Destination: Lake Nanita

Rocky Mountain National Park

There are too many beautiful areas in Rocky Mountain National Park to count, but of all of them Lake Nanita is my favorite. It is one of the jewels of the park. Andrews Peak rises steeply over one shore and Ptarmigan Mountain over the other providing photography opportunities at any time of the day. Also, it is tucked away on the on the South-West side of the park far away from the traffic and noise associated with the Bear Lake area and the trail ridge road.

There are two practical ways to get there. One route takes you from the Bear Lake area over Flattop Mountain, down into the North Inlet River Valley and then back up the other side of the valley to the base of Ptarmigan Mountain. The easier and more popular route starts just outside the town of Grand Lake and follows the North Inlet river. Although most of this route isn't very steep it is 11 miles one-way and gets quite steep at the end. The total elevation gain is 2240 feet (most of it in the last three miles) with the high point around 11,000 feet. This keeps the visitor population at Lake Nanita quite low. I spent most of a day there and saw only two people. They were fishing for what they described as the largest, most beautiful trout in the park. It is possible to make Lake Nanita a day trip if you are fast, in good shape, and don't mind walking 22 miles in a day but if you want to spend any time there I would suggest staying a couple of nights at the back country campsites along the way. You will need a backcountry permit to camp at any of these sites. Also, there is no camping at the lake itself. The closest camp site is the pine martin site about three miles away.