Rocky Mtn Natl Park- Nymph, Dream, and Emerald Lakes

jderuby  Saturday, July 10, 2010

Adventure Review

These 3 lakes are on one trail that starts at Bear Lake Trailhead and ends 1.8 miles later at Emerald Lake, passing by Nymph and Dream Lakes.  Round trip is 3.6 miles, with a total elevation gain of 605 feet by the time you get to Emerald.  Beautiful scenery!  Marked an easy trail, our 5 yo accomplished it, but it did take us a little more than 3 hours at what I would call a slow, steady pace with short stops.  About the first quarter mile is paved, with LOTS of stairs cut into the trail throughout; a short area with a steep drop-off next to the 5 foot wide path.  We were able to take in the view and snap lots of pictures during our quick breaks.  We saw lots of young couples with babies in carriers, not nearly as many toddlers, and not very many out of shape people past Nymph Lake.

They are all smallish lakes- Nymph has a lot of lily pads, Dream is long and thinner and very clear, Emerald seems to be in a crater at the top of a mountain.   Great views of Longs Peak at and after Dream Lake.  Snow on the ground in patches at Emerald.

Several climbers passed us and we spotted some others on the mountain wall above Emerald lake.

A very popular trail.  On July 5th there were lots of people walking around us and lots congregated at the lakes and good views.  We had to wait several times for people to clear in order to take pictures of waterfalls, lakes, etc.

Parking at the trail head is limited.  There was a sign about 2 miles before the trail head warning that the parking lot was full and directing us to park and ride a free shuttle bus.  When we got up to the lot, there were several park employees directing us to keep moving through the lot, but we could take a spot IF we happened to come across someone leaving.  They had to actually be backing out or the guides would shoo us along.  And there were no do-overs.  We were able to catch someone leaving.

There are lots of very smelly permanent pit toilets at the trail head.  Other than the smell, they were very clean, with foam sanitizer to wash with.

There is a ranger building with lots of info and maps, a pavilion, and guides doing scheduled guided hikes.  A ranger gave pencils and trail books geared to age to our 10 and 5 year olds. (5 and under, 6-12.)  The 5 yo really liked it when we stopped and wrote in that we saw a chipmunk, certain trees, and read some info to her.  She noticed the patch shown on the back and was disappointed that she didn’t get one at the end of the hike.  You have to do a guided hike to get those.  We bought her a pin in town.

We didn’t bring any food on our hike.  It was a bit long to not have any food at all.  I would recommend fruit, trail mix, or some sort of granola bar.  We each carried a bottle of water and finished it.