If you like mountain lakes as big and broad and cold as the mountaintops around you, Gem probably isn’t for you. But if you aren’t a lake snob and can find a place in your heart for a tiny but picturesque spot of tranquility, then you need to check out this gem.

To get there: From Estes Park, take the U.S. 34 Bypass to MacGregor Avenue, turn right before entering MacGregor Ranch and drive about .75 mile to the parking area. There are two ways to access this trail – from Twin Owls Trailhead on the ranch property or Gem Lake Trailhead off Devil’s Gulch Road (a continuation of MacGregor Avenue). During busy times, the Twin Owls parking lot is often full, so your best bet is the second lot (that’s the trailhead we describe).

Hike: Gem Lake is located on the far eastern border of Rocky Mountain National Park, north of the city of Estes Park. Start by skirting private property, then circle back around into the park. The trail begins through a thick grove of young, tender aspens that glow green in the summer and gold in the fall. Barbed wire and private property signs keep you on the trail here. When the aspen give way to ponderosa pine and fir, the trail becomes steeper before the trees open to a wide hillside. In the summer, this part of the trail can be hot. If you get the urge to sit a spell, watch out for the prickly pair that blanket the hillside. The trail winds along the hillside, offering sweeping views of Estes Park below and the mountains of Rocky Mountain National Park beyond that. Rock sculptures dominate the scenery. The gray granite invites naming – see if you can spot Boot Rock along the way. The trails switches back through this rock garden before entering a more heavily forested area with shorter, steeper switchbacks. A little more than halfway to the lake, the switchbacks become fierce, with hikers puffing and resting on boulders along the way. But that section is short, and soon you reach the lake. It’s a small lake (0.2 acres, about 5 feet deep at its deepest point), probably one of the smallest named lakes in the park. But it offers a sandy beach perfect for sitting, and a curtain of that gray granite as a backdrop that half-circles the water. You’ll rarely have this trail to yourself – it’s a popular trail for both hikers and horseback riders. But even with a crowd, a few minutes at water’s edge watching birds dive and skim the water can do wonders.

Details:  No dogs, no bicycles allowed. No fees.

Trip Log: 2 miles, 1,090 feet elevation gain.