Lake Haiyaha — Attraction in Four Corners States

The trail has gotten very popular this summer, in 2022, thanks to all the pictures on social media. The lake has a light blue color and looks strikingly different from all the lakes in the park. The difficulty level is moderate, considering 4 miles and 900 feet elevation gain. The trailhead is at Bear Lake and is the busiest part of Rocky Mountain National Park. You will need to have timed entry reservation in summer, unless you enter the park outside these hours: 5 AM to 6 PM.

Half of this trail is along the more popular Emerald Lake trail. You will cover Bear Lake, Nymph Lake, Dream Lake along the way. At Dream Lake, you get to the Lake Haiyaha trail junction and then you will diverge towards Lake Haiyaha. The trail gets very rocky when you get close to Lake Haiyaha. Also, keep in mind that the lake does not have any flat shore, but is surrounded by big rocks and boulders. You will need some balancing and hopping, but that’s part of the fun as well.

If you have more energy, you can also add Emerald Lake in the mix, which should just add 1.5 miles to the hike. All these lakes are incredibly beautiful and are very close to each other. If you can, I highly recommend to be at the trailhead before 5 AM in summer, to avoid large crowds and also to witness the golden hour and sunrise...

Lake Haiyaha is one of the many gems of Rocky Mountain National Park but it definitely special right now thanks to the glacial sediment in the water. Due to the unfortunate landslide that happened behind the lake in late June 2022, the glacial sediment made it's way down into the water which is creating the powder blue akin to the powder blue waters in Lake Louise and the like. The sunrise up here can be very windy but it is worth it. The water completely morphs as it goes from the shadows to the light and the hues constantly change with it. The mountains behind the lake constantly change as well which makes the the picture perfect spot for this phenomenon. The hike itself is moderate, about 850 feet of elevation gain over 2 miles (4 miles round trip). You pass Dream Lake along the way which is another great opportunity for photos. The permit system is still in effect in Rocky so plan accordingly and get to Bear Lake before 5AM if you do not have one if you want to hike before sunrise like we did. Enjoy this beautiful place and take your chance to shoot the powder blue waters...

Arrive at bear lake parking at around 9am. Plenty of parking space. About 1/4 filled. Started out at 9:30qm. Trucked right along to dream lake, then bated left towards lake Haiyaha. Trails starts with a decent uphill, and continues pretty much to lake, aside from some minor flat areas. The exposure on the edge of the hills is real. Nice an dense in the way up, but soft and slushy on way down. Did without snowshoes, although I brought them. I bit steep by the lake, but Inter to not switch spikes for snowshoes, was totally fine. The way down was fast. Was bk at parking lot by 11:30 am. Still a few spots left but definitely fills up. Was the only one on trail after the dream lake turn. Saw a big group going up on my way down along with a few smaller ones. Weather was perfect, except at Lake Haiyaha, where it was super windy....