Horse Shoe Falls, Fall River Road, Estes Park, CO, circa 1920

About this postcard

A cascade of white water tumbles over large reddish boulders, framed by evergreens and a pale pink-and-blue sky, with a fallen log in the foreground. The printed caption names the spot as Horse Shoe Falls on Fall River Road in Estes Park, within Rocky Mountain National Park, but the card's text places the cascade on the Roaring River, which carries snowmelt from the Mummy Range down to Horseshoe Park. It calls the falls a "giant cascade" extending nearly a mile, with icy water plunging over boulders and surging together with a roar that suits the river's name. The Fall River Road opened in 1920 as the park's first automobile route to the Continental Divide and was later superseded by Trail Ridge Road.