emerald lake trail rocky mountains national park

We do this hike every time we come to RMNP Never get tired of it !!!If anyone ask us if they could only do one hike in the park ,we recommend this one . it does get crowded for a good reason !We always go off season .Great for snowshoe or some snow cleats in the winter Bring hot chocolate in the winter ! Please push yourself to make it to the (last lake )Emerald ,,__it is well worth it!! the view is spectacular !!!

This hike is absolutely lovely. The three lakes along the trail are gorgeous, with Dream Lake being especially spectacular. The trail itself is not particularly difficult with most of the inclines being fairly moderate. This is a must do if spending a day at Rocky Mountain National Park.

Wife and I went on a hiking trip out west . She had never been in the mountains. Stayed in Este Park and hiked for 3 days. We are not spring chickens anymore so we took our time. 1st day was hard being low landers and not use to thin air. 2nd day much better. Kept hikes short -under 4 mile round trip. We only got to see a small part of RMNP but what we saw was stunning, absolutely gorgeous. Take your time , pack bring plenty of water and protein bars . If your are younger you will be able to do much more than we did.

We took the trail from Bear Lake to Emerald Lake, it took us 3 hours round trip with snow shoes, but we did some off trail climbing at emerald lake so that added some time. Very scenic, well marked trail includes THREE lakes. I definitely recommend calling the Estes Park Mountain Shop to ask about snow conditions, if they say to rent snowshoes, then do it! It made the hike much safer and much more enjoyable!

Hiked up to Emerald Lake on a mild, late fall Sunday. It was an incredible hike, the signs say 1.8 miles each way for a total hike of 3.6 miles. Noticed I used the word "incredible"; let me preface this: I am generally a lazy hedonist and HATE hikes. This was truly an easy hike. There has already been a couple of feet of snow up at this elevation but the trail was good and packed. You first get to Nymph Lake after about .4 mile. Nice flat opening with great vistas. Continuing on, you'll next come upon Dream Lake. It too is beautiful, framed in by the peaks surrounding you including Flat Top. A bit of a challenging climb heading up from Dream Lake, the rest of the trail up to Emerald Lake is a nice trek. Getting there is worth any exertion...even on an overcast late-fall Sunday, it was gorgeous. I highly recommend this trip.

beautiful moderate hike. lots of uphill on the way there. leave early....we got there at 8:30, and when we were coming back there were lots of people going up, and the parking lot was full.

I've visited CO numerous time, but never the National Park. It was first time experience seeing upclose a Big Horn Sheep in it's natural habitat. We also saw a herd of Elk. It was a surprise and amazing to see. The sky and mountains were beautiful. I live on the East Coast and wake up to the sunrise over the ocean. It is beautiful and so is the CO sky and mountains. Two great expanses of nature.

Nice trial, not too difficult- my Dad is 74 and made it w/o any trouble. Make sure to stop a Dream lake ....I think it's the got the best views. Always be ready for wind and some sort of precipitation.....you never know !

Glad we hiked this trail, it was gorgeous with snow and ice flows on the lakes, but it was more difficult than expected because of alot of snow pack and ice on the trail with a steady wind of about 30mph and temp around 40. So do bring your gloves, hat, and poles would be handy(you can rent them in town cheaply if you didnt bring any) etc. this time of year. Dream Lake was our favorite long and narrow with beautiful ice. Made friends with some Clark's Nuthatch's at lunch who were eager for our scrapes.

