At first glance, the reddish hues of so many pine trees in Colorado’s famous Rocky Mountains appears to be fall color come early.

Then it becomes clear. The trees are dead, victims of a pesky bug called the mountain pine beetle, a miniscule insect that is causing the largest amount of forest destruction in the Rockies’ recorded human history, according to officials with the U.S. Forest Service.

On a recent visit through the Rockies, from Vail heading west along Interstate 70 toward Denver and then heading north along the Fraser River to Rocky Mountain National Park, the amount of devastation caused by the beetle was surprising. And the epidemic has yet to run its course.

Rangers and residents in the Rockies have been dealing with the beetle since roughly 2001, although the results of the infestation have become more obvious over the last two years. One of the negative impacts of the bug’s voracious tree eating can be increased fire danger, so one remedy taken is to cut down the dead and infected trees.

The beetle is a naturally occurring native pest, not a non-native invasive one. According to biologists, factors contributing to its prevalence include long-term drought and warm winters.

Can anything stop them? According to a special editorial section of the Sky-Hi Daily News: “Potentially they will stop, if they run out of mature lodgepole pine that are greater than five inches in diameter to bore, feed on and spread their blue stain tree-killing fungus. They also may stop if the county experiences unusually cold sustained temperatures of 30 degrees below zero.”

But for now, much of the damage has been done. Some efforts were made to spray certain “high value” tree areas and prevent infestation, but even with the spraying, beetles still made their home in the trees.

It’s hard to get local rangers to admit that the beetle may have damaged the tourism income or visitor draw of major local attractions, such as Rocky Mountain National Park. Most tourists who live outside of Colorado don’t know about the beetle damage and don’t realize how big of an impact it has had until they arrive.

Colorado is certainly not the only state to be impacted. There are many areas in California with extensive pine beetle damage, including Angeles National Forest.

Some campgrounds in Colorado have been severely impacted. While traveling through the Winter Park area along State Highway 40, this writer was deterred from a campground where many of the trees had been chopped down to deal with the beetle. Large numbers of trees in at least one campground within Rocky Mountain National Park’s northeastern quadrant have been completely removed because of damage.

Rangers in the park have apparently been instructed to put a positive spin on the damage. When asked about whether the trees had become more severely infected in the last two years, one park service employee attempted to spin the problem as best she good, insisting that the “trees will grow back,” and saying that the problem was “part of the natural forest cycle.”

So is it possible to enjoy a Rocky Mountains vacation with the beetle in town?

Yes. Here are a few tips.

Stick to the southeast corner of Rocky Mountain National Park. This area of the park has more fir and spruce trees, which cannot be eaten by the beetle and retain their beautiful green coloring.

Visit in the fall. Not only is this a less popular time to go, meaning hotels will be more affordable and there will be less tourist traffic to contend with, but the yellow fall color of the aspens will add a different dynamic to the red pine beetle ruin.

Go to the Telluride-Ouray area instead. The beetle epidemic has yet to spread there.

Visit anyway, and support the local businesses that may have suffered due to the beetle damage.

The bug doesn’t seem to have many positive economic impacts, with the possible exception of tree trimmers. A Colorado Beetle Kill Trade Association has formed to “sign the self interests of businesses invested in or interested in the removal and recycling of standing beetle killed lodgepole pines.”

Wait awhile. Within five to seven years the trees will start to grow back, removal efforts will be completed and the epidemic will have largely run its course. Full regrowth, however, will likely take several decades.

To some extent, the beetle is in this respect more damaging than any wildfire. Noticeable natural recovery from fires is usually visible even to the untrained eye within a couple of years.

Other local area attractions include the Big Thompson and Fall Rivers, which run near the cities of Estes Park and Loveland, respectively. Both are excellent for fishing and other outdoor activities.

Rocky Mountain National Park remains an excellent place to see all sorts of mountain wildlife, such as moose, elk, bighorn sheep, bear and others.

The park is an easy drive from the Denver Airport, more information about the park is available at www.nps.gov/romo, and the site includes information about continuing removal of dead trees due to the pine beetle.

Leah Etling is on an extended road trip throughout the Western U.S. Email her at etling@hotmail.com.

Follow her day-to-day travel adventures at www.letling.wordpress.com.