A Weekend at Lost Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park

When you’re scrambling to figure out wilderness camping permits the night before they go on sale, everything seems like a good idea… especially hauling a forty-pound pack for ten miles up 3000 feet of elevation gain!

Okayyy… the trip to Lost Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park was well worth it, and I should not be so dramatic. But it is true that mileage and elevation gain all seems easy on paper in February. I ended up not hiking and doing as much over the summer as I had intended, but reasoned it couldn’t be that bad to backpack ten miles. I’m just thankful I swapped from the campsite at Stormy Peaks to two nights at Lost Lake, as Stormy Peaks would’ve been a nearly twelve mile trek.

I had picked up our permit after leaving the park on our overnight to Glacier Gorge in July, which made the trip to the trailhead much easier (wilderness camping permits can be picked up to thirty days in advance). Accessing Lost Lake, which is nestled in the alpine on the north end of Rocky Mountain National Park, isn’t as simple as just driving into the park (or Estes Park for that matter). The trailhead is outside of the small town of Glen Haven, off Dunraven Glade Road. Therefore, it would’ve added about 45 minutes of driving to visit the Wilderness Office to get the permit, and drive back to the trailhead… glad I thought ahead!

We hit the trail from the Dunraven Trailhead about 12:45pm – North Fork Trail that is. The trail would parallel the North Fork of the Big Thompson River all the way to Lost Lake! The unique fact of this trip is it would be 4.5 miles of hiking to even reach the boundary of Rocky Mountain National Park, crossing through a bit of private property and the Comanche Peak Wilderness in the Roosevelt National Forest. I managed to find some raspberries to nom, and we came across the occasional day hiker (and an NPS ranger who checked our permit), but otherwise it was pretty devoid of people on this Friday afternoon.

Before reaching the park boundary we crossed a large meadow burned by the Cameron Peak/East Troublesome fire in 2020. Some wildflowers were still hanging on in the August heat, and I was thankful to have cloud cover on this exposed stretch as flies the size of small dinosaurs tried chewing on me. Just shy of the park boundary we took a snack break, and the skies opened up, so we sought cover under a tree and managed to stay fairly dry.

With the rainfall, the forested hike after the park boundary was magical, though humid. Everything was lush and green, with moss all over the place… my favorite! The trail leveled out a bit, which mean the miles came quickly, as the rain continued on and off. I was quite stunned by how beautiful this hike was, honestly.

An unfriendly amount of elevation gain comes between mile seven and eight of the hike in, and really becomes the point where it feels like the hike will never end. Thought the trail lessens in grade after the junction with Stormy Peaks, I cussed anytime I saw another hill, as my body started to protest with odd cramps in odd spots.

I had read that campsite #2 on the the split to Lower Lost Lake was the best, and luckily it was free! (It was also the first campsite we came to, and honestly we were ready to be done with the packs and walking.) The weather had moved off, leaving a pleasant evening for getting the tent set up and chicken alfredo cooked.

Since we had two nights (thankfully) at Lost Lake, the second day really had no itinerary except hanging out and exploring. I knew it was just a short hike to reach a few alpine lakes that lie beyond Lost Lake, so after a lazy morning, breakfast, and coffee (thumbs up to Alpine Start’s dirty chai latte… it is a winner!), we set out on the unmaintained trail to Lake Husted.

Lake Husted is a beauty, and located against Sugarloaf Mountain at 11,088 feet. Whereas I was ever so slightly disappointed with Lost Lake (I came to realize a lot of the photos I saw online was really of other lakes in the area), Lake Husted makes up for it with alpine views towards some unofficially named 13,000 foot peaks and the permanent snowfield of Icefield Pass. We sat down and enjoyed the views for quite awhile before deciding to move on to another alpine lake.

Lake Louise is just a short jaunt across the tundra from Lake Husted. Sitting at 11,040 feet, this lake a bit harder to enjoy from the shoreline thank to thick willows, but we made it work. I ended up sitting down with a library book up the hill while my partner took to catching cutthroat trout after cutthroat trout. I think we found the secret cache of fish in Rocky Mountain… (side note, the fishing at Lost Lake was very disappointing, like they know there’s fisherman and actively avoid biting things… Lake Louise’s fish haven’t gotten the memo)

The area beyond Lost Lake can provide a hefty amount of hiking opportunities if time is ample and the legs so desire. A rock scramble up the shelf to the south will bring you to Lake Dunraven, and the unofficially named Whiskey and Scotch Lakes beyond. Off-trail travel beyond will take you to Rowe Glacier. Of course, there are also the mountains to be climbed as well. Always so much to explore and so little time!

