family friendly hiking in rocky mountain national park – Page 2

Hike to a Sandy Beach in Rocky Mountain National Park

Daily writing prompt

Describe one simple thing you do that brings joy to your life.

One simple thing that has brought me joy this week is changing my iPhone home screen to Photo Shuffle. Now when I pick up my phone, I see a different featured photo which are mostly pictures of my daughters over the past years. You can also select ‘nature’ so the pictures are from nature photos you’ve taken.

Another thing that is bringing me joy this week is planning our summer vacation to Rocky Mountain National Park. Last year we hiked several trails that I haven’t written about yet, so I want to share some of our new favorites including Sandbeach Lake.

Sandbeach Lake

Sandbeach Lake is located in the Wild Basin area of Rocky Mountain National Park near Allenspark, Colorado. This is an area that is lower in elevation compared to popular spots such as Bear Lake. The area is also more remote, so sometimes you can luck out with less traffic on the trails. We hiked this on a holiday weekend (July 3rd) starting a little before 8:00 in the morning.

Route Stats:
The Sandbeach trailhead starts at 8,312 feet of elevation. On our route we hiked a total of 9.15 miles and gained 2,090 feet of elevation. Our moving time was just over four and a half hours, but with stops it took us five hours and fifteen minutes. With kids our average pace was 29:49.

This website was named after my oldest daughter, our original ‘Rocky Mountain Tot’. We started taking her on hikes when she was only a few months old. When she hiked to Sandbeach Lake she was eight years old and my younger daughter was six. I honestly didn’t expect them to be able to hike over nine miles, but with snack stops and a promise of a sandy beach waiting at the top, they made it!

When we reached the lake, I enjoyed walking along the shore taking in different perspectives of the lake. My girls loved the cool feeling of squishing their toes in the sand in an unexpected location.

In summary, this is a magical destination where you can put your feet in an alpine lake at over 10,000 feet of elevation. If you are looking for a unique adventure, I highly recommend Sandbeach Lake.

Are Dogs Allowed in Rocky Mountain National Park?

National parks are wonderful places to experience nature, but not ideal places to bring a dog. In fact, according to Rocky Mountain National Park’s website, ‘Pets are prohibited on ALL Rocky Mountain National Park trails, tundra, and meadows.’

Old Fall River road

Pets can go along established roads or in parking areas. The best place we’ve found to walk our dog in Rocky Mountain National Park is up Old Fall River Road when the road is closed during the winter season.

According to the park’s website, ‘During the times when snowplowing operations are not in effect, the road is is open to bicycles, leashed pets and pedestrians.’ Right now snowplowing is taking place Tuesdays to Fridays from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. The road is likely to open to vehicle traffic around July 4 weekend and will close for the winter in early to mid-October. The road status depends on the weather conditions.

We parked in the Endovalley picnic area. The loop around the picnic area would also be a nice place to take a short walk with a dog.

ticks in rocky mountain national park

We kept our dog, Sky, on a short leash, but she still managed to walk through brush and pick up a half dozen (or more!) ticks. Rocky Mountain Wood Ticks are mostly found in the spring and early summer.

Chasm falls

We took the dirt road up to Chasm Falls. My daughters and I went down to the viewing platform while my husband hung back with our dog. We didn’t want to crowd other hikers or take away from their experience viewing this impressive waterfall.

According to AllTrails.com, this hike is a total of 4.7 miles and gains 531 in elevation. It is a good choice if you are looking for a bike friendly or dog friendly early season hike.

Nymph Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park

Today I wanted to share a short post about a short hike. Nymph Lake is located in the Bear Lake area of Rocky Mountain National Park. Known for the pond lilies that float on its surface, Nymph Lake is located only a half mile from the trailhead.

Nymph Lake is one of our favorite short hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park. You can find more short hike suggestions here. Continue the trail beyond Nymph Lake to amazing destinations including Dream Lake, Emerald Lake, Lake Haiyaha, and more.

October Hike to Dream Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park

The hike to Dream Lake begins at the Bear Lake trail head in Rocky Mountain National Park. The total hike is 1.1 miles each way starting at 9,450 ft in elevation and gaining 450ft. You will cross by Nymph Lake halfway into the hike. In late October, we could see lily pads at Nymph Lake as well as a layer of ice beginning to frost the mountain lake. The pairing made a unique and beautiful combination.

Nymph Lake Rocky Mountain National Park — Nymph Lake

We continued up towards Dream Lake.

dream lake rocky mountain national park

The hike to Dream Lake is one of the most popular hikes in the park. Even though there were quite a few people on the trail, we felt lucky that we could experience it off-peak. October is late in the season for this hike.

We were thankful to the fellow hikers who took a family photo for us with Hallett Peak in the background.

Dream Lake Rocky Mountain National Park — Dream Lake

As we headed back down the trail, I overheard a group of young, fit-looking hikers marvel at how much better our girls were hiking in the high elevation compared to them. I smiled to myself because it was true. Our 4-year-old and 6-year-old made the hike look easy with their abundant energy.

In one of our favorite hiking guides by Erik Stensland, this hike is rated easy unless ‘you are not acclimatized’ – in which case it can be challenging, and it is a good idea to take it slow.

The truth is our girls were motivated by snow, and specifically throwing snowballs (otherwise known as ice pellets) at their parents.

You can see in their smiles that this hike was a lot of fun, but the Mom/teacher in me was excited to sneak in a little education as well. For example, because this hike is so popular, you can see areas along the trail that have been impacted by erosion. We looked at exposed tree roots and talked about how the dirt is needed to keep the trees from falling over. We also talked about snow melt and asked why the waterfall which we had passed in the spring was now a trickle of water in comparison. How do the changing seasons impact the landscape and the animals?

If you have little science and nature lovers in your life, I think a gift from the Rocky Mountain Conservancy would be a meaningful present this holiday season. Purchases support ‘the research and educational missions of Rocky Mountain National Park.’