Moraine Park elk rut Rocky Mountain National Park Ceramic Art Tile
— the September the meadow turns to sound.
Not only on a wall.
“A glacial valley on the east side of Rocky Mountain National Park, just above Estes Park. In the second half of September the bull elk come down out of the timber to gather their harems on the meadow floor. The sound carries. A high, climbing whistle that drops into a series of guttural grunts, repeated at dusk and at dawn. Cars pull over at the meadow edges, windows down. The aspens behind the herd turn while the rut is on. The same handful of bulls gather harems on the same handful of acres the elk have used for thousands of years.
Moraine Park elk rut Rocky Mountain National Park Ceramic Art Tile, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
Each tile ships in a kraft box, tied with cream ribbon, with a handwritten note from the studio if you'd like to add one.
Three or five different vistas, hung together — a chapter of places you've been, or want to go.
The place, in three passes.
Moraine Park is a glacial valley on the east side of Rocky Mountain National Park, about three miles up the Bear Lake Road from the Beaver Meadows entrance at Estes Park, Colorado. The meadow floor sits near 8,160 feet and stretches a little over a mile along the Big Thompson River, cupped by lateral moraines left by Pleistocene glaciers that pushed down out of the high country. The valley is one of three large meadows in the park, with Horseshoe Park to the north and Upper Beaver Meadows just to the east. Rocky Mountain National Park itself was established in 1915 and covers 415 square miles of the Front Range.
The elk rut runs from about the second week of September into the middle of October, with peak bugling activity in the last ten days of September. Bull elk descend from the higher subalpine forests to claim and defend harems of cows on the open meadow. The male's high-pitched bugle, a rising whistle that drops into a series of guttural grunts, advertises dominance, challenges rival bulls, and holds the herd together. The Rocky Mountain elk population in the park is estimated at 600 to 800 animals. After the rut the snow line drops, the bulls retreat to the timber, and Moraine Park empties of cars by mid-November.
Access is from the Beaver Meadows entrance on US Highway 36, then a short drive up Bear Lake Road to the Moraine Park pullouts and the Moraine Park Discovery Center. During the rut the National Park Service stations volunteer Elk Bugle Corps rangers at the meadow edges to manage parking, keep visitors at a safe distance, and protect the herd from harassment. The park asks viewers to stay at least 75 feet from elk, remain in or beside their vehicles when bulls are on the meadow, and avoid the meadow itself between sunset and dawn. Timed-entry permits are required in peak season; the closest lodging and supplies are in Estes Park.