Lost Lake Trail

Lost Lake is the shortest alpine-lake hike in the Indian Peaks and the one most people do first: about 2 miles from the Hessie trailhead to a small lake tucked under Bryan Mountain, with an old cascade on the way and campsites around the shore. It is the hike to take a first-time visitor or a kid who has never been above 9,000 feet.

The catch is Hessie itself. The trailhead has a handful of parking spots at the end of a road that floods every spring, and Boulder County runs a shuttle because there is no other way to get several hundred people a day up there.

From the Hessie townsite, the trail follows the old wagon road up the North Fork of Middle Boulder Creek. In half a mile you cross the creek on a bridge and reach a junction: the Devils Thumb and Woodland Lake trails go right, the King Lake trail goes left. Take the left fork.

The King Lake trail climbs steadily along the creek past a series of cascades that run hard through June. At about 1.1 miles a signed spur leaves left for Lost Lake. The spur climbs a few hundred feet through spruce and reaches the lake at about 9,800 feet, with Bryan Mountain across the water and the Continental Divide behind it. A path circles the lake; the far side has the campsites and the best view back east. Return the same way. Strong hikers continue on the King Lake trail toward King Lake and the Divide, a much longer day.

Hessie is 1 mile west of Eldora at the end of Fourth of July Road. The last half mile past the winter closure gate is a rough, often flooded dirt track that most drivers should not attempt; park at the gate if there is room and walk it. The Hessie lot holds about a dozen cars and is full before dawn on summer weekends, and the county tickets and tows cars parked along the road.

On summer Fridays, weekends, and holidays, Boulder County runs a free shuttle from the Nederland High School park-and-ride to the Hessie gate, no reservation needed, and leashed dogs ride too. Parking along Fourth of July Road is allowed only between the signs; the county fines or tows the rest. It is the sane way in from June through September. No fee or permit is needed for day hiking.

Dogs are allowed and should be leashed on this busy trail. Lost Lake sits just outside the Indian Peaks Wilderness, whose boundary lies farther up the Devils Thumb trail, so wilderness rules do not apply here. Kids handle the distance easily; the cascades and the lake give them targets. Camping at Lost Lake is at eight designated sites around the lake, first come, first served, with no permit required; the Forest Service asks campers to use a bear canister and keep it 200 feet from the tent. The lake is shallow and warmer than most alpine lakes, but it is a drinking-water watershed, so keep dogs and soap out of it. There is a vault toilet at the Hessie gate and nothing above it. The Indian Peaks region page covers the other trailheads.