Name: Emerald Lake
Rating: 4.7

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Dogs No Dogs

Features Birding · Fall Colors · Lake · River/Creek · Swimming · Views · Wildflowers · Wildlife

Family Friendly This hike is short enough and gradual enough to bring along young kids. You can turn around whenever you want and there are many great picnic spot along the way!

Overview

This is a short, fairly easy out-and-back that features Dream and Emerald Lakes.

Description

From the Bear Lake trailhead, follow the signs for Dream Lake onto this well-traveled, asphalt-sealed trail. Hiking is very easygoing along the Dream Lake Trail as it contours at very mellow grades up the slope.

Just over 1.5 miles from the TH, you'll reach Nymph Lake, a picturesque mountain lake that makes for a good place to take in the surrounding peaks. Continuing up the trail, you'll eventually cross Tyndall Creek and come to a junction with Lake Haiyaha Trail. Hike past this intersection to reach Dream Lake.

Dream Lake is a spectacular, narrow lake that sits in a drainage on the rugged eastern slope of Flattop Mountain. The lake makes for a good resting point on this hike. Once you've gotten your fill at Dream Lake, continue hiking along the trail for another mile until you reach Emerald Lake. This lake is a beautiful sight to see as it sits nestled into the rugged western face of Flattop Mountain.

From Emerald Lake, turn around and hike back the way you came to the Bear Lake TH.

Flora & Fauna

This hike follows Tyndall Creek up towards its headwaters. Look for riparian vegetation typical of this environment including various willows, mountain alder, and water birch with dark-colored bark. In a few places, blue spruce may grow near streams and sometimes hybridize with Engelmann spruce.

Contacts

Land Manager: National Park Service - Rocky Mountain National Park

Shared By:

Brian Smith with improvements by Waylon Calabrese

Full Details

Trail Ratings

4.7 from 368 votes

#2

in Bear Lake

#15

Overall

4.7 from 368 votes

5 Star		77%
4 Star		20%
3 Star		2%
2 Star		0%
1 Star		0%

Recommended Route Rankings

#2

in Bear Lake

#8

in Colorado

#15

Overall

68 Views Last Month

48,691 Since Jan 8, 2015

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Photos

Representing the REI NP Centennial backpack at Dream Lake, looking towards Flattop Mountain (right) and Hallett Peak (left).

May 20, 2016 near Estes Park, CO

The view to Hallett Peak and Flattop Mountain from Dream Lake.

Dec 8, 2015 near Estes Park, CO

Apr 23, 2017 near Estes Park, CO

Jan 8, 2015 near Estes Park, CO

Aug 25, 2015 near Estes Park, CO

Hallet Peak, 2 am, with moon and Jupiter

Mar 23, 2021 near Estes Park, CO

5 Comments

Weather

Current Trail Conditions

Unknown

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Check-Ins

Mar 31, 2025

Anonymous

Mar 10, 2025

Jonathan Hansen

Beautiful in the winter 4.2mi — 2h 30m

Jan 30, 2025

Hailey Evanski

Lots of snow! Beautiful Mountain View's

Sep 29, 2024

Koshiga Norimichi

Sep 20, 2024

Anonymous

Sep 4, 2024

Tom Herr

Rewarding hike to 3 alpine lakes, the middle being the most stunning. Steady climb to get to each lake along with many hikers. Gem! 3.3mi

Aug 24, 2024

Ashley Didion

Beautiful lake and not too difficult to get to.

Jul 29, 2024

Kelsey Fautsch

Jul 29, 2024

Sean Hutzler

Jun 24, 2024

Stephanie Cairney

Jun 16, 2024

Erica Ames

Jun 14, 2024

Amy Jau

May 10, 2024

Hannah Cunningham

May 1, 2024

Nick L

Butterfinger couloir

Apr 24, 2024

Sarah Guertin

Part of the out and back

Jan 4, 2024

Dan Shemon

Blue skies, cold wind! So cool with all the mountain lakes frozen solid! 4mi — 1h 15m

Dec 31, 2023

Sean Zeeck

Early morning hike to watch the sunrise at ~7:30am. Left trailhead by 5:30am to catch blue hour at Emerald Lake. ~0 degrees up at the lake. 3.6mi — 3h 00m

