Cub Lake / Fern Lake Loop

Hike Name: Cub Lake / Fern Lake Loop Location: northeast CO Length: 6 Submitted by: Mike Pharris Date Submitted: 0/0/00 Rating:	more Colorado trail reviews Colorado national parks Colorado state parks
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Description
A nice little loop can be made using the Cub Creek Trail to Cub Lake and linking into the Fern Lake Trail. Starting on the Fern Lake Trail allows a nice descent around Cub Lake into Moraine Park.

The Fern Lake Trail starts out along the Big Thompson River and follows it on a fairly level grade beneath cliff faces as the river pours out of Forest Canyon and starts to enter Moraine Park. Signs of beaver working on the small aspens and small pools in the river, along with rabbit and cat tracks tell you the area is alive with wildlife. You’ll probably see magpie looking for crumbs around the trailhead too.

Follow the trail along the river bank admiring the rock face and the boulders that it discards and you soon come to Arch Rocks. These two boulders are the size of small houses and rise above the trail to form an impromptu arch. The one on the left seems to be balanced on its point as it plunged into the ground after being sloughed off the cliff, likely eons ago. They pose a dramatic scene rising some 40 feet or so above the ground.

Continue on and the trail begins to rise slightly above the river bed and you soon encounter a wooden footbridge and The Pool. The river now literally pours out of the canyon it created and The Pool lies below. This is where many tourists would turn around and retrace the 1.7 miles back to the parking area. But you should take the left fork of the trail just past the bridge and climb the ridge up to Cub Lake to make a nice loop hike.

As the trail climbs the North Flank of Mt. Wuh you get views at different levels of the cliffs on the opposite bank of the Big Thompson as well as back to the West and Stones Peak on the Continental Divide. Eventually you come to the top of the ridge and the junction with Mill Creek Trail. Mill Creek Trail will lead you to Mill Creek Basin and beyond to Bierstadt Lake and then onto Bear Lake.

Take the left fork and soon you’ll come in view of Cub Lake. It’s a long narrow lake sitting in a glacial carve out on the East side of Mt. Wuh. At an average depth of 3 feet and reportedly fishless, its still a pretty setting framed all around by fir trees with some small aspen groves at the Eastern end. The last two times I was there, Bull Elk were spotted grazing on its shores.

The trail follows the northern shore and slowly descends to meet the outlet “Cub Creek’. Designated campsites are here along with a privy. Stoves only at this site though, no campfires allowed. Past the campsites the trail drops faster through a thick stand of Aspen into the Moraine Park area. The creek widens and narrows off and on with beaver pools and marshy areas in the surprisingly flat terrain of the moraine. At various points along the trail, you get snapshots back to the West of Stones Peak and the ridges that surround the Lake.

If you’re in Moraine Park in the afternoon or evening, you’re likely to encounter the elk herd. The Elk tend to retire for the night in the Moraine Park area. Moraine Park is impressive in its own right when you remember that ages ago the whole place was buried in ice as high as the surrounding ridges. Random boulders scattered across the two mile long park remind you of the strength and power of ice. The trail skirts the bottom of the ridge rise around the Northwest end of the moraine and soon recrosses the Big Thompson; now a meandering stream but soon to become a full fledged river again, to lead you to the Cub Creek trail parking area. If you started at the Fern Lake trailhead, your car is just up the road to the left.

This loop makes about six miles and can be easily completed in an afternoon – even stopping often to take pictures. You could stop at the lake and have a nice relaxing lunch as well.

Directions to Hike
From Estes Park take Hwy 36 into Rocky Mtn National Park. Just beyond the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center take the Bear Lake Road (left turn) Take the firt right towards Moraine Park Campground and then the first left towards Cub Lake. Follow the road beyond the Cub Lake trailhead to the next parking lot where bathrooms are located. The Fern Lake trailhead is .8 mile beyond the restrooms.

Contact Information
Rocky Mountain National Park
1000 Highway 36
Estes Park, CO 80517-8397
phone: 970-586-1206

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