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Snowshoeing...Getting Started at Bear Lake
Distance: Emerald Lake: 1.5 miles one-way
Trailhead: Bear Lake Parking Lot- RMNP- Bear Lake Road
Difficulty: Easy to moderate
Overall: Excellent beginning area to snowshoe with three lakes, Nymph, Dream and Emerald, to give you several options.
If you're starting your snowshoe career, this is the place. Go to the Beaver Meadows Entrance Station of Rocky Mountain National Park and get your pass. If you live on the front range, get an annual pass. It's a great deal.
Once inside RMNP go a short distance and take a left on Bear Lake Road. Continue to the end of the road to Bear Lake Parking Lot.
Do not put snowshoes on in the parking lot even if you see others doing it. It will ruin the talons on your snowshoes. Put them on near the kiosk and shelter.
Cross the bridge and take the trail to the left toward Nymph Lake. This first half-mile is easy to follow and draws plenty of traffic. Take it slow and settle into an easy-going pace. Winter snowshoeing is harder than hiking as the cold and the resistance of the snow burn up more energy. Don't be surprised if although you were freezing cold at the start, you quickly start to sweat.
Once at Nymph Lake you have a choice. If that's as far as you want to go, look to the right at the end of the lake for a wooden trail marker. Head in that direction and go to the right of the marker in the trees. There is a fun fire-trail which will take you back down to Bear Lake.
If you're ready for more, turn left at Nymph and follow the tracks into the trees. You are now off-trail, following the winter route above the drainage. Stay to the left of the large rock outcropping. The trail dips and turns, then climbs steeply uphill. Don't be deterred. If it's a clear day, the views back toward Longs Peak and Glacier Gorge will take your breath away. Slowly, continue uphill to Dream Lake. You've now come about one mile.
At Dream Lake you can continue by staying low and right of the lake. At the far end, the trail continues to Emerald Lake which sits up against Flattop Mountain and Hallett Peak. It's awesome. Of course the further you go, the better the snow and the fewer the people.
Have a snack and get out the thermos of hot chocolate. This is winter in the Rockies and there's nothing like it.
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