Nov 22, 2023

Azaria Asfaw

6h 00m

Oct 31, 2023

Christa Finer

Oct 16, 2023

George Hagan

12h 30m

Oct 7, 2023

Elizabeth Reznikov

Sep 26, 2023

Rod Strand

Rod

Sep 8, 2023

Haden Smith

3.3mi

Sep 8, 2023

Abby Settle

3.7mi — 1h 41m

Sep 6, 2023

Lizzy Compton

Aug 20, 2023

Daniel Teixeira

3.3mi

Jul 24, 2023

Shane Hoss

Jul 20, 2023

Aaron Quad

Jul 12, 2023

Deanna Hawkins

7h 30m

Jun 25, 2023

Kristy Bruner

Jun 22, 2023

Adam Afsary

Jun 18, 2023

Robert Ferraro

Zz — 7h 00m

May 26, 2023

Sachin S

3.3mi — 17h 15m

May 25, 2023

Jan Laurens

May 20, 2023

Michael Daubert

3.3mi — 4h 00m

Apr 21, 2023

Matt Calabrese

Mar 19, 2023

Zachary Henry

Mar 18, 2023

Vane Z

Feb 18, 2023

Haley Wintsch

sprague lake to emerald lake 7.9mi — 2h 09m

Feb 3, 2023

Carly Gaylor

Jan 3, 2023

Luke Booty

Dec 20, 2022

Jarrod Knapp

Nov 2, 2022

Jonathan Link

Beautiful, little icey in Nov. Microspikes would be helpful 3.3mi

Oct 17, 2022

Vinh Nguyen

Oct 12, 2022

Melissa Francis

Sep 27, 2022

Brent King

Sep 25, 2022

Nate B

Sep 23, 2022

Tom Franks

Sep 18, 2022

Randy Turner

Aug 27, 2022

Private User

Aug 23, 2022

Rosie Betenbaugh

3.3mi — 10h 55m

Aug 23, 2022

Rosie Betenbaugh

10h 55m

Aug 18, 2022

Charles I

3.5mi — 1h 29m

Aug 18, 2022

Deanna Throesch

Aug 15, 2022

Ashley Robinson

3.7mi

Aug 14, 2022

Marc Z

Aug 13, 2022

Pritesh Bhoumick

3h 12m

Aug 11, 2022

Stephanie Kirkpatrick

Aug 9, 2022

Brook Larson

Aug 6, 2022

Caitlin Heckman

Jul 29, 2022

Sarah Wagoner

Jul 23, 2022

Josh Cantu

Thunderstorm on the way back 3.6mi — 2h 00m

Jul 14, 2022

Random Ostapko

Jul 3, 2022

Nathalie Mejia

July 2, 2022 3.8mi — 2h 35m

Jun 30, 2022

Alexa Long

3.3mi

Jun 30, 2022

Su Jin Kim

Jun 22, 2022

Kim Eroh

3.3mi

Jun 17, 2022

David Lundgren

Sunny 3.4mi

Jun 16, 2022

Caitlin Heckman

Jun 14, 2022

David Lundgren

Trail had snowpack / snowed during first portion of hike / sun came out at Dream Lake / beautiful rest of hike. 3.4mi

Jun 12, 2022

David Nurre

2h 30m

Jun 12, 2022

Jimmy Le

Jun 10, 2022

Robin Hopkins

Jun 8, 2022

Junlong Liu

5.5mi — 4h 01m

Jun 2, 2022

Kelly Mikonowicz

Jun 1, 2022

Damien Sutevski

4mi — 2h 00m

May 29, 2022

Sahana Puranik

12h 00m

May 26, 2022

Kathryn Forbes

May 23, 2022

Gerard McHugh

May 13, 2022

alex carlton

Absolutely surreal hike although annoying drone guy saw a marmot Also slide down mountain over raked did a flip and lost bear spray — 12h 00m

May 9, 2022

Diana Maasdam

Breathtaking view and scary in snow 3.3mi — 4h 00m

Apr 17, 2022

Chris R

Congregation group

Apr 9, 2022

John Hobbs

Up to Emerald Lake. Lost phone!

