Whenever we’re lucky enough to visit Colorado, we always try to fit in a hike or two. Even with a handful of trips to Colorado in the past several years, we feel like we’ve only scratched the surface of all the hiking and fishing the Rockies have to offer. This time, we were in the Boulder area for a friends’ wedding, so we researched a few nearby Front Range hikes to do between wedding festivities.
The Brainard Lake Recreation Area is less than an hour from Boulder, and the Lake Isabelle hike was highly recommended. There aren’t many trailheads in our home states of California and Arizona that are at 10,500 feet that allow access to high elevation, sub alpine lakes like this, so it was an easy choice!
All trailheads and picnic areas in the Brainard Lake area require a timed entry reservation from Recreation.gov. The Long Lake Trailhead would have been the ideal one for Lake Isabelle, however quickly found out how popular this area is when we weren’t able to snag one for our preferred time window. So we settled for the main Brainard Lake Trailhead, which adds about .8 additional miles each way.
We arrived at our allotted time between 8
We arrived between our allowed time slot of 8 AM – 10 AM on a chilly, gloomy late July morning and set off!
At the main parking area there were information boards about the thriving Moose population in Colorado, explaining how they were re-introduced to the area in the 80s and 90s. When we got to the Long Lake trailhead there were a few forest service rangers warning day hikers about a mama and baby moose in the forest a couple hundred yards away, so we stayed alert.
Just a quarter mile from the Long Lake Trailhead, the trail hits the Indian Peaks Wilderness boundary. From here the trail splits with one going around the south side and the other the north side of Long Lake. The north fork is the more direct route to Lake Isabelle, bu the short walk to the bridge over South St. Vrain Creek is definitely a view you won’t want to miss!
For the next mile the trail goes along Long Lake but never really gets close to the shore, instead staying up in the fir forest. As we walked by by, there were many rings on the surface suggesting the lake is full of eager brook trout, but we resisted the temptation and continued on to our destination.
At the far end of the lake, the south fork of the trail joins the main trail as it starts heading up the hill to Lake Isabelle. After a relatively flat hike to this point, the trail starts to gain elevation and the altitude really hits.
The benefit of gaining elevation is the trees start to thin and small alpine meadows full of flowers fill in the gaps. This section of the trail all the way up to Lake Isabelle was so enjoyable with the wildflowers in full force.
Every time we hike in Colorado we are always amazed by how lush the higher elevations are. The meadows below and around Lake Isabelle are no different.
After crossing over a small feeder creek with some picturesque cascades, Lake Isabelle comes into view perfectly framed by the peaks of the Front Range in the background. It’s beautiful and vintage Colorado – and only an hour drive and a short hike from the Denver suburbs!
As soon as we arrived at the lake Cory rigged up his rod, obviously. Research told us that there were some cutthroat trout hiding in the lake, and it definitely had some fish vibes.
Leeches were stripped and nymphs were dangled for several casts, but no nibbles. With a steady stream of people coming down to the lake on the north side, we walked around to the outlet and attempted to fish the less busy south side.
The south side of the lake near the outlet was pretty shallow and we couldn’t spot any fish in the shallows, so we kept going around to a little peninsula where there were some deeper drop offs, but alas, the lake’s local residents were not fooled on this day.
As you can see from the pictures the clouds were building considerably – a sure sign of afternoon thunderstorms in the Colorado Rockies. So we retreated back down the trail after an hour or so of fishing and nothing sighted or hooked. We had a wedding to get to anyway!
On the way back down the trail, as we were nearing the outlet of Long Lake, we came to an opening in the forest and looked to the right: a giant bull moose grazing in the meadow. We kept our distance and kept an eye on it and eventually realized that there were two more in the distance! We snapped a few quick photos and went on our way.
The rest of the hike back to the car was uneventful, and we never did see the momma and baby moose we were warned of – there are a lot of moose in this area! The clouds got nastier as we approached the end of the hike, and looking back toward the lake realized we had beat the rain.
Despite its popularity, we were able to enjoy the Brainard Lake area and the Lake Isabelle hike, even on a fairly busy Saturday morning in July. We highly recommend this hike, because for us, access this easy to 10,000+ feet isn’t easy to come by!
