Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
Waterfalls and creek cascades break up the climb to a high lake.
Overview
Map & elevation
Plan your hike
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 trailhead
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 this trailhead 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.”
Trail guide
Thunder Lake Trail is a 13.6-mile out-and-back from Wild Basin Trailhead on the main waterfall route to Thunder Lake. The lake is 6.8 miles from the summer trailhead; allow five to seven hours for the return. You climb about 2,070 feet to 10,570 feet above sea level. This is a strenuous high-country day, but the payoff builds: creek falls and cascades first, then a quieter alpine lake in a cirque.
The path starts in subalpine forest. Lower and Upper Copeland Falls sit a short side path from the main tread near the start. Beyond them, you cross Sandbeach Creek and pass the Pine Ridge campsite spur. The longer waterfall route continues to Calypso Cascades and Ouzel Falls. After Ouzel, the climb continues for several miles, mostly under trees with occasional mountain views. Follow signs for Thunder Lake at the forks; routes to other lakes and the pass lead into longer backcountry travel.
The lake sits just below tree line and is the turnaround for this route. Tanima Peak, Pilot Mountain and Mount Alice rise along its northwest skyline; leave time on shore before retracing the same trail. A small one-room log patrol cabin was built here in 1930 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. It gives the destination a piece of park history alongside the water and mountain basin. For a photo, keep the rocky shore in front of the lake and include the peak wall above; a wider view shows the scale of the setting.
A shorter 11.6-mile round trip is also described, using a rougher connector and missing part of the waterfall approach. This entry follows the longer 6.8-mile one-way line to Thunder Lake. If that whole day is too long, Copeland Falls makes a good earlier turnaround before the sustained lake climb. Do not continue beyond Thunder Lake toward Boulder-Grand Pass unless you planned for that separate extension.
Treat stream water before drinking; water at the lake's inlet and outlet is untreated. Dogs are prohibited on park trails. The summer route starts at Wild Basin Trailhead, reached by Wild Basin Road during the summer season. In winter, the start shifts to Wild Basin Winter Trailhead, and the winter route to Thunder Lake is 7.4 miles one way from that access. Check current road and trail status before setting out; park entry requires a valid fee or pass.
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 · At the trailheadA short creekside walk to Lower and Upper Copeland Falls.
ChallengingBluebird Lake Trail12 mi · 9 hr · At the trailheadA long climb past two waterfalls ends at a high alpine lake.
ModerateOuzel Falls Trail5.4 mi · 3.5 hr · At the trailheadThree waterfalls reward the climb well before the turnaround.
ChallengingLion Lake No. 1 Trail13.6 mi · 8.5 hr · At the trailheadWaterfalls lead to Lion Lake beneath a wall of high peaks.
ChallengingOuzel Lake Trail9.8 mi · 6.5 hr · At the trailheadThree waterfalls punctuate the long climb to Ouzel Lake.
ChallengingLake of Many Winds Trail15.3 mi · 11 hr · At the trailheadClimb past Wild Basin waterfalls to a high lake beneath Boulder-Grand Pass.
ModerateHidden Falls Trail1.8 mi · 1.5 hr · At the trailheadA short, faint Wild Basin path to a sudden waterfall.
ModerateCalypso Cascades Trail3.6 mi · 2.5 hr · 0.1 mi awayTwo Copeland Falls come before a much taller cascade.
Sight · 0.2 mi awayCopeland FallsTwo small cascades make a quick creekside detour in Wild Basin.
Sight · 1.6 mi awayCalypso CascadesSpring runoff turns this boulder-and-log waterfall into a roar.
Picnic area · 1.7 mi awayCopeland Lake Picnic AreaA lakeside picnic stop beside the Sandbeach Lake trailheadSight · 1.9 mi awayOuzel FallsCopeland and Calypso Cascades come before the 40-foot finale.
Sight · 2 mi awaySandbeach LakeSandy lakeshore, peak views, and a 1,970-foot climb.
Sight · 2.2 mi awayFinch LakeA shallow backcountry lake reached by a long Wild Basin hike.Sight · 3.5 mi awayOuzel LakeA high lake beyond Wild Basin’s chain of waterfalls.
Sight · 3.8 mi awayPear LakeA high lake two miles beyond Finch, reached on a long 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.
