“Welcome to the winter wonderland of the sub-alpine forest.”

It’s frigid, snow is falling in nickel-sized droplets of fluff, and the jagged peaks I know are towering above us are obscured by pea soup. And there isn’t a chair lift or ski-lodge bar within 50 miles.

But guide Chelsea Hernandez is right. This is a wonderland.

We are walking on top of 5 feet of snow (if not for my showshoes, I’d be swimming) in a peaceful glade of powder-draped lodgepole pines above Bear Lake on the east side of Rocky Mountain National Park. This is one of the busiest spots in America’s 5th-most-visited national park — between June and October, anyway, when the park gets 80 percent of its visitors.

Make the 2 1/2-hour drive from Colorado Springs in winter and you’ll find a very different place, as we did, where you can enjoy the quiet beauty of a stunning landscape locked in winter’s embrace, where plenty of powder awaits those willing to work for it.

In recent years, more people than ever are doing so. Popularity of snow-shoeing and cross-country and back-country skiing is growing, as is frustration with the traffic and high prices associated with resort skiing. And the park is benefiting.“People want to get out the house in the winter time and they want something to go do. If you can walk, you can snowshoe,” said Robbie Meinking, employee at the Estes Park Mountain Shop, which does a good business in winter on the east side of the park. “It’s a great way to experience the park in the winter time. You can do a hike in the summer and have a completely different experience doing the same hike in the winter.”

A tale of two parks

Before you go, there’s a big decision to make: east side or west side.

Because most of Trail Ridge Road, the high-alpine route that bisects the park, closes after the first major snowfall, and it’s a 3-hour drive between portal towns of Grand Lake on the west and Estes Park on the east, most people have to pick a region to explore.

The east side is more popular, with 54,000 visitors in December. Here, with most roads open, visitors can enjoy easy access from the Front Range on usually-dry roads leading to snowshoeing trails, a sledding hill and many of the roadside vistas the park is known for.

But the west side gets much more snow and a tenth of the visitors, 4,000 in December, so powder lovers can find deeper snow and more solitude. You have to drive another 45 minutes and possibly brave snowy conditions over Berthoud Pass to get here.

“During the winter time, we are slower, it is quieter, but we have the most fabulous cross-country skiing and snowshoeing happening in Rocky Mountain National Park in those 10 miles (of Trail Ridge Road) that are open on the west side,” said Lisa Jenkins, executive director of the Grand Lake Area Chamber of Commerce.

Plus, she said, you will find moose only on the west side, as they venture close to town during winter.

Snow-shoeing and cross-country skiing

At the closure gates, Ian Schwartz bundled up as he prepared for a couple hours of cross-country skiing up windy Trail Ridge Road. The Boulder resident comes here a lot in winter.

“When you come in the winter you pretty much have it to yourself,” said Schwartz. “It’s almost like a different place in the winter, than the summer.”

All the trails are open, but you’ll need snowshoes or skis, and you must take care under avalanche chutes as the park does not do avalanche control on trails.

Make sure you have a good map and be prepared for a much slower pace than in summer.

“It’s a wilderness experience. The park is open for you to explore but we try to emphasize as much as we can that safety is your responsibility,” said park spokeswoman Kyle Patterson.

Popular snow-shoeing areas on the east side are Bear Lake, which offers great views and easy access without long approaches, and Wild Basin.

With deeper snow and gentler terrain in the valley of the upper Colorado River, the west side generally makes for better cross-country skiing. Hardier skiers can ascend the slopes of the Never Summer Mountains.

For beginners or those seeking a guide, the park offers free guided skiing and snow-shoeing trips in the east and west. The Bear Lake trips have proven so popular they were recently expanded to Mondays and Wednesdays.

Sledding a popular activity

As the name implies, Hidden Valley is tucked away from the hustle and bustle. It’s on the lower slopes of the Continental Divide on the east side of Rocky Mountain National Park, just below the road closure gate.

This was once a lift-served ski area, but when the operator wanted to expand to compete with larger ski areas, the park ruled against it and the area shut down in 1991. Now sledding is the most popular activity here, the only place it is allowed in the park. There is a warming hut for those days the fierce mountain winds sting the eyes and numb the toes.

Back-country alpine skiing

Boulder skier Lance Lovely might only get two runs in a day, but he still prefers coming here to weekend skiing at a resort.

“No crowds, (you) don’t have to deal with I-70,” said Lovely, preparing to snowshoe up the old Hidden Valley ski runs and then ride down.

And, said friend Ben Hutt, “You get a lot of fitness with it, instead of riding the lifts.”The whole park is open to back-country skiing, and several outfitters offer guided trips, a good idea for first-time back-country skiers, since the avalanche risk is real and deadly.Outside of Hidden Valley, the experience can more accurately be called “ski mountaineering,” since long climbing approaches are usually required.

Wildlife watching

The park is famous for its wildlife and its accessible viewing, from moose-watching on the west side to taking in the fall elk rut on the east. In winter, some animals aren’t around — you won’t see a bear — but others move to lower elevations in search of food and are easily seen from roads. A particular delight is the white-tailed ptarmigan, a bird that changes colors in winter to match the snow.

You can scout animals by following their tracks, though hunting is not allowed.SnowmobilingSnowmobiles are allowed only in one place, a two-mile stretch of the North Supply Access Trail in the southwest corner of the park. It connects Grand Lake and an extensive network of snowmobiling trails in the national forest.

Camping? Seriously?

Pitching a tent and sleeping in the cold may seem like the least enjoyable thing to do, but last winter, 209 groups or individuals did just that in the park.

Three campgrounds remain open in winter, Longs Peak, Timber Creek and Moraine Park. Camping is $14 a night on a first-come, first-served basis. There is no water or electricity.

For those feeling more adventurous, strap on a pack and go back-country camping. Campsites that are rarely available in summer can be used for free in winter, and there’s an added bonus: You won’t need a bear canister for your food.

For the less hardy, hotel rooms can be found on both sides of the park for a fraction of the summer rate. We got a room at the historic Stanley Hotel, where Stephen King was inspired to write “The Shining,” in Estes Park for $90.

Getting out of the houseBack at Bear Lake, our ranger-led group has ascended through the snow forest to Nymph Lake, which is towered over by dramatic Hallet Peak, not that we could see it.

It’s the turn-around point of our journey into the winter wonderland, and everyone takes a break and poses for pictures. For many of us, it was our first time on snowshoes, our first time conquering wintry mountain terrain without the help of hydraulics.

Said Hernandez, our ranger guide, “Getting out on a winter day shows you that winter time, when there’s snow on the ground, doesn’t mean you have to stay in your house.”

*Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in 2011 by The Gazette.