Apr 3, 2022

Zoey Franzen

3.9mi — 2h 45m

Mar 21, 2022

Katie Steinwall

Nov 5, 2021

Faith Ramessar

Oct 23, 2021

Tamara Wulf

Oct 21, 2021

Danny Collins

Oct 15, 2021

Alex Mauro Ross

To dream lake

Sep 28, 2021

Bear Rinehart

Sep 26, 2021

Harris Ahmed

Sep 26, 2021

Ivan Vo

Sep 23, 2021

Yue Li

Andrea hiked it — 3h 30m

Sep 19, 2021

Shawna Newsome

Sep 5, 2021

Private User

Aug 30, 2021

Ryan L

Hiking with young kids made this take longer than expected. Also took alternate route just after Nymph lake. 3.3mi — 4h 29m

Aug 24, 2021

Selina Li

Aug 19, 2021

Hannah Witter

Emerald, Dream, & Nymph all in one!

Aug 11, 2021

Magda Kowalkowska

Aug 11, 2021

Daniel McCloskey

Aug 7, 2021

Connor Greenhalgh

Just me 3.3mi

Aug 7, 2021

Erin Wright

Aug 5, 2021

Charmaine Land

Enjoyed hiking this trail to Emerald Lake and passing Nymph and Dream Lake. 3.3mi

Aug 4, 2021

Brittany Michael

Very busy but gorgeous trail with waterfalls, lakes, wildlife and scenic view 4.1mi — 4h 13m

Aug 2, 2021

Zia Aiello

Jul 20, 2021

Rachel Lemke

Lots of stairs and beautiful views! 3.3mi — 2h 08m

Jul 14, 2021

Tom Cummings

Jul 11, 2021

Anna West Carpenter

Jul 11, 2021

Daniel Solorzano

3.3mi — 2h 30m

Jul 10, 2021

Marc Daniel

With Mila — 1h 30m

Jul 6, 2021

Jacob Hill

Dream Lake was beautiful - very pleasant, chill, quick hike!

Jun 25, 2021

Rachel Sanders

Jun 22, 2021

Jaili Fajardo

Jun 20, 2021

Jaili Fajardo

Jun 19, 2021

Jason Magar

11h 00m

Jun 16, 2021

Zoe Trapp

4.3mi

Jun 11, 2021

Ryan Dass

Jun 6, 2021

Brian Jurgensmeier

3.7mi

Jun 6, 2021

Tasfia Rouf

Jun 4, 2021

Matthew Freeman

mildly slippery due to snow after dream lake. manageable with only hiking shoes. great views at the end 3.3mi — 2h 30m

May 31, 2021

Mi Roue

May 21, 2021

Yue Yin Leong

May 5, 2021

Liz Rogers

Lots of fun! The weather kept changing from Light to heavy snow and sun. Great views at the lake! 3.6mi — 2h 00m

Apr 25, 2021

Zachary Kunselman

Apr 24, 2021

Austin Stutts

Apr 16, 2021

M M

Apr 12, 2021

Anne Cowles

Jan 23, 2021

Joy Bergman

Car camping trip I the Rockies!

Jan 17, 2021

Private User

Jan 16, 2021

Brandon Reid

3.2mi

Dec 9, 2020

Emily Schwickerath

Cold and windy at the top but worth it. Icy trails.

Dec 9, 2020

Zachary Wemark

Oct 21, 2020

Tianlong Yun

Oct 17, 2020

Jeff Nielson

Wonderful day hike. Crazy snow in the morning but became warmer and more manageable as the day went on. 4mi — 2h 30m

Oct 15, 2020

Tyler Shepard

Oct 13, 2020

Kathy Cox

Birthday Hike. 50 degrees & sunny.

Oct 12, 2020

Manoj Abey

3.5mi

Oct 11, 2020

mark berno

Oct 10, 2020

Kayla Finklein

Oct 7, 2020

Yan Li

Oct 6, 2020

Jennifer Smith

Oct 5, 2020

Alicia Wyatt

Oct 5, 2020

Bhuvvi Iyer

Did only half of the trail as it was too steep!

