In Colorado, one can find sand in the most unexpected and/or unusual locations. Much like the aftermath of a day at the beach.
Case in point: Great Sand Dunes National Park.
Case in point #2: Sandbeach Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.
The trail to Sandbeach Lake departs from the parking area immediately to the right of the Wild Basin entrance station. It’s not a large parking area, and my friend Kaylyn and I snagged one of the last spots at 7:00am on a Saturday. There really isn’t any overflow parking for this one, so arrive early and have a backup plan.
This is a 9 mile (14.5 km) round trip hike with just over 2000 feet (600 m) of elevation gain, and it’s uphill essentially from the first step. However, we found it to be a fairly gradual trail with the elevation gain spread evenly throughout the 4.5 miles (7.3 km) to the lake.
If you’re looking for expansive views, you won’t find too many on this trail. It’s mostly in the forest, with just a couple spots where the trees part enough to see back into Wild Basin.
Around mile 3.5 (5.6 km) the trail crosses Hunters Creek. This early in the season (mid-June) it was raging. Throughout the final mile, we also encountered wet and muddy sections of trail and even a few lingering patches of snow.
And then Sandbeach Lake came into view! The trail exits the woods on the eastern shore of the lake where there is in fact a sandy beach. It’s very out of place high in the mountains like this, but also very neat. I tried to research why there happens to be so much sand in this one particular area of Rocky but I wasn’t able to find a clear explanation. I would guess that something about the way the surrounding mountains eroded resulted in the formation and accumulation of the sand.
The popular thing to do is hang out on the beach… which we did for a few minutes. In search of a little more solitude, we then followed the trail around to the left and out onto a small peninsula about halfway across the lake. No one else was out here and there’s a boulder just off-shore that provided a perfect snack spot. From here we could refuel while enjoying the view of the towering Mount Meeker and watching the ripples in the crystal clear mountain water.
There is also an unmaintained trail to Lyric Falls that can be accessed from this hike. It splits off at the Hunters Creek crossing and parallels the water for just shy of 1 mile (1.6 km) up to the falls. On our way back to the car, we attempted to find it.
We were not successful.
The thing about following an unmaintained trail is, well, the lack of maintenance. There were downed trees everywhere and so many spider webs. After about 0.3 miles (0.5 km), the path vanished beneath a huge jumble of logs… and we gave up. I’m sure the falls is pretty but we didn’t want to see it that badly.
And that’s Sandbeach Lake. Another Rocky Mountain lake checked off the to-do list and a little bit of sand in my shoes as a souvenir. After the last couple months spent mostly exploring the plains and the high desert, it was so wonderful to be breathing the fresh mountain air again.
The Important Stuff:
- Getting there: this trail departs from the Sandbeach Trailhead at the Wild Basin entrance station in the southeast corner of Rocky off Highway 7. Arrive early, parking often fills by 7:00am
- Fees and passes: there is a $30/car daily or $35/car weekly entrance fee to RMNP; interagency annual passes are accepted. From May-Oct, if you arrive between 9:00am-2:00pm you will also need a timed entry permit to access this trailhead
- Hiking: the round trip distance (without the side trip to Lyric Falls) is 9 miles (14.5 km) with about 2000 feet (610 m) of elevation gain
For more information, see my post on visiting Rocky Mountain National Park
Handstands Around the World 
Well that’s pretty cool and unexpected. Did you dip a toe in? I’m guessing it’s pretty chilly year-round.
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Wow! It is so weird seeing a beautiful sandy beach in this high mountain environment. I keep staring at your photo of Sandbeach Lake with Mount Meeker in the background. So cool! I could definitely hang out on that warm sand for the day.
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Sandbeach Lake and its surrounding are stunning. It would be lovely to pitch a tent there and gaze at the stars at night.
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It would! There are 4 backpacking sites available by permit, I’m sure it’s a very enjoyable place to spend the night.
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Thank you for letting me know. I will add it to our looong list of Colorado places to visit. 🙂
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It’s a beach in the middle of mountains – what unique scenery. I love following along on your hikes, they really are beautiful 🙂
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Thank you 🙂
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Your photographs make me feel instantly homesick, but it is for a time that no longer exists.
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I’m sorry to hear that. Hopefully they also brought back some good memories.
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Lots and lots of good memories. I grew up 30 miles away from the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park and spent many days traipsing around the area. Those were the days when Estes Park was a town of around 3,200 people and the social event of the spring was opening night of the movie theater. It was closed during the winter months. On that special night, opening night, people held dinner parties before going off to watch a movie.
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That sounds like a lovely time! It’s too bad the area has gotten so busy and that Estes has changed so much.
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Nice photos of Mount Meeker reflecting in the lake, pretty place
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Thank you!
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So beautiful!
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It does seem a bit peculiar to come across a sandy beach up in the mountains. It definitely looks out of place, but it’s very beautiful. I’m never a fan of unmaintained trails as I’m terrible with directions and that’s just a recipe for disaster for myself!
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Yeah, unmaintained trails can be tricky… fortunately for this one we just had to follow the creek so that made it a little harder to get lost.
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Wonderful landscapes, great place to spend some time !
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I am also struck by the sight of a beach, lake and mountain landscape. Absolutely gorgeous.
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So strange to see sand next to a lake and mountain– looks kind of like a surreal beach experience (although you’re nowhere near a beach!). Those views at Sandbeach Lake remind me vaguely of those at Lake Nicaragua, with sand by the lake (the water large enough to resemble an ocean!) and two volcanoes in the backdrop. Crazy how nature can appear sometimes, don’t you think?
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Right? It’s so bizarre. My brain initially was like… wait, this doesn’t make sense.
I had to look up Lake Nicaragua as I’ve never been there. I do see the similarity with the mountains in the background. It is pretty amazing the variety we have in nature but also how such different places can appear so similar to each other.
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