Sight · Rocky Mountain National Park
A remote mountain lake framed by a wall of peaks.
Overview
Thunder Lake is a high-elevation mountain lake and backcountry destination in the Wild Basin corner of Rocky Mountain National Park, tucked beneath a ring of rugged peaks. Keep it for a long day in the mountains, not a quick lake stop. From Wild Basin Trailhead, the listed route is 6.8 miles one way with about 2,074 feet of climbing; the lake sits at 10,570 feet. Plan for a 13.6-mile round trip at altitude.
Parkwolf’s verdictIs this the lake hike for you?Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Rocky Mountain Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Rocky Mountain National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Rocky Mountain audio tourRecorded for this place
Wild Basin: A Short Walk or Ouzel Falls“The Wild Basin trailhead is ahead, with a choice of creekside waterfall walks. Lower Copeland Falls is the quick option: about six-tenths of a mile round trip from the summer trailhead.”
Plays as you drive up to Thunder Lake in the Parkwolf Rocky Mountain Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“…No cell service for majority of the day but had continuous access to the app - the maps, the tour guide as you drive is amazing. Highly recommend purchasing the subscription.”
Guide
The longer main route passes Lower and Upper Copeland Falls, Calypso Cascades, and Ouzel Falls before the lake. A shorter spur near the group campsite saves roughly a mile each way, but it is rougher and skips Calypso Cascades and Ouzel Falls. The longer line has more to see; take it if the extra walking is worth those stops.
At the shore, the lake sits beneath a mountain frame that includes Tanima Peak, Pilot Mountain, and Mount Alice. Put the water in the foreground and keep the rocky peaks behind it for a phone photo that shows the scale of the basin.
Thunder Lake is also an overnight destination, with three individual sites, one group site, and one stock site in the area. The individual and group sites are in forest west of the trail; the stock site is south of the trail, east of the lake and patrol cabin. There is no privy, and water from the inlet and outlet streams must be treated. Campfires are prohibited, and bear-resistant food canisters are required from April 1 through October 31. Carry your own food for the hike.
A small log patrol cabin stands near the lake. Built in 1930, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. Public entry was not confirmed, so treat it as a historic part of the basin rather than an indoor stop.
Wildlife
3,124 sightingsElkMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
1,601 sightingsMooseMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
19 sightingsMountain GoatMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
19 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
30 sightingsGolden EagleMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
270 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 11 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Rocky Mountain. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasyCopeland Falls Trail1 mi · 45 min · 4.4 mi awayA short creekside walk to Lower and Upper Copeland Falls.
ChallengingThunder Lake Trail13.6 mi · 6 hr · 4.4 mi awayWaterfalls and creek cascades break up the climb to a high lake.
ChallengingLake of Many Winds Trail15.3 mi · 11 hr · 4.4 mi awayClimb past Wild Basin waterfalls to a high lake beneath Boulder-Grand Pass.
ModerateHidden Falls Trail1.8 mi · 1.5 hr · 4.4 mi awayA short, faint Wild Basin path to a sudden waterfall.
ChallengingBluebird Lake Trail12 mi · 9 hr · 4.4 mi awayA long climb past two waterfalls ends at a high alpine lake.
ModerateOuzel Falls Trail5.4 mi · 3.5 hr · 4.4 mi awayThree waterfalls reward the climb well before the turnaround.
ChallengingLion Lake No. 1 Trail13.6 mi · 8.5 hr · 4.4 mi awayWaterfalls lead to Lion Lake beneath a wall of high peaks.
ModerateCalypso Cascades Trail3.6 mi · 2.5 hr · 4.4 mi awayTwo Copeland Falls come before a much taller cascade.
Sight · 1.8 mi awayOuzel LakeA high lake beyond Wild Basin’s chain of waterfalls.
Sight · 2.1 mi awayBluebird LakeA long Wild Basin climb to a high lake ringed by peaks.
Sight · 2.4 mi awaySandbeach LakeSandy lakeshore, peak views, and a 1,970-foot climb.
Sight · 2.8 mi awayLongs PeakThe park’s 14,259-foot summit is a serious, exposed climb.Sight · 3 mi awayOuzel FallsCopeland and Calypso Cascades come before the 40-foot finale.
Sight · 3 mi awayLake VernaSave a day for this narrow lake in the East Inlet valley.
Sight · 3 mi awayBlack LakeFive miles in for an alpine lake beneath a jagged granite wall.
Sight · 3.3 mi awayChasm LakeA high alpine lake under Longs Peak, reached by a hard hike.Parkwolf’s Rocky Mountain ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
