Bierstadt Lake Loop

The loop around Bierstadt Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park is a welcome getaway from the more popular and more congested trails accessible from Bear Lake Road. This 3 mile out-and-back loop offers some great views of the Bear Lake Road valley and the surrounding mountains while switchbacking up to the lake.

After taking switchbacks up the open side of the mountain, you'll enter the densely wooded area where the lake sits. If you stay strictly on the loop trail, you'll quickly learn that there are no clear viewpoints of the lake on the trail. However, there are no shortage of quick side routes leading to the lake. The best of which (at least at dusk) is located about 1.5 miles into the hike on the north east side of the lake.

The entire loop around the lake is almost exactly a mile and is virtually flat. If you are looking for a longer hike or hoping to explore the other accessible hikes in the area, there are well marked intersections leading to Mill Creek Basin (1.2 miles), Bear Lake (1.7 miles), and Hollowell Park (2.9 miles).