Have You Hiked the Lake Haiyaha Trail Yet?  Everything You Need to Know!

Everyone has heard of Emerald Lake and Dream Lake in the Rockies.  But have you hiked the Lake Haiyaha Trail yet?  Here’s why you need to hit this trail next time you are in Rocky Mountain National Park.

First off, the lake is an incredible, stunning blue color.  Secondly, the surrounding mountains will make you feel so small while you enjoy their rocky beauty.  And the best part, this is a pretty easy hike considering you are in Rocky Mountain National Park.  

With only ~850 feet of elevation gain and just about 4.4 miles round trip, this is probably one of the best bang for your buck trails in the Rockies.  

Sure, Bear Lake Corridor in Rocky Mountain National Park has some incredible hiking!  Sky pond, The Loch, Emerald Lake, and Flattop Mountain Trail to name a few. 

But this hard to pronounce lake trail is worth every step!  So let’s get into the details of why you should hike this trail.

Important Links (Map, State Park Website, Link to Camping Article)

National Parks Service Details

AllTrails Map of Trail

Rocky Mountain National Park website

Timed Entry Reservation Details

Recreation.gov – Timed Entry Permits Here

Hiking Checklist Freebie!

Location

The Lake Haiyaha Trail is located in Rocky Mountain National Park, which is approximately an hour and a half from Denver, Colorado.   

This national park is so close to a major airport that it makes Rocky Mountain National Park an easily reachable location any day of the week.  We flew into Denver on a Thursday evening and then had all of Friday, Saturday and most of Sunday in the park.  

But more specifically, the Lake Haiyaha Trail is at the very end of Bear Lake Road inside the park.  

Unfortunately, because of the mass amount of people who want to (and used to) swarm Bear Lake Road on a daily basis, this area now requires a Timed Entry Reservation between the end of May and the end of October.

A timed entry reservation?  What the heck is that!?  Let’s discuss.

Timed Entry Reservations

In a nutshell, Bear Lake Road requires a reservation for a specific time to be purchased in advance at recreation.gov.  These reservations are required to enter the Bear Lake Corridor between 5am and 6pm from May to October.  

Yes, there are rangers working a booth who will check your timed entry reservation and your ID to confirm that it’s you.  

As of Oct. 2023, there are two different (and slightly overlapping) reservation types.  I am going to do my best to explain the two types of reservations.

Reservation Type #1 – Park Access

This first reservation is called Park Access.  This is a reservation that is required for access into the park, including Trail Ridge Road.  Yes, this does mean everywhere inside the park EXCEPT Bear Lake Corridor.  

Park Access Reservations are required between 9am and 2pm Mountain Time.  This is to help with the busiest part of the day and to control the amount of people in the park in the hopes that there will be enough parking for everyone and there won’t be overcrowding.  

The cost of Park Access is $2 per ticket, which is just to pay the extra rangers working this area.

Reservation Type #2 – Park Access+

Yes, the only difference in this name is the plus sign at the end of the name…but I digress.

Park Access+ is everything that the Park Access is, except this one also includes access to Bear Lake Road.  

THIS IS THE RESERVATION TYPE YOU NEED TO HIKE THE LAKE HAIYAHA TRAIL!

Park Access+ is required to enter the Bear Lake Corridor between 5am (yes, that early) through 6pm Mountain Time.  

The cost of Park Access+ is also $2 per ticket.  

You DO NOT need to purchase both of these reservation types.  Park Access+ is access to everything including Bear Lake Road.  This type of reservation sells out the quickest, leaving people to resort to just the Park Access, which is better than nothing.   

If I were you try to get your reservation as early as possible in the day to try and beat some of the crowds.  

When To Buy

The reservations are released on the first day of May, June, July, August, and September for the month that follows.

For example:

• Reservations are released on May 1st for the end of May (when reservations begin) and all of June.
• Reservations are released on June 1st for any remaining time slots in June and all of July.
• Reservations are released on July 1st for any remaining time slots in July and all of August.
• Reservations are released on August 1st for any remaining time slots in August and all of September.
• And finally, reservations are released on September 1st for any remaining time slots in September and all of October.

But what if you want to be spontaneous!?

According to the National Parks website, 40% of all reservations will be released the day before at 5pm Mountain Time.  

