12.3 miles | Moderate to Hard | 3,300 ft. Elevation Gain
When I first moved to Colorado, I tended to avoid Rocky Mountain National Park because I didn’t want to deal with the crowds that come with it. But recently, I’ve been visiting it more and found some amazing views that are totally worth the crowds. I initially started this hike looking to do Sky Pond, and then as I kept walking I realized there were so many lakes around it that were fairly easy to get to and combine in one big hike.
I started out from the Glacier Gorge Trailhead on the Sky Pond via Glacier Gorge Trail. This is a moderately challenging trail that passes two lakes on the way to the end lake which is Sky Pond. It’s absolutely beautiful. There is one hard part at the end where you have to scramble a little, but I saw many hiking novices do this.
From there, you backtrack about 1.5 miles until you see a turn off trail for Andrew’s Tarn. This is an optional 2 mile out and back detour to a high elevation glacier. This was honestly a bit on the tougher side because it was steep the whole way and most of it was through a rock field. But if you’d like an extra challenge (and are up for it) this is a beautiful little detour!
Once back on the Glacier Gorge Trail, you hike back about 1.5 miles until you see a turn off for Lake Haiyaha Cut off Trail. After about 1.5 miles on this you will reach Lake Haiyaha. This lake is famous for its green-ish color, and wow!
After that, you will continue on to Dream Lake. Another absolutely beautiful lake with high peaks lining the side. Fun side note: Dream Lake is a pretty easy (and stunning) hike to do in the winter too. The snow is typically packed down enough to where you’ll only need spikes (not snowshoes) to do the hike.
Then, you’ll continue on another mile, passing Nymph Lake, and ending at Bear Lake, which is one of the most popular spots in Rocky Mountain National Park.
I took the free shuttle bus from the Bear Lake parking lot back to where my car was at the Glacier Gorge parking lot. However, you can hike back if you’d like and it adds about another mile to the trip.
Pro tip #1: Bear Lake Rd is the most populated area of the park and the main parking lots near the trailheads often fill up very early. There is a slightly farther parking lot available where you can park and take the shuttle and it’s very easy!
Pro tip #2: Rocky Mountain National Park now requires a timed reservation for entry both to the park and to Bear Lake Rd. The Bear Lake Rd reservations start at 5 am, and reservations for other areas of the park start at 9 am. These sell out very quickly when they are released, especially for the weekends, so definitely plan ahead!
This is what the trail map looks like! Note that this isn’t actually a saved trail on AllTrails. I combined a couple of different trails. But this is the activity I tracked on the map (wonderful feature from my favorite hiking app!)