FERN LAKE TRAILHEAD

There are two ways to get to Fern Lake. You can take the out and back hike from the Fern Lake Trailhead, or do the one way hike from the Bear Lake Trailhead. I prefer the one way hike from Bear Lake, but the hike from this trailhead to Fern and Spruce Lakes is still a very nice hike.

My first time on this trail was a solo hike in October '87. I had to wait a few minutes to get started, there was a rather large elk blocking the trail.

Once the roadblock got out of the way it was a beautiful hike,
the fall colors were spectacular.

The trail follows the Big Thompson river and is relatively flat for a little over a mile and a half. Along the way you pass through Arch Rocks, massive boulders that have tumbled down from the cliffs above.

Shortly after leaving the rocks you cross the Big Thompson on a log bridge at the Pool. This is where the river has scoured out a "pool" in the rock.

A mile of fairly easy uphill hiking takes you to beautiful Fern Falls.

Another mile of fairly easy hiking gets you to Fern Lake. Fern is about four miles from the trailhead and is a very nice destination for a day hike. When we did this hike in '02 Jim came along and tried is luck fishing and did quite well.

I don't have any pictures of the trout Jim caught, because Alli, Heidi and I decided to scramble another mile up the trail to Spruce Lake. Jim should have come with us. Some type of insect was hatching when we got there and the trout were literally jumping all over the lake to catch them.
I've never seen anything like it.

The Fern Lake Trailhead is reached by taking a right turn
off Bear Lake Road accross from the museum