Fall River Pass Historic District
Larimer County
The Fall River Pass Historic District is located high above tree line in Rocky Mountain National Park. The 137-acre district includes two distinct developed areas: the visitor service area at Fall River Pass proper and the Fall River Pumphouse and Catchment Basin, which sits in the valley below. This district includes 131 acres of alpine tundra, a significant character-defining feature. This complex is generally open to the public from Memorial Day to mid-October, and it offers interpretation, guest services, and recreation opportunities related to the surrounding alpine tundra ecosystem to between 400,000 and 500,000 visitors each summer. The Alpine Visitor Center, at 11,795 feet above sea level, is the highest elevation visitor center in the National Park System.
The Fall River Pass Historic District is significance for its association with providing a center for recreation and education within a distinctive Alpine ecosystem of the park system. The district reflects the changing needs of visitors from when first developed in the 1920s, to its major redevelopment during the Mission 66 era. The two distinct periods that shaped the district’s development also resulted in two different yet compatible architectural expressions. The earliest resources are good to excellent examples of the NPS Rustic style, simple buildings with local stone exteriors that blend in well with the relatively undeveloped surrounding landscapes. Just as Mission 66 changed interpretation and visitor services, it also shaped architecture and landscapes in the park. A new architectural style, Park Service Modern, continued to emphasize harmony with the natural environment while introducing the concepts of functionality and technological advances associated with the International style or the A-frame form. Key construction materials included reinforced concrete, steel frames, and large expanses of glass. To make sure these resources did not distract from the natural landscape that visitors came to see, many designers chose natural stone or log, the same materials also popular for Rustic style architecture, as veneers or decorative elements.
Listed under Rocky Mountain National Park and the Historic Park Landscapes in National and State Parks Resources Multiple Property Submissions.