Rocky Mountain National Park: A Hike Along Nymph, Dream & Emerald Lakes

          On Monday, we took a public shuttle bus to Bear Lake where the trail leading to Nymph, Dream and Emerald Lakes begins. On a side note, we were really impressed with the park's shuttle bus system. As long as you don't get to the pick-up area between 11 and 2pm. Those are really busy hours and the wait in line can be at least 30 minutes. Early in the morning or later in the day the lines are much thinner. Once you get on the bus, the drive doesn't take that long. I think there were 4-5 drop-off/pick-up areas with a few miles between each one. If you're able to find a parking spot at any of the trailheads (very small parking lots-maybe 15 spots or so) then you won't have to bother with the shuttle buses, but the parking in the Rocky Mountain National Park is scarce so, chances are, you'll probably wind up having to use the shuttle buses. Although we left our campground in our own car, they also have buses that come to the individual campgrounds.

         Once we got to the trailhead, it was a short hike to Nymph Lake (about a 1/2 mile). This is a quaint little spot shaded by trees.

                The hike to Dream Lake is slightly more rigorous (about a 1/2 mile), but absolutely beautiful. Once you spot Dream Lake, it's a nice walk along the shoreline. Here are some pics along the way:

    These little ground squirrels were everywhere! Once we reached the end of the trail at Emerald Lake and sat down to eat lunch, they'd come right up to us.

          The hike to Emerald Lake is about .8 miles further and definitely worth the effort. You see a lot of little gems along the shoreline of Dream Lake and the view of Emerald Lake is impressive. Plus there's a nice shaded area at the bank of Emerald Lake that gives you a place to rest a bit for the hike back. Here's pics hiking towards and at Emerald Lake:

Emerald Lake

     This was the view once we sat down at the bank. The hike there is just under 2 miles.

         During the hike back, we spotted an elk across Dream Lake. I wish I could have zoomed in a bit more.

            Between Dream Lake and Nymph Lake we managed to stumble into Elk Heaven...

    All in all, you're looking at a 4-mile hike there and back. It took us about 3 hours to hike it (including a stop to eat lunch) and we don't hike consistently throughout the year. So for more experienced hikers I'm sure it wouldn't take as long. These 3 lakes are a definite must-see in the Rocky Mountain National Park!