Bear Lake

Bear Lake is a small alpine lake at 9,475 feet, tucked beneath Hallett Peak. A short marked path from the parking area reaches the water, so you can get the mountain-and-lake view without a long hike. It is also a gateway to some of the park's best-known walks. If you want a quick taste of the high country, this is an easy place to start.

The parking area fills early, especially on weekends and holidays. Come early if you can, and remember that the elevation can feel like more work than the short walk suggests.

The Bear Lake Nature Trail gives you changing views as you move around the shore. The lake is small, but it looks different from each opening in the trees. In winter, snow and ice cover the walkway and nature trail; traction devices are recommended.

Hallett Peak rises above the lake, and on clear days you can also pick out Longs Peak to the east. When the water is calm, the shoreline and its reflections make a strong foreground for the mountain view. Fall color adds another layer when the aspens turn, but wind and weather decide whether the water stays mirror-still.

Bear Lake is more than a lakeshore stop. The trailhead also leads toward Nymph, Dream and Emerald lakes, Bierstadt Lake, and Flattop Mountain. You can keep this as a short visit or use it to start a much longer day in the Bear Lake corridor. Bear Lake Road reaches the parking area 9.2 miles from its junction with Trail Ridge Road.

Glaciers carved the surrounding valleys, widening older V-shaped valleys into U-shaped ones and leaving ridges of rock and debris behind. The area's bedrock tells an older story too: ancient sea sediments were changed by heat and pressure into metamorphic rock, then later granite intrusions cut through them. The big scenery here is the result of both processes, not just a dramatic mountain backdrop.

Chipmunks, golden-mantled ground squirrels, Steller's jays and Clark's nutcrackers are among the animals reported around this high-elevation landscape. Greenback cutthroat trout move up nearby Glacier Creek to spawn in early summer. Watch from the trail and treat any sighting as a bonus, not a guarantee.