Hiking at Bear Lake (RMNP)

My son and I went for a hike in Rocky Mt. National Park this morning (Sat. Jan. 3rd). It snowed the entire time but was still beautiful. We came in the park on Hwy 36 and headed up Bear Lake Road. This road was very snow packed and icy; 4x4 is recommended but not necessary - be careful, for the road can be very narrow at times. Once we got to the trail head the snow was falling beautifully. It made it very difficult to see the high peaks, but everything around us being snow covered was just as great!

We started off toward Nymph Lake; a very small lake located 0.9 miles into the trail. It was completely covered with snow and underneath was some thick ice; my son and I had fun 'trying' to run and slide across it :) Once you cross the lake head to your left - there is a random trail off to the right but it doesn't lead anywhere and you'll just have to turn around. There are also quite a few places where you think you're going to follow a trail but in fact it was just someone taking the long way around some rocks/trees and back on to the trail.

We then continued to Dream Lake which was about another half mile. The views were still beautiful all over. The pines were covered with snow and there was powder everywhere - I wished I'd had my board! At this point we turned around; Dominick went to bed really late the night before and was pretty tired. He can usually go about 10 miles in a day, but not today.

On our way back to the trail head, we did walk over to Bear Lake which is a very pretty lake with great views. There is a trail that takes you around the entire lake. There is also a point on this trail where you can venture off to take the Flattop Mountain Trail to the summit (12,324 ft) or head down to Bierstadt Lake - there are actually a lot of options from this point.

This is a great place to bring your snow shoes or cross country skis - I'd have to say that Dominick and I were one of the few who didn't have either. I don't feel that they're necessary, but the snow shoes would have been nice I guess - there were two times where I stepped into snow up to my knees, but no worries. Happy Hiking!

Namaste, Michele