In other words, if I am randomly in the area and want to do a hike, or look for wildlife, I can still try for a reservation for the next day at exactly 5pm the day before I plan to enter the park.  Be aware, these sell out extremely quickly so be sure to be logged into (yes, you will have to create an account) Recreation.gov and be ready to go a little before 5pm.

What if I don’t get a reservation!?

You might be asking, but what if I don’t get a reservation.  Do I have to just forget about this amazing hike?  

There is a way around the reservation and I’ll be honest, this is what we did for our most recent trip.  We were not able to get reservations so we decided to go around the reservations.

What do I mean by “go around”?

Well, a Park Access Reservation is required from 9am – 2pm.  

And a Park Access+ Reservation is required from 5am – 6pm.

Do you see where I’m going with this?  Simply go around the reservation. 

Arrive before 5am if you plan to enter Bear Lake Road, or arrive before 9am if you plan to do any other part of the park.  

No, this is not ideal.  We did not enjoy getting up at 3am on the weekend we were there, but it was so worth it.  We got to see the sunrise both days and we were able to complete hikes before the masses of people arrived in the late morning.  

You can hike the Lake Haiyaha Trail without a reservation in the Bear Lake Area by arriving before 5am.  Yes, it’s an early morning and can make for a long day, but there is a way. 

But going around the reservation times does not mean you have free access to Rocky Mountain National Park.  Let me explain!

National Parks Pass

A National Parks Pass is required for all National Parks, except for on free days.  We personally buy the America the Beautiful Parks Pass every year.  This costs $80 and allows us unlimited access to all of the National Parks (totally worth it!).  

They can be purchased at REI, LL Bean, or at the entrance of nearly any National Park.  

But if this is your only national park you will be visiting, you can choose to purchase one of the passes below.  

This is a screenshot straight from the Rocky Mountain National Parks Site.  This is the page you will see if you choose to buy the parks pass ahead of time which you can do Here.

Now, should you choose to go around the reservations like we did, there is a QR code right at the park entrance (even when it’s closed) so you can pay the required fee.  Remember, these fees keep the National Park open, funded, and beautiful!

Ok so that was a lot of information, but it’s all required to get to the trailhead before hiking to this beautiful lake.  

But now that you have your time entry reservation and have entered, or maybe you went around the reservation, you need to know where to park!

Parking to Hike Lake Haiyaha Trail

Once you’ve gotten past the check-in station, whatever time that is, you will drive literally to the end of Bear Lake Road and park in the parking lot nearest Bear lake.  This road winds all around this area.  

Yes, there are switchbacks galore, so please drive carefully.  We saw many elk along the side of the road here and that would definitely ruin your day, and the elks!

Another option for finding this parking lot is to enter “Bear Lake Trailhead” into your Google Maps App and it will take you there as well.  

But if you don’t get to that parking lot before 8-9am, it often fills up.  Especially on the weekends!

So the parking lot is full, now what!?

Rocky Mountain National Park Shuttle 

There are several shuttles that can be taken on this side of the park.  Unfortunately, this is just another step to add to your planning, but you can find all the details about these shuttles here.

The gist of the Bear Lake Shuttle is if the Bear Lake Parking lot is full, there are a couple other places you can park and the shuttle bus will come and pick you up and drop you off in their area.  

The largest of these parking lots is the Park and Ride.  

So if you find yourself driving to the end of Bear Lake Road and seeing that dreaded “PARKING LOT FULL” sign, you can turn around and head back down the mountain to the park and ride parking lot.  

From there, take the Bear Lake Shuttle (not the other 2 options) and stay on until it drops you off right at the Bear Lake Trailhead.  

Head toward the Ranger Station that is right where the bus dropped you off, or walk up to the end of the parking lot if you were lucky enough to get a spot.  The trail begins RIGHT behind the ranger station.  

Time to Spend here 

Once you have found the trail, you might be wondering just how long this hike is going to take.  

Well if we look at the stats, with 4.4 miles and around 850 feet of elevation gain, this hike isn’t terribly long or terribly steep. 

If you figure the average hiker hikes 1.5 miles in an hour, you’re looking at just shy of 3 hours to complete the entire thing.  

But once you have a game plan for this hike, you can guess it will be between 2-4 hours to hike to Lake Haiyaha and back to your car or shuttle pick up.  

So why aren’t I just telling you how long it took us to do this hike?  

