We really enjoyed our visit to the Rocky Mountain National Park. Although we only stayed three days, we completed two amazing hikes and tented for the first time in a national park campground.
How We Managed Our Visit to Rocky Mountain National Park:
- Book a campground
- Get there early
- See the sunrise while hiking and avoid the crowds
Our Hikes:
- Nymph, Dream, & Emerald Lakes and Lake Haiyaha
- Andrews Glacier & Tarn that we didn’t complete
Timed Entry Pass
2024 was our first year we had to book timed entry passes for some national parks. Arches and Rocky Mountain National Parks both required timed entry passes to enter the park during certain times of the day.
Arches National Park was pretty straightforward. If you were entering the park between the hours of 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. between April 1 – October 31, 2024, you had to purchase a timed entry pass for $2.
We would wait until the day before we wanted to visit, get on the Recreation.gov app at 7 p.m. and book a pass for the next day. Easy peasy. Although you have an hour from the initial time of the pass to enter the park, we always showed up right at the beginning of our time.
However, Rocky Mountain NP is a little more confusing. Firstly, it has two different areas with different entry pass times. If you are visiting any area besides Bear Lake Road, you must have a timed entry pass to enter the Park between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. You can enter the park before these hours or after these hours without a timed entry pass.
Our hikes were, unfortunately, on the Bear Lake Road, and has its own timed entry system. Bear Lake Road reservations are required to enter the Bear Lake Road Corridor between the hours of 5 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The timed entry passes for the Rocky Mountain National Park are also valid for 2 hours. So, if you purchase a timed entry pass for 8 a.m., you have from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. to enter the park with your pass. However, I will say, if you are entering at the Bear Lake Road, 8 a.m. is probably too late to find a parking spot at the trailheads. You will probably have to catch the shuttle.
Glacier Basin Campground
Because our planned hikes were in the Bear Lake Area, and we knew the trailheads would be very busy, we decided to book four nights at the Glacier Basin Campground. Your timed entry pass is included with the booking of the campsite. So, we could avoid purchasing timed entry passes separately. Also, it was easier for us to wake up early to park at the trailheads.
We have the America the Beautiful Annual Pass and we should have been able to book the campsite for half price. However, I was trying to book it on my Recreation.gov app and, for some reason, it wouldn’t accept the numbers on the back of the card. If you intend on booking this campground, please make sure you receive the half-price discount from your card.
The campground is very noisy. I believe quiet hours are from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. We went to bed around 8 p.m. every evening because we knew we were getting up at 4 a.m. However, our neighbors banged around until 9:30 p.m. every evening. The campground is the quietest during the day when everyone is out exploring.
If you are staying at the campground, like us, to arise early for hiking, be aware it is not quiet. We realize we are an anomaly as we go to bed really early for our morning hikes. But, we also know we are not the only ones!
Generators can be run between the hours of 7:30-10 a.m. and 4-8:30 p.m. However, some sites do not allow generators. When we arrived, we spoke with the ranger on duty checking us in. We asked a lot of questions as this was our first national park campground.
There is a solar shower in the D Loop at this campground. After smelling ourselves, we probably should have checked it out after hiking. But, we didn’t.
Our Hikes
The two hikes we wanted to try were the Nymph Lake, Dream Lake, Emerald Lake and Lake Haiyaha trail and the Andrew Glacier and Tarn Trail.
Our first hike of the four lakes we began at the Bear Lake Parking Area & Trailhead. We knew both of our hikes were in popular destinations and the parking lots would fill up fast. Although there is a shuttle stop right across from the Glacier Basin Campground, we decided to get up early to find a spot.
We arrived at both parking lots around 4:30 a.m. and there were already vehicles in the lots. I don’t know if you will be able to find a spot after 7 a.m. Because of the timed entry system, we expected a lot of traffic before the 5 a.m. timed entry requirement and we were not disappointed.
Our Four Lake Hike
Our hike to the four lakes was gorgeous. We didn’t start out on the trail until after the sun had risen. However, I imagine watching the sunrise at one of the lakes would be amazing. Although we enjoyed Dream Lake and Emerald Lake, our favorite was Lake Haiyaha.
