Dream Lake

Incredible views pictures can't do it justice! Moderate hike, mostly uphill. Family friendly. Need a National Park Pass and a timed entry. Leave no trace. Keep Colorado Beautiful 💚

1.1 mile easy hike with 100m elevation from the Bear lake parking lot. Best place to see sunrise, and the mountains lit up orange during sunrise. There was Nymph lake with flowers on its surface too, this was around half way to Dream lake.

Must visit the lake in Bear Lake area. The trail is a bit challenging and probably needs an hour more after you reach Nymph Lake. Mostly it's incline and has lots of stairs you need to be prepared. We took a couple of times resting and almost gave up but we made it! And it was such an incredible experience. The view also made it worthy.

The hike up here has quite the incline and a lot of stairs. We‘re not very fit and don‘t have a lot of hiking experience but still made it up easily and took a couple of little photo breaks to rest. Once you‘re all the way there the view is absolutely stunning and rewarding. Great if you‘re not usually a hiker but wanna do hiking and feel accomplished while visiting the Park!

You need timed park reservations to get here. Make them 30 days in advance. Remember that you are starting this hike at 9,475 feet above sea level. Know your limitations. It is a mile out and a mile back with steep hill going up and an elevation gain of 585 feet. Not as pretty as Bear Lake so you may want to skip it and go to Alberta Falls instead. Bring water and take rests.

About a 1 mile hike from the parking lot. I would say this is a moderate trail but only because of the elevation. It's not incredibly steep or challenging but wow do you lose your breath. Tons of chipmunks hanging around that were adorable and the view was amazing

We hiked into numerous Alpine Lakes while visiting the Rockies, including making the trek to Sky Pond but Dream Lake was definitely my favorite! The hike was easy, we wished we had spikes but it was doable as long as we were careful. We wore Alpine climbing boots, I wouldn't recommend wearing tennis shoes. The trail is not going to get any less icy anytime soon. Super gorgeous!

Beautiful place. There's a little walk to get there which is not hard. You are high in elevation so take rests and lots of water. It's very peaceful when you get there you can't hear anything except people hiking.

Second lake in the trail to emerald lake. This lake requires almost one hour to get there. This is a long lake. It has a lot of water. Many fish in this area. You can trout in the water. Many people brought their pole to fish here. The lake with long view to the mountains. Great time for photo. The mountain has a great view from the lake. Bird can be found in this area.

Beautiful lake! This is the second lake in the nymph, dream & emerald lake hike (~3.5miles RT) and my favorite. I've seen it in different seasons and it's always breathtaking. It's a popular trail so be ready for crowds! It's usually less crowded in the snowy months.

Awesome spot! my wife and I hiked to it on Christmas and while it was windy the views were incredible! Fairly easy hike and a great reward!

It's all in the name; Dream Lake is so incredibly dreamy. Emerald Lake seems to get all of the praise, but I feel that Dream Lake is 10 times more beautiful. If you're making the trip out to Rocky Mountain National Park, it would behoove you to make the short journey to Dream Lake. In fact, if your plans already include a hike up to Emerald Lake, you'll pass by Dream Lake on the way there. Dream Lake is a short 2 mile out and back hike from the Bear Lake Road parking lot. It can be combined with many other lake hikes (Emerald Lake, Bear Lake, Lake Haiyaha, etc), or you can just make it a short trip there. The actual hike to Dream Lake isn't too intense. It's a gradual incline until you make it there. You'll actually pass Nymph Lake on the way there, and it's only about a half mile away from Emerald Lake which is a bit further down. What's so wonderful about this lake are obviously the immaculate views. I came here during mid fall last year, and the snow was just starting to really show on the mountain tops. Some parts of the lake were iced over and it was so pretty to see. This mixed with the tall trees and the Rocky Mountain backdrop made for a breathtaking viewpoint. I should add that it was extremely cold and windy in mid October. Definitely dress in many layers. I never once removed my layers, even as I started to warm up from the hiking. I was freezing and can only imagine how cold it would be to attempt this hike during the winter. It would end up being more like snowshoeing, but I'm sure it would also be gorgeous. I'd say this is a very family and kid friendly hike if you're in some kind of shape. Don't miss the opportunity to visit some of the other lakes too if you have time since you'l already be close.

This lake is one of the stops on the Emerald Lake Trail. There are several really good view points of the lake. There's one right when you cross over the bridge. I think my favorite view is the other direction though. Walk along the lake toward Emerald Lake and then look back. I love the trees along the lake here. We had a unique view in the September snow. I'm pretty sure there are mountains you can see behind the lake, but they were covered by fog. This trail is very popular so expect the lake to be crowded. Most people don't wear masks.

one of the popular hikes. It starts at bear lake then nymph lake then dream lake then emerald lake. Each hike is a bit under a mile slightly up hill the whole way. Place to side .. either rocks or benches. Bear lake is the only super easy with no elevation change. from nymph to dream the hike is gorgeous .. if you can do it .. Do it. bring plenty of water and a snack. Dream is a alpin lake. I was having huge issue with elevation sickness ... did mt evans right after landing in Colorado. So any walking was hard ... the elevation was even harder it wouldn't have been hard normally. This is classified as an easy hike. wish I'd been able to continue to Emerald. We did it too late in the day so the lighting wasn't great for pics. By the way ... the sign for dream lake is misleading ... still a good bit of walking till you see it.