Fern Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park
- Date hiked: 07/05/2020
- Hiked from: Fern Lake Trailhead
- Distance hiked: 7.6 Miles RT
- Total elevation gain: 1,400 ft
- Maintained trail: Yes – Travel 3.8 miles on Fern Lake Trail and follow the sign to the left indicating Fern Lake.
- Overall Difficulty: 4/10 – Moderate elevation gain which is spread out. An extra 1.5 miles round trip are added to the distance if parking in the shuttle bus overflow lot.
- Overall Views: 6/10 – The Pool and Fern Falls are scenic destinations along the trail.
Hiking to Fern Lake in the Summer
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This is a wonderful hike in Rocky Mountain National Park that has two main features on the trail from Fern Lake trailhead. The Pool, and Fern Falls.
You will want to be in decent hiking shape to tackle Fern Lake, but I believe the views are worth it. There is also less foot traffic compared to some of the more popular hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park such as the Glacier Gorge and Emerald Lake trails.
Hiking to Fern Lake in the Winter
- Date hiked: 01/18/2020
- Hiked from: Fern Lake Overflow Parking Trailhead
- Distance hiked: 8.8 Miles RT
- Total elevation gain: 1,500 ft
- Maintained trail: Yes – Depending on snow conditions trail may be hard to follow. Micro-spikes and snowshoes may be needed.
- Overall Difficulty: 6/10 – Moderate elevation gain which is spread out.
- Overall Views: 6/10 – Everything looks so amazing in the winter.
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Hiking to Fern Lake in the winter will add a little over a mile round trip to your hike if the main trailhead is closed. You will have to park at the overflow parking lot/shuttle pick-up. It was a overcast and windy day when we completed this winter hike but still amazing from start to finish. Most of the river was frozen over although there were some open spots of flowing water.
When we arrived at Fern Lake it was completely frozen over and we were able to walk on it. The wind was brutal so we only spent a few minutes taking in the amazing views that lake has to offer.
Winter route info to Fern Lake
