Fern Lake Trail
From Hiking
| Fern Lake Trail | ||
|---|---|---|
| Location: | Estes Park | |
| Maintained By: | National Park Service | |
| Starting Elevation: | 8250' | |
| Elevation Gain: | 1000' | |
| Length: | 9.0 miles | |
| Difficulty: | moderate to strenuous | |
| Last Hiked: | 8/28/08 | |
[edit] Finding the Trail Head
From Estes Park, enter the Rocky Mountain National Park on US-36. Turn left on Bear Lake Road, then right on Fern Lake Road and follow it to the end. Park at the Fern Lake trail head parking lot. For the last several miles, Fern Lake Road is dirt and often only one lane wide. The last facilities are at the Fern Lake shuttle stop about 0.8 miles before the trail head.
Instead of hiking up and back, it's possible to park at the Park and Ride and take the Park shuttle to Bear Lake. From Bear Lake, you can hike up to Odessa Lake and back down to the Fern Lake trail head. However, to catch the Park shuttle back to the Park and Ride, you will have to walk the extra 0.8 miles to the Fern Lake shuttle stop.
[edit] Description
The first 1.7 miles is an easy hike to "The Pool". After "The Pool", the Big Thompson splits into Fern and Spruce Creeks. The trail begins to climb steeply, winding between the two creeks. About a third of the way to the top, Fern Falls provides an impressive spectacle. After a tough climb, the trail flattens out, then drops down to Fern Lake. After Fern Lake, the trail climbs again up along the Fern Creek canyon, finally reaching Odessa Lake.
[edit] Experience
The beginning of the trail follows the Big Thompson River across meadows, past patches of ferns, and through aspen and pine forest. In the late summer, a dozen kinds of berries including rose hips and goose berries are all around and the Wild Geraniums and Fire Weed are still blooming. After "The Pool", the trail winds through a beautiful pine forest, providing occasional views of both Fern and Spruce Creeks. However, after Fern Falls, the trail leaves both creeks, switching back and forth up a steep mountain face.
Fern Lake is enormous and apparently quite deep. The trail winds along the shore over a huge rock fall then climbs again following Fern Creek. The canyon below the trail is full of logs testifying to the violence of spring floods. Odessa Lake is also very large, with a magnificent view of the surrounding peaks. By the outflow, it's possible to watch the protected Greenback Cutthroat Trout feeding.
