Explore Rocky Mountain National Park - view hand-curated trail maps and driving directions as well as detailed reviews and photos from hikers, campers and nature lovers like you.
Challenging but worth the views.
One of the best hikes I’ve done to date. Challenging esp with the altitude, amazing views
reviewed Incredible trail. Spikes needed.
Awesome
I was the first person on the trail this morning and the views are nice about halfway up. Close to the top the trail was icy.
it was a great trail to hike! hiked up to gem lake and had spectacular views of the park and the town below. i went onto balanced rock and thats where things got tricky. took me a few extra min to find the right trail, but I found the prievous hikers tracks that kept me on the path to balanced rock. it is slippery and icy in places so hike with caution
Beautiful! We went during April and it was covered in snow it was absolutely gorgeous.
Started at 6:30 am on a Tuesday in April and didn't see any other people. Light snow, a little slippery in places especially close to the top (we didn't have poles or spikes). Great views of the park below and of the amazing rock formations throughout. We saw some birds and some very small deer tracks in the snow. I recommend this hike!
Gorgeous views and a quick and gentle hike. The trail is entirely snowpack right now, so we were very glad for our YakTrax.
Definitely take spikes if there is any snow, some slick spots where they would’ve been helpful but we managed okay without them. An amazing view at the end, would love to see it in the summer when the lake is melted
Great trail, great views on the way and at the end. Not difficult either. Highly recommend crampons / spikes during this time of year, it will make this hike a breeze.
Get there early or after 2pm. Parking on a Sunday morning after 10am is a nightmare so be prepared to wait. NO DOGS ALLOWED (only service animals) saw a few groups being turned away because this, some left, one LEFT THE DOG IN THEIR CAR!!! Don’t be that kind of person. We brought our spikes and jeee I’m glad we did, if you are going past Nymph lake you’ll be happy your brought them.
My boyfriend and I did this trail today!! We started around 9:30am, we found parking right away!!! We think we ended up doing multiple trails all in one, but the views were amazing!!! We ended up seeing a bunch of skiers with poles (I am not sure the correct terminology) ski down from the very top of the mountains all the way down. This is was so cool!!!! We did not have spikes, it was a little icy at times, but we tried to stay on the packed snow verse the icy snow and we were just fine! We are in our 20s, but overall thought the hike was very easy (we did stop and take many many pictures) but saw a lot of older people doing this hike as well! The views were amazing!!!!
great trail, very accessible to many. can be crowded. Nymph lake is okay but keep going to dream lake tje view is worth it
it was an amazing hike, well paved trail and very easy to do, it got a little tricky for the last 15 mins or so with ice and rocks. but its well worth the effort. i took a lot of breaks just to catch up with my breath. i would suggest to get up there early in the morning to avoid crowds.
amazing hike. the wind was tough today but we'll worth the view at the lake. the sun is turning the snow into mashed potatoes in the afternoon, so I recommend starting early if you're doing this hike soon. I can't wait to do it again in the summer just to see how different everything looks.
Competed just the loop portion of the hike, great views! First third was all up hill, afterwards it was a nice decline down.
Amazing!!! It was a bit slushy but mostly hard enough for spikes. Not too busy on a sat in April. The frozen lake at the end was the best part. One of the best hikes I’ve ever been on
Sunny through out day. Morning everything hard packed and frozen. Still spots to the side of trail when your in the woods where a leg will sink to the knee or thigh. Above the tree line very gusty. Glad I had goggles especially as the wind was blowing the snow at the lake toward the back and right. Used crampons and poles from the traverse to the lake. The traverse to the lake started getting soft around 10:30am. By noon, the traverse above the lake under Mt. Lady Washington toward the chute was soft. No avalanche risk at all, but could have slid down the traverses 50-100 feet without crampons. Spent a couple of hours at the top. Traversed above the lake below Mt. Lady Washington to check out the chute trail that goes to the top. Hope to do it this summer. The view of Longs Peak and back down the valley is great. Significantly less wind on the way back.
Didn't make it to the lake. The wind was way too brutal for me. beautiful views once you're above tree level
The hike would have been beautiful if it wasn’t so windy. Nervous about avalanche risk the last 1/2 mile, so we ended up turning around just short of the lake.
