Looking for a great trail in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado? AllTrails has 208 great hiking trails, running trails, views trails and more, with hand-curated trail maps and driving directions as well as detailed reviews and photos from hikers, campers, and nature lovers like you. Ready for some activity? There are 111 moderate trails in Rocky Mountain National Park ranging from 0.6 to 39 miles and from 7,805 to 13,047 feet above sea level. Start checking them out and you'll be out on the trail in no time!
hiking
views
no dogs
wildlife
forest
wild flowers
nature trips
lake
bird watching
walking
river
waterfall
running
snowshoeing
horseback riding
kid friendly
backpacking
camping
fishing
cross country skiing
rock climbing
partially paved
wheelchair friendly
stroller friendly
skiing
Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) in north-central Colorado contains some of the most popular hiking trails in North America. Situated between the towns of Estes Park and Grand Lake, the park hosts 76 mountains over 10 thousand feet high within its 412 square miles. The national park service runs five visitor centers with the headquarters at Beaver Meadows Visitor Center— just off highway 36 in Estes Park. In addition to amazing hikes, the park has some great scenic drives, including Trail Ridge Road, which takes visitors along the continental divide on the highest paved road in the country, and Old Fall River Road, a challenging dirt road that takes you to the Alpine Visitor Center at Fall River Pass - the highest national park visitor center in the United States at almost 11,800 ft. The park has four distinct ecosystems: montane, subalpine, alpine tundra, and riparian where lucky visitors can see wildlife such as mule deer, bighorn sheep and cougars. The high country of the park features many crystal clear alpine lakes, fantastic summits, and stunning views. The Estes Park Shuttle provides service from Denver International Airport to downtown Estes Park, and many shuttles run between the various trailheads, the Moraine Park Visitor Center and even the Glacier Basin Campgrounds. Many visitors use Bear Lake or Glacier Gorge as their starting point into the park.
Veryfun. Great hike
Easy but good. Short
Loved this trail. Tons to see, waterfall is spectacular! Get there early, park traffic is thick even at the end of October.
This was a beautiful and challenging trail. We hiked it on 10/19 and arrived to the trailhead at 7:30 am. When we arrived there were only two parking spots left. Once you get closer to Sky Pond it gets extremely icy. The rock scramble to get up to Sky Pond was covered in ice. We made it there without crampons but I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone as one slip could lead to a pretty serious injury. Once we got to the top it was beautiful but extremely cold and windy. Get there early and bring crampons!
Nice long hike with a lot of varied terrain, although none as spectacular as in other areas of the park. I started early at the Cub Lake trailhead, and missed the crowds on that portion. consequently, the loop was lightly trafficked while I was on it until the last .5 miles to get back to Cub Lake parking.
Great trail that offers multiple levels of challenge. It is a fairly easy walk to the pool and then it starts going uphill and is fairly challenging. The falls and the lake are worth the effort. Like others have said, starting early is the way to go if you want to park at the trailhead. We arrived around 7:45am with no problem. By the time we left around noon it was impossible to park.
Awesome hike! Best one we’ve done since moving to CO. Wear layers though....I wore shorts and froze my ass off
Challenging, especially for someone not accustomed to the altitude. Also I’m used to relatively flat trails and this one had my heart pumping the entire way. The views from the top are fantastic. This time of year, the flora and fauna were not to die for, but I’m sure a few weeks/months back, it would be nice. It took us about 4.25 hrs round trip with a 20 min break for lunch and 20 min break at the summit. The way down is much easier.
Pretty much perfect conditions on 10/19. Chilly temperatures and the wind was going pretty good above treeline (a couple gusts almost strong enough to knock me down) but otherwise bluebird skies. Only a small section of snow and ice. I did whip out my micro spikes just for my own comfort but I didn’t see anyone else with them on. I was the 9th car in line when I pulled up at 8:30am but there were probably about 2 dozen when I left at 1:30. I did it in about 4.5 hours but I’m also a pretty slow hiker. I was psyched up for this being an absolute monster of a trail but I was actually pleasantly surprised at how manageable it was. Straight up and straight down yes, but it wasn’t the steepest trail I’ve ever been on. Most difficult place was the new stairs after the landslide area. Views were glorious.
It is a beautiful route, all the very well marked path was a great experience to visit the RMNP for the first time, the shirt until The Loch is simple, it tends to complicate because you try to climb the Lake of Glass or Sky Pond, my partner and I could not continue because the path is frozen and we were not prepared with special equipment such as crampons or canes, I would like to do it again in summer to access those places
10/19 hike. great views, pretty steep in the middle and mile 3 was icy but easily manageable without spikes. last half mile very exposed and windy, bring some layers.
Made it all the way today. I rented crampons in town which was the only way I would have made it up the rocks by the waterfall. The most challenging though was after making it up the rocks, the wind was 60mph plus. Most people had something to cover their face and some even had ski goggles of which I had neither. On the way back down it really started snowing and alerting and it was hard to find the trail in the area where it’s mostly rocks. Regardless, my favorite hike in RMNP and beautiful as always.
Arrived in the previous night from sea level Miami. Change in temperature, time zones, altitude - in less than 24 hours! It was tough, cold at the lake (don’t take off your gloves for snacks), but wonderful scenery around. Caught snow on the way up and sunshine on the way down. One part of the trail had a landslide and was difficult to get around it. The mileage is not correct, the trail is definitely longer. We did this as our first hike ever - for beginners I would not recommend this trail as it is too long and difficult - orherwise: beautiful and well maintained.
I have done every single other trail out of Bear Lake TH and finally did this one. It is really pretty and varied, with less elevation gain then many of the hikes around here. Really spectacular alpine views from Mills lake and climbing up to black lake. Hiked on October 18. 38° in the parking lot when we arrived and 38° in the parking lot when we left! Light sleet for most of the hike, only clearing around Mills lake on our return. Fun, challenging trail in that the further you go out, the more rugged and primitive the trail becomes. It is still very well engineered all the way to Black Lake, with pavers, bridges and stairs. A bit challenging today due to the sub freezing weather, wind and sleet, as well as slippery snow and ice covered rocks above glacier gorge campsite. We did not have micro spikes and there was only one or two places where they would’ve been useful. Otherwise we used our trekking poles, good hiking boots and lots of warm clothing. Saw less than 10 hikers after Mills lake, and many of them were not dressed appropriately. Bring extra clothing and be smart.
