hike to ouzel and bluebird lakes

Left the trailhead at around 8am and made it back by about 4:30pm, though I did end up skipping the Ouzel Lake part. More people and bugs on the way back, but nothing too crazy. Another stunning perspective of the lake and the mountains around it. Single trip, annual and family options are available. Descent was kind of miserable given the 70 sun was quickly turning everything to slush. Bluebird Lake - Hike to Bluebird Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park A cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface. Right before you get to Ouzel Lake there is a beaver dam or a fallen tree that has created a really nice swimming hole, and I highly recommend it if its a hot day and youre wanting to take a quick dip. Some snow patches in the last half mile, but manageable with hiking shoes and poles. For more information, please see, Lion and Snowbank Lakes via Lion Lake, Thunder Lake, and Wild Basin Trail, Calypso Cascades and Ouzel Falls via Allenspark Trail, Calypso Cascades via Wild Basin and Allenspark Trail, Copeland Falls via Copeland Lake and Hidden Falls Trail, Finch Lake and Pear Lake via Allenspark, Finch, and Pear Lake Trail, Boulder-Grand Pass and Lake of Many Winds via Thunder Lake Trail, Eagle and Box Lakes via Wild Basin and Thunder Lake Trail, Cony and Hutcheson Lakes via Finch, Pear, and Hutcheson Lakes Trail, Saint Vrain Mountain via Rock Creek Trail. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Trail Description: The hike to Calypso Cascades begins from the fairly remote Wild Basin Trailhead in the southeastern corner of Rocky Mountain National Park, located near the small communities of Meeker Park and Allenspark. Poles and spikes may help for stability, but I was fine without. Fun trail but long and quite a steep incline for the last mile. Once you see the sign, slow down, the turn is abrupt. We hit the trail at 7:00am on a Wednesday morning. @ document.write(new Date().getFullYear()); RockyMountainHikingTrails.com. YSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages. Ouzel Falls, along the way, is a popular hiking destination, but above the waterfall, you could have the trail all to yourself. 4.5-miles into our journey we arrived at the intersection for the Ouzel Lake spur. devices. Since Calypso Cascade and Ouzel Falls are high-demand destinations, chances are you will be employing some people dodging skills in order to get through that section. To reach the trailhead from Estes Park, drive 12.6 miles south on Colorado Highway 7 to the Wild Basin Road junction and turn right. About 0.4 miles beyond the falls, youll run into the obvious Ouzel Lake Trail junction, take a left to begin the journey to Bluebird. It has a privy (toilet) which is really nice in the backcountry. Generally considered a challenging route, it takes an average of 6 h 44 min to complete. Fairly hard packed snow past Ouzel Lake above 10,300' but it's softening. North Saint Vrain Creek is raging white water, and its roar will accompany you for the first several miles of the hike. Getting to the lake was worth the trip. Such a nice variety of terrain - waterfalls, rushing creek, views of Ouzel lake, views of the backside of Longs and Meeker. The entire basin is chock-full of lakes and peaks to explore, and Bluebird makes for a wonderful outing. ALLTRAILS and the AllTrails Mountain Design are registered trademarks of AllTrails, LLC in the United States as well as certain other jurisdictions. I hugged the northern cliff band heading west pretty much until treeline. More than a beautiful lake, Bluebird also provides the easiest access to Mahana Peak, Isolation peak, Ouzel Peak, and Cony Pass. After you have hiked to the lake, or climbed the mountain, you get your very own tag to add to your favorite pack, jacket, Christmas stocking or wall collection. otherwise, the hike was absolutely beautiful. The path then crosses over to the north side of the ridge where the creek once again revealed itself as it cascadeddown the small ravine. Sitting at an elevation of roughly 10,020 feet, Ouzel Lake has a reputation as being one of the top fly-fishing destinations in Rocky Mountain National Park, most notably for its native greenback cutthroat trout (catch and release only). The fire was finally brought under control by September 30th, but wasn't fully extinguished until December 4th! It also gets more wild -- loose rocks, boulders, some