You must do some rock scrambling when you arrive at Lake Haiyaha. I am not going to lie, rock scrambling is not my favorite type of hiking. But the absolute blue glacier water of the lake is worth climbing over the big boulders.
Give yourself some time to sit and really take in this lake. We could not get over how gloriously blue it was. A couple of young men, braver than we were, jumped in for their cold plunge. Although one said, “how refreshing,” the other young man did not say too much but tried to put on his clothes quickly!
We took our epic lunch spot for the day at this beautiful lake. We just enjoyed sitting, enjoying the lake, and taking in the surrounding views. However the lake itself is the real reason to visit this area.
If you don’t want to hike the other lakes, but only see Lake Hiayaha, you can also reach the lake via the Glacier Gorge Trailhead. Our second hike to Andrews Glacier and Tarn also begins at the Glacier Gorge Trailhead. You can also hike to Alberta Falls, Timberline Falls, and Sky Pond from this trailhead.
Andrew’s Glacier and Tarn
So, you can imagine, this parking lot also gets full quickly. For our second hike, we decided to begin the trail in the dark and hike during the sunrise.
Wow! We began hiking around 5:30 a.m. or a little before. Before we reached Alberta Falls, we were already experiencing some of the amazing effects of the sunrise over the trees and on the rocks. The sun rise was still occurring when we reached Alberta Falls.
I would not change that moment for all the world. To witness Alberta Falls in the glowing pink of the sunrise while the rocks around you reflect that color was one of the prettiest sights we can remember.
If you are hiking this trail, and if possible, begin the hike in the dark and see the sunrise. It will be a forever memory that you will not want to forget. Also, there is not a crowd at this time of day. We were by ourselves for most of the hike. The hikers who had started before us were hiking to other areas to view the sunrise.
Alberta Falls is in and of itself gorgeous. We were taken aback by the amount of water that flows at this waterfall. And the large, surrounding rock makes it stunning. We recorded it on the way back, as it was too dark for the GoPros during the sunrise. However, by then, there were crowds everywhere.
While hiking to Andrews Glacier, you also get to hike around The Loch. Oh, my goodness, this lake took our breath away. When you arrive at the lake, you can see the waterfall on the far distant rock wall, with snow or ice above it. On the day we hiked, a mist was gently rolling down the mountains towards the lake. We had to sit and take in its beauty before continuing.
For most of our hike, we followed the same trail as the Sky Pond Trail. In fact, we were the only ones hiking to Andrews Glacier. Although we did meet one young woman hiking back who had watched the sunrise from there.
The trail for Andrews Glacier separates from the Sky Pond Trail after The Loch. We had to make a right at the fork towards the Andrew Glacier Campground. The next sign we saw on the trail only officially marked the campground. However, someone had carved an arrow pointing to the left that said Tarn. There is another blue arrow on the rock when you turn to the left for the Tarn.
We did not make it to the Glacier and Tarn, which is the small lake below it. However, we hiked with views of a glorious meadow up the hill. We had to climb over some large boulders. But we had talked with the young lady hiking down earlier, and she had told us to stay to the right.
We followed her advice, staying to the right while climbing over the boulders up the hill. We climbed over a beautiful stream that led down into the valley, with blooming wildflowers on the hill. It was gorgeous.
Finally, we reached the real rock-scrambling portion of the hike. We could see the top of the mountain where the glacier and tarn were located, but we could not see them ourselves. The climb to the top required hiking over loose rock. Windell was already feeling the effects of the altitude.
Although I wanted to see the Glacier, I did not want us to hurt ourselves or hike on all fours just to reach a glacier and lake. Besides, the hike was already amazing. We saw Alberta Falls in the sunrise, The Lock with a waterfall, and the hill and valley with a stream and wild flowers. We were extremely content with our amazing adventure.
Rocky Mountain National Park
We really enjoyed our two hikes in the Rocky Mountain National Park, and we are glad we visited it. Booking the Glacier Basin Campground for a few nights made it easy for us to arrive early and park for our hikes. Be aware that the park fills up fast!
Arriving early, hiking during the sunrise, and seeing some of the amazing features made this trip worth the cost of the campground and the drive. Although it was not our favorite national park, we really enjoyed this short side trip.