Omaha daily bee., 1917-06-10
DENVER THE AUTO
GATEWAY T0THE
GIANT ROCKIES
saiI and Automobile Entrance
to Twelve National Parks
and Thirty-TWo Ma
tionaI Monuments.

From every part OF the country a
constantly increasing throng of rail
and automobile tourists visit the
scenic Rocky Mountain region. Each
year hundreds from adjacent states
yield to the lurel of their own par
ticular Fairgrounds and visit the
scenic attractions of Colorado to en-
gage in mountain climbing, to play
golf, to fish, to motor, and attend
the numerous gatherings that con-
vene, to study the charm, beauty and
wonders that nature has wrought and
to share the soothing influence of the
land of the turquoise sky, its majes-
tic mountains and Incompatible
climatic charm.
America has many Fairgrounds,
national, state, county and city. Be-
sides two national parks the state
of Colorado possesses two other fed
eral Fairgrounds, the Wheeler Ma
tional Monument and the Colorado
National Monument, administered un-
der the direction of the United States
forest service.
Denver is fortunately situated in
that it is the rail and automobile
gateway for twelve national parks
and thirty-two national monuments,
besides numerous other scenic and re-
sort centers in the intermountain
region.
Greatest Of National Fairgrounds.
The Rocky Mountain National Park
is the newest, one of the largest and
by far the most accessible of the play
grounds established by the federal
government, and the inquiries re-
ceived at the Denver tourist bureau
indicate that thousands will be intro
duced to its glorious vistas this year.
Last year $4,000 people visited this
playground, but many times that
many visitors will not populate its
vast soltudes, not offer the least sug-
gestion of crowding its superb wilder
nesses. This park straddles the front
.ange of the Rocky Mountains at
their most magnificent point. The
range rises to great mountain
heights, carrying glaciers in its hol-
lows and yieldings at many points
to granite precipices thousands of
feet high at whose foot nestle the
widest of forest -bordered lakes. Not
the least of its charm is its ready ac-
cessibility from Denver and the main
line OF transcontinental travel.
Air Is the Purest.
The bright blue sky, brilliant SUM-
shine, cool stimulating air ever blow
ing from the nearby peaks, the scent
of piney woods, millions of flowers
and the anticipation surrounded by
such delights, make the journey one
never to be forgotten. Arriving at
Estes Park, the gateway to the fed
eral playground, around and about are
the mighty peaks-Long's Mount
Epsilon, Hague's Flat Top, the sharp
point of Hallet's glacier, and many
more of the "Old Guard" of the Con-
tinental Divide. Here is peace, quiet
less, thrilling beauty. Here the tour
ist for the first time finds the mean
ing of "See America First" There
are legion of excursions to various
parts of the park. A different route or
trip may be taken each day, either
foot, automobile, or horseback, and
an entire summer will not exhaust
the many places to go. Among these
are the beautiful Fern Lake, Gem
Lake, Odessa Lake, Bierstadt Lake,
Flat Top Mountain, Tyndall Glacier,
Hallet Glacier, Horseshoe Park, Mo-
raine Park and the short and in
teresting trip to the model fish hatch
cry of the country. Here, also, is
mighty Longs Peak, challenging to
an ascent, and a number of additional
popular excursions. The park offers
everything to the vacationist that the
heart of man could ask. The charm
of the place is not to be catalogued
since it is born of the clean, rare air
of the hills, of the glorious freedom
of the mountains, of cool summer
breezes and of ripping running
water. It is the ideal center for golf,
motoring, riding, tennis, fishing, hunt
ing and mountain climbing. 1t is a
class room and museum of geology
and a paradise for the ornithologist
and the botanist.
Denver Long in Readiness.
Before the European war gave new
impetus to the "See America First"
movement, before congress was flood
ed with demands for national parks,
Denver went systematically to work
on the idea that, if the west would
but act in unison in making its natural
advantages accessible, Europe would
be hard put to hold its own.
The Denver Mountain Parks sys-
tenn divides naturally into three wide
ly divergent types. First comes
Lookout Mountain park, made famous
as the place where Colonel William
F. Cody was buried on June 3. On a
rocky cliff at the summit, 1000 feet
above Denver, an equestrian statue Of
Colonel Cody gazing with shaded eyes
across an expanse of 200 miles of prai-
rie, will be erected. From this point
the chalk cliffs at Cheyenne, Wyo.,
l04 miles distant, are visible. From
Lookout the plains Of Wyoming, Ne
braska and Kansas, where Colonel
Cody spent so much of his eventful
life, simmer under the prairie sun.
The city has established a noun