This was easily our favorite hike of our trip to RMNP. You get 4 spectacular lakes in one short 3.5 mile hike (4.3 miles if you loop Bear Lake first). We were hiking with a two year old, which limited our options. We decided to try this hike and just see how far we could go. It starts at Bear Lake, which is worth the stop all on its own. It's right off the parking area and an easy 0.8 mile loop around the lake that is paved and suitable for strollers/wheelcharis. Of course the best view is from the far side of the lake. The trailhead for Nymph/Dream/Emerald lakes starts straight off the parking area also and it is not necessary to hike Bear Lake first if you choose not to. We had used a stroller around Bear Lake and decided to just keep pushing up to Nymph Lake. The trail was paved at one point, but is now broken asphalt. It wasn't easy to navigate the terrain, but we managed and it helped prolong our journey by keeping our daughter occupied. There were a couple spots that required some maneuvering, but it wasn't too bad. The trail up to Nymph Lake is pretty much a straight shot up a hill side. You'll be going uphill the entire route, but it is only about a 0.6 mile climb. Nymph Lake is covered with lily pads and surrounded by tress. We caught a glimpse of a Stellar's Jay in the trees near the shore. The best view of this lake is on the near shore, which is a bonus. From Nymph Lake you continue to climb up to Dream Lake. The trail starts to wind and you end up on a mountain side that overlooks a valley. At this point we stashed the stroller behind a tree and loaded the little one into a backpack (which she loved by the way). There is an overlook that looks down onto Nymph Lake also. The views were great and included a couple small streams. In the fall the colors along this portion of the trail were nice. It's only about 0.6 from Nymph Lake before you reach Dream Lake. There is a junction just before the lake, be sure to head to the right to continue on the trail. Again, the best views of the lake are from the near shore with Hallett Peak and Flattop Mountain in the background. This is your picture spot for sure. From there it is another 0.6 miles up to Emerald lake and it is still an all uphill climb, this time involving steps. You start into some trees on this portion and there's a nice place to stop where a stream runs over a large boulder. You hit Emerald Lake almost unexpectedly as you climb the final section. There isn't much room to move around the lake like the previous 3 because you are now literally at the foot of the mountains. There is a large boulder to your left as you reach the lake and it provides a great overlook of the lake and a place to relax. The view here is breathtaking and worth sitting and taking in. I will say at this point you are so close that your photos will not do this place justice as well as those from Dream Lake. Good news: the walk down is all downhill and can happen relatively fast. You can figure to make it back down in half the time if took to go up, especially if you were stopping a lot on the way up for pictures, rest, etc.

First of all, the trail is magnificent! Whoever came up with the trail maximized the outstanding beauty of the area. Everywhere you look, magnificent vistas abound! We started at Bear Lake, then hiked to Nymph Lake, then on to Dream Lake, and finally to Emerald Lake. Each lake is different, and each lake varies in appearance depending on sunshine, cloud cover, rain or snow. They can even look differerent coming down the mountain than going up on the same day! The trail was rated "moderate" in a hiking book I was using. I would say "moderate to difficult" only because there is a lot of uphill hiking over a series of steps. I'm 50-something and have an 8-5 desk job, and I was exhausted by the time I reached Emerald Lake. I would think twice about making this hike again in spite of it's amazing beauty (and there's no disputing that!)

Emerald Lake was a little more difficult to get to than the first three we hiked to (Bear, Nymph, and Dream), but it was worth it! It's such a gorgeous lake, and it's much less crowded there than at the former lakes. Take a camera that can shoot wider angles. Very majestic!

Simple, not very challenging hike our 4-year-olds could do: slightly up-hill, wooded with many fun boulders along the way that kids can climb on. Pretty lake covered with lilly pads at the end of the trail.

The park is well maintained. The trail is easily done. I saw many little kids including a 1-2 year old doing it. With that said, it is not one someone with respiratory issues should do. Very nice. You have to go here and enjoy the hiking. Just one word of advice. If you have to use the restroom, go before you get to beginning of the trail itself. There are restrooms there, but they are latrines. They are very nasty (feces on the floor) and are almost enough to make you gag. Being a guy, it is easier to use them. I would not have a girl use them. Far too nasty.

The Rocky Mountain National Park is a must see for visitors to Colorado. While the park is large and offers much in the way of camping, fishing, hiking and nature, most visitors see the park and the Rocky Mountains from the convenience of their automobiles. There is nothing wrong with this, but would suggest you get out of your car, if you are able, and hit the trails, even if they are short ones!