We, the staff and volunteers of Rocky Mountain National Park, do our utmost to protect Rocky and provide you, the visitor, with experiences of a lifetime. But here’s the truth: we can’t do it without you. With over 4.5 million visitors in 2016, the choices each of us makes during our visit add up quickly. What you do while at Rocky truly matters.
Here’s another truth: we know you love Rocky and want to protect it. How do we know? Because you’re reading this! You’ve recognized the beauty of this park enough to learn about and care for it.
How can you help?
- Take the Rocky Pledge. You can read it aloud or to yourself, in the park or at home, alone or with friends. All we ask: read it thoughtfully and take it seriously.
- Encourage your followers to protect Rocky. Share a photo of yourself taking the pledge, encircling something meaningful to you in your hands, or doing something to protect the park to your social media of choice and tag it #rockypledge. If you’re on Instagram, there’s a chance you’ll get hundreds of thousands of eyes on your photo—we’ll regularly repost our favorite #rockypledge shots!
- Tell your friends and family: Take the Rocky Pledge! Visit go.nps.gov/RockyPledge to learn more.
The Rocky Pledge“To preserve unimpaired for this and future generations the beauty, history, and wildness therein, I pledge to protect Rocky Mountain National Park.”
- To prevent fire scars and human-caused fires, I pledge to never build a fire outside of a campground or picnic area fire grate.
- To protect plants, meadows, and alpine tundra, I pledge to park and drive only on designated asphalt or gravel parking areas, never on vegetation.
- To respect other visitors’ experiences, if I need to go but am not near a restroom, I pledge to leave no trace by stepping well away from the trail and water sources, burying my waste at least six inches deep or packing it out in a waste bag, and carrying out my toilet paper.
- To respect Rocky’s wild creatures and to protect myself, I pledge to watch wildlife from a distance that doesn’t disturb them in any way. I will never feed an animal—doing so causes it harm.
- To respect history, heritage, and natural processes, I pledge to remove nothing from the park except my own and others’ trash—not even a flower, pinecone, or rock. I will leave no trace of my visit so that the next person can experience the same beauty as I did.
- To keep my pet, wildlife, and other visitors safe, I pledge to keep my leashed pet only on roads, in campgrounds, and in picnic and parking areas. I will never take my dog on Rocky’s trails, meadows, or tundra areas.
- To preserve them for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations, I pledge to honor, respect, and protect all our national parks and public lands.
