How to Spend a Day in Rocky Mountain National Park
January 12, 2023
One of the National Parks that I’ve been fortunate to visit is Rocky Mountain National Park, in Estes Park, Colorado. I was in Colorado for work and only had a day to visit the park, but I felt like I put together a nice itinerary, so I thought I’d share with you all of the places I explored.
This National Park is massive but I knew the main thing I wanted to do was to adventure out on some pretty lake hikes. I read before I left that you are able to see several lakes on one hike so that was my first stop of the day. I got there fairly early in the morning and somehow was able to snag a parking spot at the Bear Lake parking lot. Bear Lake is one of the most popular areas so this parking lot tends to fill up quickly. If you aren’t lucky with parking at Bear Lake, you can always park at another nearby stop and take the shuttle in.
Bear Lake offers scenic views and provides a short hike option around the lake, which is great for families and people of all ages. Not everyone wants to go on a 7 mile hike, so I loved that this could be enjoyed by all. I mean, how nice are these views and cool are these trail markers?
Once I was done with my quick Bear Lake hike, it was time to move on to a tougher challenge. I headed left and made my way to the other lakes. My final destination was to Emerald Lake, as I had seen pictures before my trip and knew how pretty it was. A few days before I arrived, the park got some snow so I knew I was in for a treat. Below are some pictures that might give you a better understanding of where I was headed on my hike.
The first stop was Nymph Lake and it was only a half of a mile from Bear Lake. There were still a fair amount of people on this part of the trail, as it wasn’t too far away from Bear Lake/parking. This lake was almost completely frozen over, which was kind of cool to see.
After Nymph Lake, I made my way to Dream Lake. The hike started to become a bit more difficult and there was even some rock scrambling that had to be done. It was really snowy and icy and some people had shoe/traction chains on their shoes, which seemed to help. But at this point, I reached some incredible views (the first picture in this blog) and that alone was completely worth it. Below are some pictures of Dream Lake.
After I got to Dream Lake, I was headed to my final destination, which was another .7 miles away. Once I got there, the views were incredible and the sky and water were both a gorgeous blue. Not many people ventured this far to Emerald Lake so it was really peaceful.
My lake hikes took up a majority of my time at Rocky Mountain National Park but after I was done there, I was on a hunt to find some beautiful Aspen trees. I did this trip in late October so the golden leaves were almost gone but I found a gorgeous patch off the side of the road on a trail. If you’re lucky enough to make a trip during the fall, be sure to see some of these beauties.
I continued my way around Bear Lake Road to Moraine Park, where I took some time to stop at some of the viewpoints to grab some pictures. Next time I’m at RMNP, I want to do a hike at Moraine Park, as this is one of the most popular areas and seems to have some cool trails. Oftentimes you can find some wildlife, including elk, at this area as well. One of the most popular campgrounds can be found at Moraine Park.
I finally made my way down to the valley and stopped by West Horseshoe Park. I really wanted to see some elk and I had read that they hang out in this area at times…unfortunately they weren’t there but I loved how it was a totally different terrain than the rocky trails I had just been on earlier in the day. Something about the grassy meadow was cool to me.
My final stop of the day was to see Horseshoe Falls. I didn’t plan on doing that but I saw a sign for some falls and followed it…that’s how all good adventures go, in my opinion. I later found out that this was a very popular trail for families. Kids and adults alike were exploring all around the falls. It’s an easy hike and you can access the trail from the Alluvial Fan Trailhead.
One thing to note is that from mid-October to Memorial Day, part of the Rocky Mountain National Park road is closed (from Many Parks Curve to the Colorado River Trailhead). One day I’d love to go in the summer and visit the other side of the park…I feel like it would be much quieter.
When you’re done at RMNP, definitely head into town and check out the shops and restaurants in Estes Park. It’s a cute little downtown area…and after searching all day, I finally found some elk at the Estes Park Golf Course, and it was an incredible sight to see.
