Emerald Lake Trail – RMNP

As I mentioned in a previous post, Rocky Mountain National Park has a few wonderful hikes and sites to see. One of those is Emerald Lake.

About This Hike

Time: 2 hours round trip                                Difficulty: Considered easy

Be sure to bring plenty of water to fight thirst and altitude sickness, a jacket and hat, and possibly snacks if you get hungry like me.

The parking lot for this trail head gets really full very quickly, so either get there early in the morning or take one of the shuttles that comes to the campgrounds/visitor centers.

The hike was beautiful and is broken up into 3 parts. Each part ends with a small lake of its own: Nymph Lake, Dream Lake, and Emerald Lake.

Nymph Lake

This part of the hike was so peaceful. We got a very early start, so there were hardly any people on this trail. We were also able to enjoy a lower sun angle which helped make it less taxing. Nymph Lake has a small trail that circles the lake, but we decided to bypass it since we were wanting to get to Emerald Lake.

Dream Lake

I think Dream Lake was actually my favorite out of the three lakes because it was so serene and quiet. I could have sit there for hours!

We emerged from hiking through large trees and came to a small log-bridge that took us across the clearest marsh we had ever seen. We could hear the gentle babbling of the tiny stream and the rustling of the trees.

Dream Lake was truly magical, so if you don’t think you can hike all the way to Emerald, please at least hike to Dream Lake. It is so worth it!

Emerald Lake

After hiking a semi-steep trail we finally emerged out of the trees at Emerald Lake!

It was so cool seeing an alpine lake in person, and truly made me feel so proud of myself for completing a goal of mine. It was so clear and truly beautiful. Being there at the lake was such a surreal experience because we felt like we were so close to the peaks of the mountains.

I loved this hike so much and would love to come back again some day.

Much love,

Chelsea