bushes, more incline. Trail Length: 15.38 miles (roundtrip) Trailhead Elevation: . That includes plenty of stopping and eating/taking photos along the way. Overview Photos (4) Videos (0) Reports (0) Comments (0) Ride Logs Leaderboard Stats 3D Tour Add / Edit 2,483 ft Distance 100 ft Climb -28 ft Descent 00:20:24 Avg time 10000ft 9950ft 9900ft 0ft 700ft 1400ft 2100ft Ouzel Lake Trail Details Activities Hike Trail Running Riding Area Rocky Mountain National Park Trail in good condition until snow at about 1.5 miles until bluebird. This route climbs 2,851 ft with a max elevation of 10,981 ft then descends -2,851 ft. Ouzel Falls, Ouzel Creek and Ouzel Lake are all named after the water ouzel. Discover this 35.0-mile loop trail near Ldenscheid, North Rhine-Westphalia. I must credit my sister with lighting my hiking bug. Getting off trail a little and/or taking in some different views is worth it. Beautiful lake, not many people past ouzel falls. Although you can see it from the new footbridge that now spans across Ouzel Creek, you can get a much better view by traveling off trail for a short distance. While Dave removed his shoes and tiptoed in the water for the perfect shot, I consulted the map to find a possible shortcut back to Bluebird Lake Trail. Gorgeous. What a hike! Ouzel Creek is flowing hard beneath the snow between the campsite and Bluebird Lake so use care as the snow thins out. With Local Field Rescue automatically included in any travel protection services membership Global Rescue is therewhether youre hiking, kayaking, snowmobiling, fishing or simply enjoying the outdoors and get ill or injured and youre unable to get to safety on your own. Your IP: The action you just performed triggered the security solution. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Varied and promising hiking and cycling tour in the Bergisches Land nature park, North Rhine-Westphalia. Alice, with Tanima Peak to its left, and the massive shoulder of Chiefs Head peak on the right. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. As we approached the overlook to Ouzel Lake we ran across a group of hikers who told us to keep an eye on the left-hand side of the trail as there was a bull moose bedded down in the tall grass. Discover this 9.9-mile out-and-back trail near Allenspark, Colorado. Trees dot the northern side of the lake, providing the occasional hammock possibility. The highlight on this trail is the picturesque Bluebird Lake w/ the clear green/turquoise and deep water, shrubs/pines, and stone/mountain backdrop. Otherwise it was lovely. Generally considered an easy route, it takes an average of 16 h 38 min to complete. Elon Musk reveals new X logo to replace Twitter's blue bird ProTrails | Bluebird Lake, Wild Basin Trailhead, Rocky Mountain Bluebird Lake is the largest alpine lake in the Wild Basin Area. As of 6/25: the last mile to Bluebird Lake is pretty much nonstop snow fields. The price of a new car that . I saw 3 others, who finished the hike and said the lake was beautiful. After walking a little more than a quarter-of-a-mile past Ouzel Falls you'll arrive at the Thunder Lake Trail / Bluebird Lake Trail junction. The trail remains straightforward, but with no shortage of rocks, some of them loose. The Wall Street Journal broke the news, but Spotify has now confirmed it. Guide to Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge. Length: 4.9 mi Est. Layers of rocks guard the southern edge of Bluebird Lake. After Ouzel Lake, however, the difficulty increases dramatically with rockier sections thrown in for good measure. Poles, spikes or waterproof shoes arent necessary. The pine forest is beautiful and cool even in warm weather, and the water at the lake is clear and shallow. The Wild Basin area (8,510) is the starting point for many trails in the area so this trailhead gets a lot of traffic. On July 4th the parking lot was pretty busy by 7am. Plenty of space in the parking lot - which was full when we returned shortly after noon. 1. After the lake was perfect. From here the trail ascends to a small outcropping revealing gorgeous views back down the valley. Once you make it back to the trail junction, you can take a left and then a right to join the Campsites cutoff trail, or take a right and pass the waterfalls again. Bluebird Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park - Day Hikes Near Denver Usually a handful of groups go past Ouzel Falls. Not having brought our