Ptarmigan Lake Trail is a 6 mile moderately trafficked out and back trail located near Nathrop, Colorado that features a lake and is rated as moderate. The trail offers a number of activity options and is best used from March until October. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
dogs on leash
kid friendly
backpacking
birding
camping
fishing
fly fishing
hiking
mountain biking
nature trips
trail running
walking
horseback riding
forest
lake
views
wild flowers
snow
Road leading to the trail is closed 2.4 miles before the trailhead.
Awesome hike! Loved everything about this hike! The trail was great and easy to follow. The views are spectacular. The lake is large, beautiful, and full of fish! We started early so we saw no one until up at the lake. On our return we ran into numerous hikers! Trailhead parking lot is small so many park out by the road! Highly recommend this hike! The wild flowers were spectacular!
Great hike with a spectacular amphitheater at the end. Pretty easy, even for a couple of 70+
Rewarding hike. I'm not used to the altitude so I barely made it. All others in our group of 10 made it without difficulty.
Great trail! Gentle, steady climb to the lake. Ran into some spotty weather with hail on the descent. Lots of fish in the lower lake. I wasn't able to fish at Ptarmigan lake due to exposure and the questionable clouds moving in. Surprising amount of people on the trail for a weekday.
Very challenging, rocky hike for me but loved every minute. Very pretty wildflowers here and there. Everyone was super friendly; loved seeing the many happy dogs charging up the trail
Great time of year to see the wildflowers:) Nice day hike. Only negative was there were a lot of people on the trail with dogs and only one or two others (besides us) had them on leashes.
This was a wonderful trail that we did up and back in about 3 hours - beautiful scenery, not very challenging, but OH the bugs! I would HIGHLY recommend mosquito repellant! Flowers are almost at their peak bloom - will probably be beautiful within the next week. Definitely a trail I'd come back to
I loved it! I caught 30 of the most brilliantly colored Rainbow Trout (fly & fly on bobber) between an evening and the next morning (I stayed overnight).
The trail is easy enough for cross trainers or a light trail shoe if you have strong ankles, but plan for wet feet if you want to explore around the lake due to snow-melt from nearly every side. I wore Tevas (sandals) in/around the lake and 3 miles back down the trail and actually liked that better than slogging around in wet shoes and socks. Bug repellent is definitely a good idea near the lake
Very nice walk to Ptarmigan Lake. Trail climbs pretty gently and continuously.
Great hike with amazing views of mountain ridges, nice clean creeks, and great amount of shade. The lake it self is amazing, crystal clear and you can get great views of the lake anywhere around the hike when you get, bonus small pond next to the lake when you get there. only down side was the mosquitos, at the lake were out of control.
Beautiful trail but the mosquitos and flies were out of control.
Definitely a beautiful trail. Would hike it again. Went in mid-June, so still hit quite a bit of snow in the higher elevation. Gaiters were a must for the last couple miles. Due to the snow and the snow melt, ended up re-trailing in a few areas, but were able to pick up the trail fairly easy. Would like to see it again late summer.
Beautiful trail to backpack up and stay the night. Although be warned... mosquitoes galore near lakes! Most of the snow on trail has melted.