Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes

Introduction.

Rocky Mountain National Park straddles the Continental Divide and contains both sub-alpine and alpine worlds. The park has endless mountains, many alpine lakes, and is home to wide variety of wildlife.

Rocky Mountain National Park receives over 4,500,000 visitors each year. The park provides some exquisite mountain terrain along with the highest paved road in any National Park in the United States. The park is officially open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, weather permitting. Not surprisingly, summer is the busiest time of year in the park. There are plenty of activities that can keep you and your traveling group busy for multiple days including but not limited to hiking, camping, biking, fishing, and wildlife viewing, just to name a few.

Below are some tips to make your visit to this park very special. I have used the approach of suggesting a larger number of shorter hikes/stops vs. very long or overnight treks, so you can see a wider variety of different sights and areas within the Rocky Mountain National Park boundaries.

General logistics information.

There are no overnight accommodations within Rocky Mountain National Park, except for the five campgrounds. It is always best to make reservations, if you are planning on staying at one of the campgrounds. Outside of the park there are many options for lodging and restaurants either in Estes Park on the east side or Grand Lake on the west side.

As a general note, a number of the hikes and activities listed reach some lofty elevations. Depending on where you are coming from, it is suggested you take a little time (amount is dependent on your individual situation) to acclimate yourself to these higher altitudes.

Also note, depending on the time of year you visit there can be significant afternoon storms. Be sure to plan your schedule accordingly along with your attire and equipment (e.g. rain gear, boot crampons).

Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes.

• Since our home area is effectively at sea level in elevation, we decided to explore Estes Park first to have time to adjust to the elevation change.

• Estes Park has many stores, shops, restaurants, and history. As downtown Estes Park sits at around 7,200 foot elevation, this is a good option to see the town, scout out some restaurants, and get ready for higher elevation adventures.

• After some time in Estes Park, we began our National Park adventures.

• The first stop was Beaver Meadows Visitors Center for some general information and validation of our plans.

• Then it was off to Sprague Lake, which is very close to the parking area. Sprague Lake has a mostly level trail that circles the entire lake, and the total distance around the lake is only about 7/10th of a mile.

• In addition to addressing the altitude acclimation need, there are some very nice views around the lake. You may get lucky enough to see moose or elk on your hike.

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• Our next day was the first of our planned strenuous Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes. The destination of this hike was Gem Lake.

• The hike to Gem Lake is approximately 3.6 miles round trip, ascends around 1,400 feet, and reaches an elevation of 8,830 feet.

• This hike requires moderate physical effort. The upside is this will provide multiple opportunities to take a short rest, and to look back over Estes Park and see some wonderful views of the surrounding mountains.



• While Gem Lake is relatively small, the general setting and the views on the hike up and back were quite rewarding.



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• For the next of our Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes, the plan was to navigate partially around Bear Lake which sits at an elevation of 9,475 feet, and then take the trail to Bierstadt Lake.

• The hike around Bear Lake begins very close to the Bear Lake parking area. Depending on the time of year of your visit, you want to arrive relatively early in the morning, as there are some limitations to parking.

• If Bear Lake parking is not available, take the park shuttle which runs on a regularly scheduled basis.

• The full hike around Bear Lake is about 1/2 mile, though after getting about half way around, we branched off to the trail to Bierstadt Lake.



• The trail distance to Bierstadt Lake is approximately 3 miles. The plan was to end our hiking at Bierstadt Lake, hike down to the very small parking area, and catch the park shuttle bus back to the Bear Lake parking area.

• Unfortunately, at the time we visited, the snow was still quite deep in the woods between Bear Lake and Bierstadt Lake.

• In general this did not bother us, since we had hiking poles and snow crampons to deal with the conditions.

• The problem we ran into was after a period of time, we lost the hikers tracks that had identified the trail, and the markings for the trail path were very limited.

• Our only option, after searching around for a while for the Bierstadt Lake trail, was to backtrack to Bear Lake. We decided to simply finish the hike around the remainder of the lake.

• Completing the full trail around Bear Lake was quite nice and provided some beautiful lake and mountain views.



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• The hike to Bridal Veil Falls is officially within the Rocky Mountain National Park boundaries, however it is certainly not adjacent the other areas of the park we had been exploring.

• There is very limited parking for this hike, so plan to make this hike relatively early in the morning.

• This hike is 6 miles round trip. It passes through open fields, across streams or creeks, and requires some scrambling over rocks, possibly on all fours, to reach the base of the falls.

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• These Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes covered a combination of 3 different lakes, some beautiful scenery, and in our case some challenging hiking due to the still existing snow pack. It turned out to be one of our most enjoyable hikes.

• The first section of the hike takes you to Nymph Lake.

• Nymph Lake is relatively small, though we were provided a beautiful view of the lake, surrounding mountains, and a wonderful reflection scene.



• The next portion of the hike takes you to Dream Lake.

• This portion of the hike crossed some deeply snow covered areas, that were also quite steep.



• Arriving at Dream Lake, we paused for a snack and some water, and to enjoy the views of the area, including a solo fly fisher enjoying the day.

• The last segment of this hike covers more steep hiking, reaches higher altitude, and finishes at Emerald Lake, which sits at an elevation of 10,100 feet.

• Emerald Lake was still fully frozen over, so we did not see the beauty of the lake water.

• However, the mountains that surround the lake and the glacier that rises above it definitely made the hike worth while.

• We even spotted a few daring climbers making their way down the glacier face towards the lake.



• After some rest, more snacks and water, it was time to make our way back past the other lakes and return to the Bear Lake parking area. This hike covered 3.6 miles round trip.

• Driving back to the park entrance you pass a small parking area for Glacier Gorge, and can hike to Alberta Falls from this location.

• The hike to Alberta Falls is 1.8 miles round trip and reaches the falls at an elevation of 9,400 feet.

• There are massive rocks along the falls and the water runoff, and you are able to get quite close to the falls for a great view and some refreshing water spray.



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• Exploring Trail Ridge Road was saved for our last day at Rocky Mountain National Park. This was dictated by the fact that they were not able to open the road nor the facilities sooner, due to the significant snow amounts at the higher elevations.

• There are many roadside pullouts for enjoying the views, as you climb Trail Ridge Road to the Alpine Visitor's Center.



• Between Lava Cliffs and Forest Canyon, there is a short hike to Toll Memorial, at Rock Cut.

• One spot that provided excellent long range views was the Gore Range Pullout. No other description required here.

• Suffice to say, this is a glorious drive with many highlights and incredible scenery.

• In closing, there are many more activities to partake in and areas to explore beyond what I have described. I highly recommend you visit Rocky Mountain National Park and enjoy this wonderful alpine spectacle.