?:
| No
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Significance Level:
| Local
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Short Significance Description:
| East Longs Peak Trail is eligible for listing on the National Register, at a local level, under Criteria A, B. and C. The periods of significance are: 1850 – 1874, 1875 – 1899, 1900 – 1924, and 1925 – 1949.
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Long Significance Description:
| East Longs Peak Trail is eligible for listing on the National Register, at a local level, under Criterion A as it is representative of entertainment/recreation for its association with the early resort industry and tourism in the Estes Park region. Criterion B for its association with Enos Mills, a naturalist, author, and conservationist, who is called the “Father of Rocky Mountain National Park,” for his efforts in educating the public and Congress on the importance of setting aside large land areas for preservation of scenery and the wildlife. And Criterion C for the area of landscape architecture as the trail’s configuration and materials reflects the National Park Service naturalistic design of the 1920s – 1940s. The periods of significance are: 1850 – 1874, 1875 – 1899, 1900 – 1924, and 1925 – 1949.
Park superintendent declared Long’s Peak to be “the King of Rocky Mountain National Park.” The mountain stands apart from any other summit in the region – the figurative and literal centerpiece of Rocky Mountain National Park.
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Construction Period:
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Construction Period:
| Historic
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Chronology:
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Physical Event
| Begin Year
| Begin Year AD/BC
| End Year
| End Year AD/BC
| Designer
| Designer Occupation
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1.
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Built
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1878
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AD
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Lamb, Reverend Elkanah H.
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Other
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2.
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Built
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1910
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AD
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1920
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AD
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Mills, Enos
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Other
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3.
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Altered
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1921
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AD
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1921
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AD
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National Park Service
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Other
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4.
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Altered
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1925
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AD
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1925
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AD
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National Park Service
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Other
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5.
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Altered
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1934
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AD
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1937
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AD
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National Park Service
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Other
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Function and Use:
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Primary Historic Function:
| Hiking Trail
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Primary Current Use:
| Hiking Trail
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Structure Contains Museum Collections?:
| No
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Other Functions or Uses:
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Other Function(s) or Use(s)
| Historic or Current
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| No records. |
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Physical Description:
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Structure Type:
| Trail/Walk
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Material(s):
|
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Structural Component(s)
| Material(s)
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1.
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Superstructure
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Earth
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2.
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Superstructure
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Granite
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3.
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Superstructure
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Log
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Short Physical Description:
| East Longs Peak Trail is located on the east side of Rocky Mountain National Park. The trail begins in Tahosa Valley and wraps counterclockwise, around Longs Peak and up to the summit, passing from Larimer County into Boulder County.
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Long Physical Description:
| East Longs Peak Trail is located on the east side of Rocky Mountain National Park. The trail begins in Tahosa Valley and wraps counterclockwise, around Longs Peak and up to the summit, passing from Larimer County into Boulder County. The starting point for the trail is below timberline, next to Alpine Brook. It climbs upward through increasingly rocky terrain, negotiating several precipitous landforms before it reaches the 14,259 foot high summit. The trail is 7.5 miles long, with a short, .7 mile spur to Chasm Lake. The trail width ranges from 2 to 5 feet.
The summit of Longs Peak is a field of pink boulders, roughly the size of a football field. The highest point of this relatively flat surface is marked with a cairn of rocks and a steel elevation markers placed by the USGS. A summit register is available for climbers to record their feat.
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