Best Hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park

These are some of the best hikes at Rocky Mountain National Park! You can visit most of them year round, and the winter season can make for a totally different experience.

Tips for visiting Rocky Mountain National Park

• Timed entry reservations are typically required from May through October to enter the park or sections of the park. Review the NPS timed entry page before going!
• If you’re coming from sea level, take the altitude into consideration! Give yourself a day or two to adjust in Denver and make sure to hydrate.
• Afternoon thunderstorms are common during the summer. Take this into consideration when doing long or exposed hikes.
• Parking fills up extremely early during the summer. The easiest way to reach trailheads along Bear Lake Road is with the Park and Ride bus. Reservations for the bus are not required and there is a large parking lot that the bus leaves from.

Dream Lake Hike

• Length: 2 mi
• Elevation Gain: 476 ft
• Difficulty: easy
• Route Type: out and back

Dream Lake is one of the best hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park for so many reasons. The hike to Dream Lake is stunning and accessible and is a MUST DO for first time visitors. We highly recommend extending your hike to Emerald Lake for only about a mile more.

Dream Lake is accessible year round and visiting during the winter is just magical. If hiking in the winter, bring microspikes! Sometimes snowshoes are required to reach Emerald Lake, but typically you don’t need snowshoes if you’re only hiking to Dream Lake. Always check recent trail reports and weather!

Dream Lake is a short hike, so it’s great for sunrise. You can always watch sunrise at Bear Lake before starting your hike, as Bear Lake is just a short walk from the parking lot.

Lake Haiyaha

• Length: 2 mi
• Elevation Gain: 350 ft
• Difficulty: easy 
• Route Type: out and back

At the time of writing, Lake Haiyaha is a gatorade blue color and can’t be missed! It’s a short offshoot from the Dream Lake trail just before getting to the lake.

While Lake Haiyaha, and pretty much any alpine lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, is beautiful, we would not recommend spending the time going to this lake once it has turned back to its normal color if it’s your first time visiting.

Sky Pond

• Length: 10 miles round trip 
• Elevation Gain: 1,758 ft 
• Difficulty: hard
• Route Type: out and back

Sky Pond might be the best hike in Rocky Mountain National Park! You will pass Alberta Falls, Loch Lake, climb up Timberline Falls, pass Lake of Glass, and end at Sky Pond. The most difficult parts of the hike are climbing up Timberline Falls and the length and elevation gain to reach the falls.

Please note that parking is limited at the trailhead and often fills up in the early morning hours! If that’s the case, you can take the park shuttle to the trail head. You can start this trail via the preferred Glacier Gorge trail or from Bear Lake.

Deer Mountain

• Length: 6 mi
• Elevation Gain: 1,428 ft
• Difficulty: moderate
• Route Type: out and back

If you’re looking for a less crowded hike, this is it! You’ll hike through a forest most of the way before ending at the summit of Deer Mountain.

Please note parking is very limited at the trailhead, so be sure to arrive early.

Chasm Lake

• Length: 8.8 mi
• Elevation Gain: 2,542 ft
• Difficulty: hard
• Route Type: out and back

The Chasm lake hike will give you some of the best views in Rocky Mountain National Park and of Longs Peak. While this is one of the best hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park, there are a number of things to look out for.

You will gain about 2,500 ft of elevation in a short 4 miles which also makes this one of the hardest hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park. It also requires a very early wake up call due to afternoon thunderstorms that can make this hike dangerous as well as limited parking.

Don’t let all that prevent you though, just heed the warnings, as Chasm lake is one of the most rewarding hikes you will do in Rocky Mountain National Park!