Family Friendly Hikes At Rocky Mountain National Park

We have hiked about a dozen family friendly hikes at Rocky Mountain National Park. We LOVE Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP)!! It’s one of our favorite places to go in Colorado.

This most recent time we went, it was during the Elk Rut Season. It has been our favorite time to go and visit the park.

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Family Friendly Hikes At Rocky Mountain National Park

In no particular order here is a list of the hikes that we have been on.

Sprague Lake

We got there right at sunset. There were a few photographers there trying to get that perfect shot. By the time we got to the “perfect spot” on the lake, the sun had gone behind the mountain.

Copeland Falls

Copeland Falls is located outside of the traditional 2 park entrances, on the Estes Park side. You will need to drive South on highway 7 toward Allenspark. You will be looking for the Wild Basin entrance on the right.

There is a guards tower but no one was in it. So we drove on.

Once we got to the end of the road, there was a gravel parking lot and a bathroom. At the trailhead there were 2 park rangers sitting talking to people. The older gentleman asked where we were headed. We told him Copeland Falls. He said that the upper falls is his favorite. So we went there first.

When we were coming back we saw more rangers on mules carrying logs. They were headed to fix a bridge that was in disrepair. Yep, the mules went on the trail pulling their heavy logs. It was a neat thing to see.

Lily Lake

This location is considered RMNP. And it does require an entrance pass, but there wasn’t anyone there checking tickets. There wasn’t even a guards tower. To get to Lily lake, you will need to drive South on highway 7 toward Allenspark, just like Copeland Falls. Lily Lake is on the left, across from Twin Sisters TH.

Lily Lake was a nice surprise. It was very peaceful and beautiful.

There were several Park Rangers working on the trail. It appeared they were doing maintenance.

Alberta Falls

The last time we were here, the falls looked like a block of ice. This time it was raining.

While we were on the trail we saw a few Elk. They were laying down. There was a sign that said there was a mountain goat in the area that liked to follow people… we didn’t see that guy.

The trail to the falls was slippery and crowded, despite the rain.

Coyote Valley

This trail was fun. You start on a paved path toward a little bridge. The “creek” that runs through it is actually the Colorado River. We imagined that it would be much bigger with more water.

I saw a little opening in the forest so we went in…. It led to the river. We played down there for a while.

Eventually we made it back onto the gravel trail. We didn’t finish the trail. We turned around and headed back to the river.

Holzwarth Historic Site

We took video of this place. Completely forgot to take a picture. Holzwarth was super neat. The parking lot is huge, plenty of spots to park.

There is an old historic site that you can walk around near the parking lot. You can follow a path to a village. There are a few cabins that are closed up and just there for us to view. As we walked around it appeared that there were some cabins that seemed to be lived in.

We saw signs that stated this area was closed from 5pm-10am during Elk Rut Season.

Lake Irene

Lake Irene has a couple picnic tables and a bathroom. We stumbled upon this place once before. There are a few parking spots. Consider yourself lucky if you get one.

The hike around the lake is very pretty. You have several chances to make the trail shorter or longer if you choose. We chose the long way.

Alpine Ridge Trail

This “trail” is a stair climb to the top of the mountain, well that is what it felt like. This trail is located next to the bathrooms at the Alpine Center, at the top of RMNP. There are 222 steps to the top. While we were climbing up the steps we saw no other children. Some guy did run past us, rockstar! Everyone climbed up the stairs at a very slow pace. It took us a while but we made it to the top. Took our photo then went back down much faster than we went up.

Chapin Creek

We got lost on this trail. The original plan was to hike down to Chapin Creek. We somehow took a wrong turn on a game trail. When we looked back at Gaia to see how much further, we were very far off trail. So we decided to head back.

Chasm Falls

This is more of a walk down some steps than a hike. But nonetheless, it’s kid friendly and easy. There were several steps you had to descend down in order to get to the viewing platform. The climb back up could be a little difficult. A few people did pull over to let us pass them as they caught their breath.

Trails that we have hiked on previous trips

Alluvial Fan

I’m not sure this is considered a hike. It’s a paved sidewalk to the falls. (Which means that it’s stroller friendly!) But you can climb on the rocks and get close to the water. We played here for a while before rounding up all the kids. Which took just as long…

Bear Lake

The ever so popular Bear Lake Trail. It’s a very pretty and fun trail. We have hiked it most when there is snow on the ground and the lake is frozen.

Nymph Lake

We hiked to this lake once we left Bear Lake. This looked just like Bear Lake, snow on the ground and the lake was frozen. I’m sure it’s even prettier when the snow is melted.

**Related Post: Best Half Day Trip In Rocky Mountain National Park

Conclusion

We hope that this list of hiking trails has helped you plan your family trip to RMNP. These are a list of trails that we have completed. I’m pretty sure there are more and we look forward to hiking them int he future.

What kid friendly hikes at Rocky Mountain National Park do you recommend?