Rocky Mountain
Bear Lake, Dream Lake, and Emerald Lake at RMNP
September 17, 2020
Once you enter Rocky Mountain National Park, there are many directions you can go. When entering from the Estes Park (east entrance) side of the park, the park's most common part to see is Bear lake,
due to its relevant distance to the parking lot. If you don't mind a three and a half-mile round-trip hike, I highly suggest doing all four lakes; Bear Lake, Nymph Lake, Dream Lake (my favorite), and Emerald Lake. This was my favorite hike this summer.
Fun Facts
Cost: $25 per vehicle or free with a National park pass (dogs are NOT welcome)
*** Entrance by reservation only ***
Elevation: 7,860ft - 14,259ft
View: Rocky Mountains, A LOT of Lakes, Wildlife
Don’t Miss: Elk herds, Estes Park, or any of the many lakes
Note: Reservation system is timed (this may have ended now). The park is massive, you will not complete it in one day.
Fun Fact: There are 77 mountain peaks over 12,000ft high
Bear Lake is the first of four lakes that you will see. You can view it from the parking lot, it's that close. There is a walking trail around this lake with benches to enjoy the lake in solitude. We went just as the leaves started to change colors, giving us a show of yellows and oranges.
Once you leave Bear Lake, you can go past the lake to a longer trail (4 miles) or take the trail that veers to the left away from Bear Lake. Nymph Lake is the second lake that you will hike past and the smallest lake of the four. Once past Nymph Lake, we made our way to Dream Lake, but before we reached the lake, there was the perfect overlook of Nymph Lake.
Rocky Mountain National Park is known for its herds of elk, so it should not be hard to find them roaming around the park. This big guy was lying right by the road along with a female, another male, and an older baby.
Once you reach Dream lake your jaw drops and you literally feel like you are in a fairytale land, its that beautiful. By far one of my favorite lakes we have hiked to. It is a long lake with many inlets along the shore line. The water is crystal clear with a dark hue of green.
Beware; there are tons of begging chipmunks in the area, and they will climb all over you and your food; just remember that human food can kill them. Leave no trace.
When we went, the Cameron Peak forest fire was surrounding the area making the skies very grey and smokey. I couldn’t imagine what the lakes would look like on a clear day.
After two more miles of hiking beyond Dream Lake, you will get to Emerald Lake. Emerald Lake resembled a sheet of deep green glass. If you want to hike further, you can hike to Lake Haiyaya and then to Alberta Falls, adding over three miles to the hike.
Overall, I would do this hike over and over. The terrain was beautiful, the trails were not super busy, the lakes had many places to sit in peace and relax with a book and hammock, and it was such a fun hike.