Well for one thing, we got up to see the sunrise and hiked to Emerald Lake completely in the dark.  (The stars were amazing!) Then we hiked down past Dream Lake and then up to Lake Haiyaha.  But don’t take my word for it, here is how long it took us to hike the Lake Haiyaha Trail!

Our Itinerary

• 4:30am – began hiking from the trailhead 
• 5:30am – reached Emerald Lake to watch the sunrise
• 7-7:30am – watched the sunrise
• 7:40am – hiked back down from Emerald Lake to Dream lake where the trail splits
• 9:00am – reached Lake Haiyaha and ate breakfast here
• 11:00am – began our descent back to the car
• 12:20pm – arrived back at our car

So yes, we were by the lake and on the trails for 8 hours total.  But a good chunk of that time was spent waiting for the sun to rise.

And then we spent 2 hours at Lake Haiyaha because we were taking self portraits in this beautiful place.  Plus we were waiting for the sun to hit the water and turn it that stunning blue color!

In other words, if we had just hiked the Lake Haiyaha trail and turned around, it probably would have taken us about 3 hours, but we like to enjoy the view.  And…um…I take a lot of pictures on our hikes, so that slows us down quite a lot.  

But enough about how much I slowed down our hike taking photos, let’s discuss hiking the Lake Haiyaha Trail.

First Consider This

Before you begin, you will want to consider the following things in order to have a successful hike.

• Are you Acclimated?  If not, you will be needed to take more breaks as you hike and frequent water breaks.  Or even choosing another day might be more ideal if you are coming from sea level.
• What time did you begin your hike?  If you began in the dark or at first light, you won’t have to worry about crowds.  But if you began your hike around 9am, then your time will most likely be slower because of the amount of people who hike here or use this trail as a connector.  
• Are you an above average hiker or below average hiker?  Some of you will finish this hike much faster than others, but if you are a beginner hiker, this trail will probably take you a bit longer.  So just because I am guesstimating around 3 hours, be prepared for less if you are a faster hiker or more time if you are a slower hiker.  
• How much time will you sit and enjoy the views?  If you are like me and constantly taking photos and enjoying the view at the top, you will also take a longer time on this trail!  We sat and enjoyed some food with a view when we reached the lake so it took us a while longer to complete the trail.  

Ok, ok, let’s get to the hike already!

Hiking the Lake Haiyaha Trail

So you’ve reached the ranger station at the Bear Lake Trailhead and you’re ready to hike!

You’ll see this sign detailing which lakes are in the area.  You are looking to head towards Lake Haiyaha, obviously.  So head to the left, away from Bear Lake.

This trail is extremely well marked and nearly impossible to get lost on.  The National Parks Service does an excellent job of maintaining and marking these popular trails so people don’t get lost.

Anyway, you will encounter a second split in the path and this time you will stay to the right.  If you don’t go right, you’ll be encountering a MUCH harder hike.  

For about a half mile, you won’t encounter any other splits and you will just stay on the well marked path.  

You have now reached your 3rd split in the trail, and you will be approaching Nymph Lake.  You can honestly go either way.  As you can see from the map, both trails loop around Nymph Lake and reconverge into a single trail.  So left or right doesn’t matter here.

Nymph Lake

This little lake (more pond sized) is often covered in lily pads.  It’s the first of 3 lakes you will see on this hike and adorably peaceful.

Once you’ve had your fill of this cute little lake, you will hike around it.  Again, left or right doesn’t really matter, but we went to the right.  This way leads right along the banks of Nymph Lake, just be careful, there is a restoration area that you’ll want to avoid!

The trail continues up toward the second lake you encounter on this trail.  There are stairs and the views begin to change as you approach the mountains.

Isn’t it funny how you can be hiking and hiking, feeling like you’re making progress, but the mountains are still so far away!?  That’s how big the mountains are in the Rockies.  It’s all very humbling as you are truly hiking on the spine of the continent.  

Dream Lake

Lake  number 2 is known as Dream Lake and truly, it is a dream!  Beautiful clear water greets you at the edge of this lake and here is where you find the 4th split in the trail.  

To the right will lead you on to Emerald Lake.  

To the left will lead you onto Lake Haiyaha.  

I have done both trails and you can too!  You can start by going one way and then on your way back through, go the other way and hike up to the opposite lake.  But considering we are discussing the Lake Haiyaha Trail, you’ll be wanting to stay to the left.  

