I’m working on a list of our favorite winter hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park. Looking back through the pictures, I realized that the seasons in the mountains don’t go along with our calendar. One of the most enjoyable hikes we took last year was around Bear Lake on June 1st.
The loop around Bear Lake is one of our favorite hikes under 2 miles. Our preschoolers can usually walk the half mile on their own.
This popular spot offers views of Hallett Peak.
We had to hold on to little hands because of the slippery ice and snow on this trip.
The air temperature was chilly, but not freezing. The girls happily played in the snow. We were able to capture some of the happy moments.
We found a bench that was clear of snow to rest on and take silly photos.
The icy lake was melting in the sunshine. But, there were still sections along the trail where the snow had piled up high enough that it was challenging to see if we were walking on the trail or not. We had to be careful not to step into the freezing lake on accident.
Bear Lake sits at 9,475 ft of elevation. We took a hike the same weekend in Beaver Meadows where the snow had already melted out. It’s amazing how vastly different the conditions can be at higher altitudes.
The conditions also vary significantly year-to-year. At the end of May in 2018, we took a hike from the Bear Lake trailhead and made it further up the mountain to Dream Lake before we encountered a little patch of snow.
If you love the snow, stay tuned for our upcoming post about our favorite snowy hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park.
The hike up Deer Mountain is 6.2 miles round-trip and gains just over 1,200 feet of elevation.
Deer Mountain is a special place for our family—it’s the first hike in Rocky Mountain National Park that we brought our daughter Cecy along with us on back in May of 2015 when she was just six months old. It’s since been known in our family as “Cecy’s Mountain,” reinforced by the fact that you can catch great views of it from one of our favorite places for breakfast/hot chocolate, the Trailhead Restaurant.
Deer Mountain trailhead with our daughter Cecy in 2015
Along with having great views and being one of the more moderate summit hikes in the park, Deer Mountain is also one of the best year-round options due to it’s proximity to the park entrance (less icy roads to contend with) and the fact that the snow tends to blow off/melt out earlier here than in some of the other popular trailhead areas, such as Bear Lake and Glacier Gorge. It’s roughly 6.2 miles round-trip and gains just over 1,200 feet of elevation.
On our most recent trip to Estes Park in late December of 2019, both of our girls came down with a bit of a cold, so we were hesitant to spend quite as much time outside in the chilly air as we typically would with them. We instead focused on taking in the scenery, looking for wildlife, and undertaking an adventure in finding the best chili in Estes Park. But it’s just about impossible for me to be in the mountains and not get out for at least one hike, so after a few days, Kelly was gracious enough to let me slip away for a few hours to try to tackle a familiar hike, but with a new twist—Deer Mountain in Winter/Snow conditions.
The park had a small base amount snow on the ground when we had arrived earlier in the week and had just received and extra 4-8 inches of snow two days before my attempt, so I didn’t know what to expect. Sometimes the popularity of Rocky Mountain National Park can be overwhelming, but in this instance, I was thankful that more die-hard hikers had already been out the day prior to help pack down the trail. I arrived at the trailhead around 9:00am to beautiful sunshine and remarkably calm winds, which made the 14 degree temperature seem tolerable.
It’s been my experience in prior years that for many hikes, traction devices such as yak tracks and a set of trekking poles are more efficient than dealing with snow shoes (unless you are going higher in elevation or deeper in the wooded areas to low-traffic trails), and I was glad to find that the conditions again matched the gear I had brought with me for my hike. I downloaded the GPS map of the area with the AllTrails app as a back-up to make sure I kept on the right path. This came in handy even in the first quarter mile of trail, as the trailhead area had seen a fair amount of aimless footprint tracks from people just pulling off for a quick walk to explore the area, making it a little tricky to discern the main path.
That quickly changed, however, as even though I was the first person at the trailhead that morning, an easy to follow, packed trail emerged for the remainder of my adventure.
One of the memories that always sticks in my mind about Deer Mountain is the long stretch of flat ground, and even a small descent, in the final mile of the hike before the summit push. The snow was quite a bit deeper in this area, and if I accidentally wandered off the trail just a bit, it was easy to post-hole into the soft powder that was just off the main path. Here I spotted tracks from several animals that had also been out playing in the snow.
The final stretch to the summit was substantially steeper, and the trekking poles became a bit more of a necessity for balance in the snow, but it felt quite safe and made for a fun push to the top.
The summit views were beautiful as always. I try to bring an apple or some sort of snack to eat at the destination of any hike, so I slow down for a minute and just soak it all in rather than simply turning around to complete the return journey. Even though the temperature was well below freezing, the hike up the mountain left me quite warm…but that heat quickly dissipated as I had my snack and wandered around to take some pictures from the top.
So without too much time wasted, I bundled back up and started down the trail again. Though I had been alone for the entire hike up and perhaps the first mile and half on the way back down, I did encounter several pairs of hikers on my return journey. Most asked about the trail conditions and were as delighted as I was to learn that the path was well-packed and easy to track all the way to the summit.
I got back to my car at around 11:30 am, satisfied with having completed my first “winter summit” and ready to pick up some chili on the way home. We recommend Deer Mountain as an early summer hike, or really an “anytime” hike in the peak season, but now can feel confident suggesting to friends who want to take on a “safer” winter challenge as well.