I looked up from my book to notice the darkening skies, and called down to the lake that weather was turning south. Though it was sunny when I packed up my book and we headed back towards Lost Lake, within five minutes the skies darkened with rain-ladened clouds. Not wanting to get caught in a thunderstorm above treeline, we put our heads down and hustled down to the trees.

We lost the faint trail in the trees, but managed to bushwhack our way to the trail, and out. We made it back to the tent with minutes to spare before the skies unleashed. Said and done, this day hike was 3.58 miles with a gentle 673 feet of elevation gain. With relaxing, fishing, and reading, it was 3 hours and 45 minutes well spent!

Thinking this would be the typical afternoon rain of monsoon season, we reasoned that it would clear off before long… well, that was a cute thought, because the rain, storms, and hail continued for about five more hours as we hunkered down in the tent with books. The rain came down so hard at times that water and mud was splashing up under the rainfall into the tent! Disappointing to say the least to be trapped in the tent all the way past dinner, but that’s how things go in the alpine in the summer sometimes!

On the final morning we took things a bit slow with waking up, breakfast, and packing up (mostly trying to get the tent as dry as we could!). It was going to be a long day walking back to the car!

Oh man, 9.8 miles seems like a good idea until the trip out! The first few miles flew by, but eventually the hike out became arduous as my feet screamed (I really need better backpacking boots…) and the heat of the midday scorched my entire being. The trail was much busier, as fellow backpackers made their way out, and we encountered day hikers. Eventually it just stopped being fun…

It was a big lesson learned on distances while backpacking all around. Maybe if the trail had been flat things would’ve been not quite so bad, but this was a pretty big undertaking for backpacking I think. Still better than day hiking the entire thing, of course, but I think I learned to critically assess distance and elevation gain for future trips! At least I earned that Big Mac, large fry, ten piece nuggets, and large iced tea!

Alas, it was not a terrible weekend, despite the aching feet! This remote, little-traveled portion of Rocky Mountain National Park is a true gem!

Details:
Date Hiked: August 18-20, 2023
Trailhead: Dunraven
Wilderness Campsite: Lost Lake (#012), specifically “Lower Lost Lake #2”
Total Mileage: 23 miles total for the weekend (Garmin Forerunner 255s)
Elevation Gain: 4,195 feet total for the weekend
Time to reach camp: 5 hours 21 minutes
Time back to trailhead from camp: 3 hours 54 minutes
Cell Service: None at campsite (Verizon)
Special Considerations:

• Located within Rocky Mountain National Park.
  • Wilderness camping permits are required, and go on sale March 1st at 8am. As of 2023, the fee was $36 for the reservation, and reservations are non-refundable (but able to be cancelled).
  • Traveling to Lost Lake involves 4.5 miles of hiking through the Comanche Peak Wilderness and a smattering of private property before reaching Rocky Mountain National Park. Obey all US Forest Service regulations and signs.
  • Because this trip starts outside of the park, timed entry reservation is not needed (and is part of a wilderness permit anyway, for other areas that do start within park boundaries).
• For the campsite itself:
  • This is a LONG haul of nearly 10 miles and 3100 feet of elevation gain to reach the campsite and Lost Lake one way. Not for the casual tourist or backpackers inexperienced with packing in that far with weight. NPS estimates travel time of 8-10 hours for *most* people.
  • There are four wilderness campsites at Lost Lake, which are first come first serve (meaning you are not assigned a specific campsite when picking up your permit). The Lower Lost Lake campsites are closest to the lake, and are the fork to the right upon reaching the lake.
  • No fires are allowed and stoves must have an on/off switch
  • There is one privy, but it is 0.4 miles from the Lower Lost Lake campsites. Plan adequately. Also bring your own toilet paper for the privy!
  • Bear canisters are required at all wilderness campsites and must be kept closed and stored 70 adult steps away from your tent.
  • Treat/filter/boil all water for safe consumption. Water is readily available at the Lost Lake outlet stream, and of course, Lost Lake itself if needed.
  • The campsite is located at 10,700 feet in elevation.
• For hiking to Lake Husted and Lake Louise:
  • Hiking to these lakes involve cross country travel with no established trail. Spread out (do not walk single file) to help alleviate the impact on the fragile tundra, and rock hop if possible.
  • This area is above treeline and offers little shelter during storms, which can build rapidly during the summer months.

Learn all about Rocky Mountain National Park wilderness camping permits and campsites here!