Either way you go, this is where the majority of the elevation comes in.  So take a drink, and let’s press on!

Lake Haiyaha Trail

Once you encounter this 4th split and head to the left, you have taken your first steps on the Lake Haiyaha Trail.  

At this point, you begin the majority of your ascent.  The trail narrows and leads you through a dense area of trees.  Up and up you climb before reaching a switch back and continuing up.  

WARNING: if you are not entirely acclimated, you will feel short of breath.  Like you just can’t quite fill your lungs with air all the way.  If this happens to you, take a break!  This is the steepest part of the trail and it’s ok to stop.  The lake has been there for quite some time, it’s not going anywhere.  So stop, breathe, sip some water, and then let’s go.  

After the switchback and a few more dozen feet of incline, you will come to one of the best views of the trail.

A ridge is here to greet you and offer you stunning views of the valley below.  We hiked this in the fall and the spreckles of Aspen trees mixed in with the evergreens created such a beautiful view.  You can see Bear Lake Road, several lakes that you passed on the road and even Nymph Lake.  

Many people stopped here to catch their breath, but we pressed on, excited to reach Lake Haiyaha.  

Pressing on, you’ll cross a couple bridges, pass under many Aspen trees (yellow if it’s the fall) until you reach your 5th and final split.

You’ll want to stay to the right this time and from here, it’s only about 0.2 more miles until you reach the edge of the lake.  

Lake Haiyaha

This lake is surrounded by large boulders and will present you quite the obstructed view.  To the point where I wasn’t particularly impressed.

But then I began to boulder hop around the lake until I reached the view I wanted.  The best view, in my opinion, takes some extra work.  

But I will say 2 things.  One, the extra clambering is absolutely worth it.  And two, we had this entire side of the lake to ourselves.  

So don’t just walk to the end of the trail and be disappointed, keep trekking around the lake until you can see more of the mountains.  

Lake Haiyaha is at its best when the sun has risen high enough to light up the alpine blue color.  It’s also a great place for self-portraits if you have a tripod.  

We spent quite a bit of time here getting photos of the water, of ourselves and of me in the red dress.  (Gotta love those dramatic photos!)  But after a while, the wind had chilled us to our bones and we retraced our steps back to the parking lot.

Back Down We Go

As we hiked down, it was nearing noon and we passed many people on the trail.  Especially once we got past Nymph Lake, as many many people were hiking up to Emerald Lake.  

As we approached Bear Lake, the area was crawling with people and we were happy to be getting out of there when we did.  Dozens of people had just arrived and were ready to begin the hike we had just concluded.  

My largest piece of advice for this hike is to arrive as early as possible.  Not only to avoid people, but to be able to get a parking spot and to enjoy having the lake nearly all to yourself!

We loved hiking the Lake Haiyaha Trail and would do it again in a heartbeat as well as recommend it to anyone.  

Other things to do in the Bear Lake Corridor

If you are looking for other things to do in the Bear Lake area, here are a few of my suggestions.

• Look for wildlife.  Elk, Moose, Coyotes, and other creatures all wander this area and if you are patient enough, you might just get lucky enough to see them up close!
• Watch the Sunrise at Sprague Lake.  Face the mountains here to see that famous Alpen Glow that only happens in the mountains.
• Hike one of the other incredible trails in the area.  Sky Pond is still on my list of trails to hike, as is Bierstadt Lake, and hopefully Flattop Mountain someday.  You can see the long list of other trails here if you need some other recommendations!

Conclusion

The Lake Haiyaha Trail is not only a beautiful trail that leads you past 2 other lakes and offers stunning panoramic views of the valley below.  It is also a relatively easy trail that takes you to the magnificent Lake Haiyaha.  After a little rock scrambling, this lake can prove to be just as beautiful as the best alpine lakes in the area.  

Most opt for the famous Emerald Lake, but this underrated lake is worth all 4.4 miles and 850 feet of elevation gain!  

Just remember to research all reservations requirements before entering so you don’t end up having to make the U-Turn of shame without a proper timed entry reservation.  

As I wrap up this post, I hope you don’t have any other questions about this incredible trail, but if you find yourself with a question, feel free to email me at averagewildexperience@gmail.com.

Happy Hiking!