When we moved to Colorado, one thing we were committed to was exploring Rocky Mountain National Park. Since we live about one hour away in the Boulder area and have a one-year-old, we tend to visit RMNP primarily as a day trip. Therefore, my guide of RMNP will tend to feature trails that are relatively short, easy to moderate difficulty, and family friendly. On July 5th (yes, the Friday of a holiday weekend) we explored the Sprague Lake area.
We had initially intended to hike the Emerald Lake trail, but the Park & Ride area was completely full by our 11:00 AM entry time. So we drove up Bear Lake Rd to Sprague Lake and parked at the picnic area. From there we started the Sprague Lake loop, which is a 0.8 mile gravel path around the lake that would probably accommodate a stroller. There are some beautiful views of the lake with mountains in the background.
About halfway around the lake is where you find a connection to Glacier Creek Trail. A park ranger mentioned that the Bear Lake Park & Ride area usually started to clear out after lunch, so we decided to hike this ~2 mile out and back trail in the meantime. I immediately noticed that this trail was mostly sand. I found out later that this is because the horseback riding tours use this trail. We saw several horseback riding groups come through, and we also had to dodge several piles of horse droppings throughout the hike. Okay, that was maybe a bit dramatic – the trail was fairly wide, and all horse droppings were easily avoidable. The trail winds around Emerald Mountain, and we continued until the point Glacier Creek trail turns into Wind River trail. We could see (or at least thought we could see) where the trail ended at the East Portal trailhead off of Tunnel Rd at the edge of the YMCA property. However, from the point we stopped we could see the trail descended rapidly, and we really didn’t want to make the return ascent – especially since getting up to Bear Lake was still on the agenda. As hiked, I would rate this trail on the easy side. The elevation gain was barely noticeable. And I say that as someone who hiked this trail with a 30 lbs toddler strapped on his back. The Glacier Creek trail, as hiked, was about 1.6 miles each way, so 3.2 miles for the out and back. Combined with the 0.8 mile loop around Sprague Lake, this was a 4 mile out and back hike.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with this hike – especially since this hike was not my initial plan. However, I would say this is a very underrated hike and a great alternative to the much busier Bear Lake.