Sprague Lake
Activity: Hike, SnowDifficulty: Easy
Distance: about 3 miles
Location: Rocky Mountain National Park
Description:
If you get lucky, get a parking spot at Sprague Lake trailhead. There is a shuttle stop at this trailhead so you can find a spot elsewhere in the park and take the shuttle if needed.
Sprague Lake has an accessible trail, .9 miles, that loops all the way around the lake close to the shore. We hiked about half of this trail and then turned off the busy lake trail onto the trail leading towards the [not accessible] backcountry campsite. This part of the trail takes you up to a junction and then you hike towards Bear Lake (away from Glacier Basin). The hike is moderately steep at this point and is shaded by many evergreen trees. There are a lot of downed trees in the area because of the destruction caused by the Souther Pine Beetle.
The hike continues through an Aspen grove and the trail was lightly covered in patchy snow. We were hoping to snowshoe this trail but it's been a warm November with little snowfall. When the trail turned downhill we opted to try out our new Kahtoola Microspikes. Before selecting to purchase these specific microspikes we did our research and these came with rave reviews. There is nothing bad to say about these, in fact, they were amazing and we wish we would have put them on sooner for the uphill portion of the hike, too.
We finished the hike quickly after the last trail junction. And the trail west of Sprague Lake (as we hiked east towards the lake) got a little busier with foot traffic because of it's proximity to the trailhead. We stopped for lunch at a sunny picnic table near the parking lot and trailhead. The kids then ran around in the open area between the picnic tables and the creek. They had fun sliding around on the frozen creek and watching the water through the transparent ice. We had fun testing out our microspikes again. And again, truly, there seemed no risk of slipping on the ice.
This was a nice, easy hike, especially for visiting family. We wrapped up our day with a quick stop and the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center where the kids enjoyed petting the animal pelts on display.
