I have wanted to do this hike since I saw it in my hiking book. It's a relatively easy hike and you see 5 beautiful lakes, so what better day to do it than my birthday! What a great birthday it was!!!
The hike starts at the Bear Lake trailhead in Rocky Mountain National Park. Obviously, the first lake you pass is Bear Lake.
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| Bear Lake |
Bear Lake is beautiful, and if you feel up for it you can take the very easy .5 mile hike around the lake. The best views are from the opposite side of the lake where Hallett Peak rises above the lake.
The next lake along the trail is Nymph Lake. It's .5 miles up the trail from Bear Lake and an easy elevation gain. This lake was my favorite! The top was covered in water lillies and I thought it was so peaceful.
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| Nymph Lake |
Just before reaching Dream Lake (1.1 miles into the trail) you come to a fork in the trail. We decided to head to Lake Haiyaha first since it looked to be the more difficult of the options. To get to lake Haiyaha you take the left fork. If you head right you will pass Dream Lake and then head towards Emerald Lake.
The hike to Lake Haiyaha is a little steep, but not too bad. This lake lies 2.1 miles from Bear Lake, and it's full of giant boulders. We hiked on a cloudy day, which kept us from really seeing the views, but it added a creepy feeling to the hike. We felt like we were hiking in the clouds! It was really neat!
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| Lake Haiyaha |
After reaching Lake Haiyaha we headed back down to Dream Lake and took the other fork in the hike. Dream Lake was very pretty, and there seemed to be good fishing there as well. It was the largest of the 5 lakes we saw, but again I think it would have been a better view had it not been so cloudy. I think beyond the clouds there would have been some beautiful views of mountain peaks.
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| Dream Lake |
Past Dream Lake the hike climbs uphill for .7 miles until you reach Emerald Lake. Emerald Lake was pretty, but I wish we could have seen the views. We may have to take this hike again, but even a cloudy hike is better than the best day at work!
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| Emerald Lake |
I calculated the whole hike, seeing all 5 lakes, (not including the .5 mile walk around Bear Lake) to be around 7.5 miles. I would call this hike relatively easy with a few uphill climbs just before Lake Haiyaha and Emerald Lake. But, if I can make it, anyone can make it!
This hike a must do! I am also planning to do it again on a clear day, but I have so many others to do first before we can think about doing any hike a second time.
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