Mills Lake Hike – Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park – Trail Map, Pictures, Directions & More

Mills Lake is yet another beautiful alpine lake located in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. The lake sits at 9,940 feet, making this a great moderate hike with stunning views of the surrounding mountains. This is a great hike in all four seasons.

Difficulty – Intermediate
Distance – 5.6 miles miles round trip (9.01 km)
Height – 9,940 feet (3,029.7 meters)
Elevation gain – 780 feet (237.7 meters)
Duration – 3 to 5 hours (book time)
Seasons – Year-round
Trailhead Location – Glacier Gorge Trailhead or Bear Lake Trailhead

Need to know: Dogs are not allowed in Rocky Mountain National Park.

 

Trail Map

 

Trails

There are two common starting locations for this hike, both are below:

 

Glacier Gorge Trailhead | 5.6 Miles| 780 Feet Elevation Gain

This is the most common path to head towards Mills Lake. If the parking lot is full, just continue on to Bear Lake Trailhead, park, and begin hiking from there.

Beginning at Glacier Gorge, hikers will travel .25 miles to the first junction of the Glacier Creek Trail, and the trail leading to Bear Lake. Hikers bear left, following the signs to Alberta Falls and Sky Pond.

.8 miles into the hike, hikers will reach Alberta Falls, a beautiful 30 foot waterfall that is extremely popular in summer months. The trails will have less people (but still quite a few) beyond this point.

1.6 miles into the hike, hikers will reach the North Longs Peak Trail Junction where hikers will need to bear right towards Sky Pond.

2 miles in, hikers will reach Mills Junction. To the left is Mills Lake and Black Lake, hikers will turn left here. Bearing right would bring hikers towards Sky Pond and Andrew’s Glacier.

A short distance after turning, hikers will cross Glacier Creek. Near the crossing, there is a side trail that will take hikers to a gorgeous little waterfall. Only .6 miles from the junction (2.6 total miles in), hikers will reach Mills Lake. The trail continues along further, and hikers should walk along to get some nice vantage points of the lake.

Retrace the path back to the parking lot from here. Hikers may also choose to continue on to the beautiful black lake, or take some detours on the way back.

 

Bear Lake Trailhead | 5.8 Miles | 800 Feet Elevation Gain

This route is only slightly different than starting at Glacier Gorge. The only difference is the first .4 miles. Here this trail descends to cross paths with where hikers will have started from Glacier Gorge. This portion of the trail is heavily trafficked year round. This route will add just a tiny bit of elevation gain, and .2 miles to your overall round trip. We recommend starting from Bear Lake if the Glacier Gorge trailhead has no parking.

 

Hiking Mills Lake in Winter

Mills lake is stunning in winter. The amount of people on this trail dissipates in winter making it very enjoyable. The trail, views, and lakes look entirely different as well. Traction is highly recommended (microspikes or snowshoes). Most of the trail is fully manageable without traction, but as always, traction should be brought for caution. Snowshoes may be needed during certain times of year and is defendant upon snowfall.

Both trailheads are open and can be driven to in winter months due to Bear Lake Road being nicely maintained. Check park road closures during snowy times to be sure.

 

Fishing Mills Lake

Mills lake has quite a solid population of brook trout and greenback cutthroat trout. This is a great fishing spot in summer months.

 

Directions & Parking

These are two large parking lots (bear lake trailhead the biggest), but these are extremely popular areas. Parking fills up extremely quickly on nice days. In many cases, hikers will need to use the National Park shuttle system to get to these trailheads during the busy months. Information on this can be found here: https://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/shuttle_bus_route.htm 

 

To Glacier Gorge Trailhead

To Bear Lake Trailhead

Continue along bear lake road for .9 additional miles and you will reach the trailhead. This is the end of Bear Lake Road.

 

Current Weather Conditions

Here is a detailed weather forecast:

Allenspark, CO

Overnight
Mostly clear. Low around 28, with temperatures rising to around 32 overnight. Southwest wind around 14 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.

Sunday
A slight chance of snow showers and a slight chance of thunderstorms between noon and 4pm, then a slight chance of thunderstorms and a slight chance of rain and snow showers. Partly sunny. High near 47, with temperatures falling to around 45 in the afternoon. South southwest wind 14 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. New rainfall amounts less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Sunday Night
Snow showers likely and a slight chance of thunderstorms before 2am, then snow showers likely and patchy blowing snow and a slight chance of thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy. Low around 20, with temperatures rising to around 25 overnight. West southwest wind 17 to 35 mph, with gusts as high as 45 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

Monday
Snow showers likely and areas of blowing snow before 7am, then blowing snow and snow showers likely between 7am and noon, then blowing snow and snow showers likely and a slight chance of thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 27. Wind chill values as low as -2. West southwest wind 53 to 59 mph, with gusts as high as 67 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

Monday Night
Blowing snow and a chance of snow showers and a slight chance of thunderstorms before 4am, then a chance of snow showers and patchy blowing snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 19. West wind 33 to 58 mph, with gusts as high as 67 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.

Tuesday
Blowing snow and snow showers likely before 9am, then snow showers likely and areas of blowing snow between 9am and noon, then snow showers likely and areas of blowing snow and a chance of thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 27. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.

Tuesday Night
A chance of snow showers and patchy blowing snow before midnight, then patchy blowing snow and a slight chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 15. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.

 

Additional Pictures

Views from The Loch (Loch Vale)