Sep 29, 2020

Carol Case

Sep 27, 2020

Nick Barendregt

Great hike with family and perfect conditions! 3.2mi — 2h 00m

Sep 25, 2020

Marie Magro

3.8mi — 1h 57m

Sep 23, 2020

Rich Kelly

and Lake Haiyaha, 5.4 miles and 1050' climb

Sep 18, 2020

Scott Street

Sep 17, 2020

Robert Slavik

6h 52m

Sep 11, 2020

Lauren Hogsett

Sep 10, 2020

Emily Kay

Sep 9, 2020

Son S

Sep 8, 2020

Amanda Camelo

Sep 6, 2020

Ashley Troyer

Sep 4, 2020

Private User

Aug 28, 2020

Morgan Cullen

Aug 21, 2020

Caroline Patel

3.3mi

Aug 20, 2020

Nikunj Patel

Aug 19, 2020

Joyce Oh

Month after ankle surgery. Barely made it back. — 2h 30m

Aug 18, 2020

Charles Schwechler

2h 33m

Aug 9, 2020

Vivian Ferrer

Aug 2, 2020

Kimberly Brooke

Aug 2, 2020

Chase Hampton

Aug 1, 2020

Cary Greenfield

Beautiful alpine lake with splendid views

Aug 1, 2020

Kevin Cory

great family hike 3.3mi

Jul 28, 2020

James Heil

3.3mi

Jul 26, 2020

Daniel Winn

W/Texas Winns & Liz 3.6mi — 1h 54m

Jul 25, 2020

Michelle Buttchen

4mi — 2h 45m

Jul 23, 2020

Taylor Chafin

Jul 22, 2020

Allison Boland

Jul 21, 2020

Tatyana Shev

Jul 19, 2020

Mike Street

Hiked Emerald Lake saw the 3 lakes Dream, Emerald, Nimf — 2h 33m

Jul 17, 2020

Denny DeLange

Jul 16, 2020

Marisa Daley

Jul 14, 2020

Paula M

Jul 14, 2020

Mike Munie

Crowded trail but definitely worth the hike. Snow still on trail. Next time start early in the morning so the lakes are still.

Jul 14, 2020

Mackenzie Munie

3.3mi

Jul 7, 2020

Sarah Piper

Freaking beautiful place, friendly squirrels too big hit

Jul 6, 2020

R Jung

8h 30m

Jun 30, 2020

Christopher Nelsen

Jun 28, 2020

Kyra Ness Lanckriet

3.3mi — 12h 00m

Jun 20, 2020

Graham Mayfield

Great hike that let us enjoy the snow, lakes, & mountain views. 3.6mi — 3h 30m

Jun 17, 2020

Regan W

Jun 16, 2020

Denise Smith

Jun 14, 2020

Nidhi Kalia

Jun 13, 2020

Wyatt Brandt

Jun 13, 2020

Kendra L

9h 56m

Jun 12, 2020

Robin Larrivee

Jun 11, 2020

Carlos Fernández Prieto

Easy hike to the beautiful Emerald Lake and back. I did it with Anabel. Some snow even in June made it memorable. 3.3mi

Jun 9, 2020

Brendan Vardy

3.3mi

Jun 9, 2020

Char Phillips

Jun 8, 2020

Reagan Morgart

Jun 6, 2020

Joseph Newberry

May 30, 2020

Son S

May 24, 2020

Sarah Scheuer

Mar 26, 2020

Denise Son

25mi

Mar 15, 2020

Garrett Young

3.3mi

Mar 13, 2020

Christina Stenberg

Mar 4, 2020

Willy Fuller

Mar 1, 2020

Annie Swindell

4mi

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Emerald Lake

“An easy to moderate out and back that culminates at views of Emerald Lake. ”

3.3

5.4

Out and Back

10,104' 3,080 m

9,476' 2,888 m

661' 201 m

651' 198 m

7%

19%

Toolbox

Know This Trail?

Dogs No Dogs

Features Birding · Fall Colors · Lake · River/Creek · Swimming · Views · Wildflowers · Wildlife

Family Friendly This hike is short enough and gradual enough to bring along young kids. You can turn around whenever you want and there are many great picnic spot along the way!

Overview

Description

Flora & Fauna

Contacts

Shared By:

Trail Ratings

#2

#15

#2

#8

#15

Photos

5 Comments

Comment Type:

Weather

Current Trail Conditions

Check-Ins

Nearby Recommended Routes

Bear Lake TH to Fern Lake TH

Cub Lake Loop

Lily Lake and Ridge Loop

Twin Sisters

Longs Peak Valley Loop

Lookout Mountain Trail

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