Colorado easily wins one of the top spots in my tally of the United States. Of the numerous tiny trips I have taken to this state, not one has managed to disenchant me. With the deep gorges to the tall Rockies, green rivers and red rocks, Colorado has one of the best hiking landscapes I have come across. My latest trip there took me to a day hike at the Rocky Mountain National Park, and there couldn’t have been a better time for a day hike along the Bear Lake trail than the sunny afternoon of August 20.

(Click on the photos to enlarge)

Continue striding along the lake and soak in a lot of natural beauty.

View of a portion of the national park, with Nymph Lake, from the Bear Lake Trail.

Meandering through the topsy turvy road to the national park may serve the travellers with a glimpse of wildlife if lucky.

As seen from my window seat on the flight back from CO.

The Bear Lake Trail leads you up to 4 of the many beautiful lakes in the national park:

Adorned with water lilies, Nymph Lake extends a perfect welcome to the hikers and offers an excellent photo spot with Hallett Peak peeking through in the backdrop.

Catch a glimpse of Longs Peak standing steadily behind the lake.

A view from the Bear Lake Trail.

Nymph Lake: Adorned with water lilies, this lake extends a perfect welcome to the hikers and offers an excellent photo spot with Hallett Peak peeking through in the backdrop.

Not a chance to get disenchanted in this piece of heaven on earth.

Take some moment to stare into the nature at the Dream Lake and admit to be hiking in the hikers’ paradise.

Look for carefree trouts in the Dream Lake, or pull out your fishing poles.

Dream Lake: The pristine clear water offers a canvas to capture the reflection of the alpine conifers that elegantly outline the lake’s periphery, and the blue sky that blankets everything above.

This placid lake is the destination of the short hike up the Bear Lake trail.

At the trail split, take a right and dip your feet in the Tyndall Creek.

Emerald Lake: Half a mile upward from the Dream Lake, the trail leads hikers to the serene Emerald Lake, which is the destination for the hikers. This is a hike that absolutely calls for a ton of photographing, of nature and of people enjoying nature.

Finish off the hike at Bear Lake and revere the sunset. Or if the tired feet don’t call for a rest, add another mile to the hike with an evening stroll around the lake.

Aged old tree remains by the Bear Lake trail.

Bear Lake: This lake that sits right off the Bear Lake trailhead, can either be a beginning 1 mile warm-up around the lake itself, or the cool-off spot to end the hike with, as many hikers prefer. Enjoy a soothing sunset over the placid Bear Lake.

Given a limited window of time, the Bear Lake trail offered enough picturesque hike to unleash my inner adventurer and let me escape into the wilderness that took me beyond my neighborhood parks and picnic pavilions that weekend. Despite a slight elevation gain up to the Emerald lake (~200ft), this trail does not measure up to some of the strenuous hikes in the national park, thus allowing hikers of a wide age range to make it up to all 4 aforementioned lakes on a day hike. The well marked navigation signs on the trail adds to the ease of finding directions where the trail splits off in different directions.

Enjoy the fresh forest breeze while hiking on the roughly paved trail.

There are plenty of offshoots on the trails to enjoy a variety of scenes in this national park.

Plenty of natural shades to rest and catch a breath on the trail.

Paved portion of Bear Lake trail.

Ideally, I would have loved to spend a week camping in the Colorado Rockies, but a day trip to the national park has only left me with more reason to go back and explore this hikers’ paradise in the future.

Access to Rocky Mountain National Park:

• 1.5 hours from Denver International Airport
• 10 minutes from Estes Park
• Free shuttle rides (Hiker Shuttle) from Estes Park to Bear Lake Trailhead
  

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Lodging:

• Camp in the national park
• Hotels in Estes Park
• Stanley Hotel: the same hotel that had once upon a time inspired the paranormal Stephen-King-novel and Kubrick-movie – The Shining.
  

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Nearby Attractions:

• Stanley Hotel: the same hotel that had once upon a time inspired the paranormal Stephen-King-novel and Kubrick-movie – The Shining.
  

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Closest towns:

• Estes Park, CO: 10 minutes
• Boulder, CO: 1 hour
• Longmont, CO: 1 hour
• Loveland, CO: 1 hour