micro-spikes we found anadjacent trail that climbed moreaggressively over the rocky ridge to the right. There are also large, flat rocks along the shoreline that are great to set a picnic blanket on. The hike to Ouzel Lake begins from the fairly remote Wild Basin Trailhead in the southeastern corner of Rocky Mountain National Park, located near the small communities of Meeker Park and Allenspark. Your first long-distance views appear here, offering glimpses to Mt. The shade was appreciated. Overview: Bluebird Lake is another gorgeous destination in Wild Basin. Trail Running Ouzel Falls and Bluebird Lake Ouzel Falls and Bluebird Lake Up and up through some of the park's wildest backcountry, passing waterfalls and lakes, and leaving the crowds far behind. All the trails here are long enough to make for great backpacking trips or long day hikes. However, a little exploring will yield additional views and places to set up for a few hours of peaceful mountain contemplation. Trail gets lost with the snow so go ahead and pay for the offline maps because you will have no service and it could be helpful if you're not a good navigator. Its a pretty steady incline the whole way but not difficult. However, five weeks later, on September 15th, Chinook winds exceeding 30 MPH whipped the fire out of control and threatened the small town of Allenspark. We have visited this area before and knew that it can be difficult to find a parking spot. Add an additional 1/2 mile spur trail to reach great trout fishing at Ouzel Lake. The trail begins in the valley bottom of Wild Basin and works its way up, passing three named waterfalls (see Copeland Falls, Calypso Cascades, and Ouzel Falls for descriptions ). The hike to Ouzel Falls begins from the fairly remote Wild Basin Trailhead in the southeastern corner of Rocky Mountain National Park, located near the small communities of Meeker Park and Allenspark. Those continuing on will have a good view across the Ouzel Lake basin and the fire's selective path. Although you can see it from the new footbridge that now spans across Ouzel Creek, you can get a much better view by traveling off trail for a short distance. However, during the spring run-off, the falls are usually roaring, as seen in the comparative photos on our Calypso Cascades hike page. In the early morning, this section is pleasant with exciting looks at more dramatic terrain. There was a lot of water flowing in the creek and falls due to recent rain. On a positive note, there are plenty of options, and the National Park is within driving distance of Fort Collins, Boulder, and Denver. If the area grabs your interest, check out our trail reviews of Thunder Lake and the Wild Basin Waterfalls, Mt. Ouzel Falls in Rocky Mountain National Park is a scenic, relatively easy hike to multiple waterfalls! There are three sections of these falls all equipped with bridges crossing over them. If you take this trail in July, youll have a bountiful array of wildflowers to look at, especially right below the bench holding Bluebird Lake. The trail then finally enters a forest unaffected by the 1970s fire. A couple of broad switchbacks gain a rounded ridge, where much of the forest is charred by a past wildfire. From the north, there will be a large Wild Basin sign on your right after you pass the Meeker Park Overflow Campground. It occupies a large, rocky bowl above treeline just east of the Continental Divide. Alice from the trail to Bluebird Lake. The trail takes off from the lower loop portion. We were able to park in the winter trailhead parking which added about a mile. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors. For the snow fields in the last 1/4 mile before the lake, as others have said its doable without spikes but it wouldnt hurt to have spikes and poles along if you prefer, and having the trail map downloaded was helpful too, does require a little scrambling. This hike takes off from the main Wild Basin trailhead. 3 stars for Ouzel, 5 stars for Bluebird. To reach the trailhead from Estes Park, drive 12.6 miles south on Colorado Highway 7 to the Wild Basin Road junction and turn right. Bluebird Lake Trail in the Wild Basin of Rocky Mountain National Park From Wild Basin trailhead, the trail begins as a gradual incline, nicely shaded by pines and aspen, beside a tumbling creek. eBird Checklist - 21 Jul 2023 - Woods Lake to Winnemucca Lake Trail
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