- Date hiked: 10/11/2020
- Hiked from: East Inlet Trailhead
- Distance hiked: 8.7 miles – 1 way
- Total elevation gain: 2,000 ft
- Maintained trail: No. Trail is Maintained up to Lake Verna after that it is unimproved.
- Overall Difficulty: 8/10 – Very long hike to reach Fourth Lake. Lots of downed trees.
- Overall Views: 8/10 – Amazing views of the Boulder/Grand Pass Continental Divide
Video of our Day-Hike to Fourth Lake
Fourth Lake is easiest reached from the East Inlet Trailhead, on the Grand Lake side of Rocky Mountain National Park. Follow the well maintained trail past Lake Verna, where the trail becomes unimproved. Pass Spirit Lake, and hike over dozens of downed trees for a little over a half mile to reach Fourth Lake. Route finding is moderate but could change due to more downed trees. This is the 4th of the 5 lakes from the East Inlet Drainage. Seems like whoever named the lakes in this area got bored after Spirit Lake and chose the easiest names possible for the remaining two.
Although the lake is shallow and small, the views are amazingly huge. We made the hike to Fourth Lake on 10/11/2020. This was part of a long day-hike to all the lakes of the East Inlet drainage. You will find true peace out here in this remote part of the park. Reaching Fourth Lake is extremely challenging, especially for a day hike. We had talked to a few campers near Lake Verna that were not able to make it to Fourth Lake due to the amount of downed trees blocking the path.
Fourth Lake can also be reached via the Boulder-Grand Pass. This is a challenging route where you can traverse the park from the Wild Basin Trailhead, and end up at the East Inlet Trailhead.
Next up is Fifth Lake.