Cony Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park
- Date hiked: 06/29/2020
- Hiked from: Pear Lake
- Distance hiked: 5.5 Miles RT from Pear Lake. 18.6 Miles from Finch Lake Trail head
- Total elevation gain: 1,250 ft from Pear Lake.
- Maintained trail: NO
- Overall Difficulty: 9/10 – Route finding and bushwhacking skills are needed. Major elevation gain. Class 2 scrambling.
- Overall Views: 8/10 – Towering views of Ogallala Peak and the ridge to Mt. Copeland.
There’s something special about high elevation lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park. Cony lake is no exception. Tough, long, hike. We camped at Pear Lake and it took us two attempts to reach Cony Lake as the day prior we turned around due to bad incoming weather.
Video Clip of us Arriving at Cony Lake Rocky Mountain National Park
Reaching Cony Lake requires crossing Upper Hutcheson Lake. We’ve crossed this lake two times and have not been able to find a clear route to cross. Pick your rocks very carefully, walk over vegetation, and you can cross the creek without getting your shoes soaked.
Once across Upper Hutcheson Lake the boulder hopping begins. Pick your own route, we found going up high, then down towards the lake, and back up was our best option. There were a couple of difficult Class 2 scrambling sections that I don’t know if they were avoidable or not.
After getting through the field of boulders we had to cross an extremely steep snowfield. Check for any avalanche risk here before crossing. Fresh snow and crossing mid afternoon may be sketchy.
Route to Cony Lake in RMNP
Our recorded route to Cony Lake from Pear Lake. Use at your own risk.