In 2019, we were lucky to enjoy the outdoors as a family both in our new home town of Fayetteville, Arkansas as well as our favorite mountain getaway in Estes Park, Colorado. Writing about these adventures on rockymountaintot brings me a lot of joy. My goal is to provide as much helpful information as I can in each post and hopefully inspire people to check out some of the places I love.
The number of views on rockymountaintot this year quadrupled! Thank you to everyone who took the time to check us out. I’ve compiled the list of our Top 10 Posts of 2019:
Skiing, lakes, national parks, fly fishing – it’s all within 30 minutes of our Granby condo.
Alison
Recently I reached out to my high school classmate Alison (Jolin) Stafford to see if she would be willing to answer a few questions that I had about Granby, Colorado, traveling with kids, and prime ski season. She graciously provided me with tons of helpful tips and is letting me share them here.
Fun for the whole family!
Kelly: We went to high school together, but to be honest, I mostly know you from your exciting social media posts about living life in Colorado with your husband and adorable twins. I’d love to know what inspired you to move to Colorado and what you love most about raising young boys there?
Alison: The mountains brought me west from Kansas City in 2006 for a brief stint in Steamboat Springs. I hopped back to KC to get my Masters Degree in Nonprofit Management at UMKC, then immediately knew I wanted to be back in Colorado. I’ve been in the Denver metro area now for 11 years and wouldn’t change a thing. I’m a nomad at heart, but have delightfully (and surprisingly at times) taken root in Colorado. Raising my toddler twin boys in the outdoors is something I’m very grateful for – as well as my husband. Whether the woods of Northern Michigan or on the water boating around KC, we both grew up loving the outdoors in our respective hometown areas and love that we have an endless array of options for our kiddos to choose from too. We have short road trips often and always find new treasures to explore.
Kelly: There are so many great places to visit in Colorado, what draws your family to Granby?
Alison: The proximity to Granby is a major bonus for us as it’s only 1.5 hours door to door from our home to our mountain condo. Also, we get a lot more bang for our buck while still have ski in/ski out amenities. Skiing, lakes, national parks, fly fishing – it’s all within 30 minutes of our Granby condo.
The breathtaking view from our condo balcony. Views of Grand Lake & RMNP in the distance. 25 min from the south entrance to the park.
Kelly: What are your best tips for enjoying ski vacations with kids? (How early do they start ski school, do you rotate, is there a kids watch area?)
Alison: I can’t wait to start our 2 year old twin boys in ski school, but unfortunately we’ll have to wait until next ski season. Selfishly and shamelessly, it’s one of my driving factors to potty train the little stinkers asap. For now, since we have a ski in/ski out condo, my husband and I take turns throughout the day. Convenience is key (with skiing and life). We’ve also found a great local babysitting service that we use. With the close proximity, we can take some runs down the mountain, have a quick happy hour, then hit the hot tub all in 3-4 hours. It’s perfect!
Main lift at Granby Ranch Ski resort. Day date with the hubs. We have a great sitter through Grand County Sitters.
Kelly: What are your favorite restaurants in Granby/Grand Lake area?
Alison: Easy answers – Tabernash Tavern and also Heck’s Tavern at Devil’s Thumb Ranch. We’ve gone to both as a date without the kiddos and also with the entire family. One of the many reasons we love the area – very family friendly everywhere! Granby is on the brink of a lot of growth and we’re very excited about the new options.
Friends since elementary school girls trip!
Kelly: When I think of Granby I think of skiing, but I know it’s a year-round destination plus it’s close to Rocky Mountain National Park and other National Forests areas. What other outdoor activities do you enjoy with your family in this area? Any favorite hikes you’d recommend?
Alison: We recently rented a pontoon boat on Lake Granby for Father’s Day and it was a blast. Being out on the water is simply breathtaking and there’s a lot of options to stop and take it all in. A HUGE bonus for me is that all of the lakes allow stand up paddle boarding. That is one of my big hobbies and there are sandy banks a’plenty launch off while the fam hangs out, has a picnic or splashes in the water. Hikes will be on the agenda soon, but 2 year old toddler twins makes that a little tricky at this point. My husband is a big fly fisherman so anytime he can get a cast in the water, he’s happy. Luckily we have private fishing access to the Colorado River via our mountain condo at Granby Ranch.
Snow on the ground still means fun in the (heated) pool.
Kelly: How can people stay at your vacation rental? How far out do people need to book? What is prime ski time? Any other tips?
Alison: We love having other families enjoy our home away from home. I personally manage our condo, so you’re always working directly with me for any questions or needs. Bookings and the calendar are current through: https://www.vrbo.com/1219384 I have families that book a year in advance and also availability with short notice at times too. If we aren’t staying there ourselves, I love for others to stay and enjoy. Prime ski time is December (holidays) through early April and they recently built in new snow making capabilities which means MORE SNOW! It’s convenient, not overcrowded, reasonably priced, beautiful and we’ve yet to have a person not fall in love with the area.
Yoga from the Top! Granby Ranch summer Saturday mornings.
rocky mountain tot 