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A trail that ascends 1500 feet from Lawn Lake Trail to Ypsilon Lake.


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Map Key

3.0

Miles

4.8

KM

Point to Point

10,721' 3,268 m

High

9,200' 2,804 m

Low

1,538' 469 m

Up

185' 56 m

Down

11%

Avg Grade (6°)

39%

Max Grade (22°)

Dogs No Dogs

Features Birding · Fall Colors · Lake · River/Creek · Views · Wildflowers · Wildlife

Description

This trail spurs off of the Lawn Lake Trail about a mile and a half north of the Lawn Lake Trailhead. If starting from this trailhead and hiking to Ypsilon Lake, be ready for around 4 miles of ascent from 8,600 ft to 10,700 ft.

Cross the Roaring River on a wooden bridge and start ascending the trail. The Ypsilon Lake Trail climbs steeply up the hillside away from the river. Once the trail turns from southwest to northwest, the grade lessens significantly and views of the valley floor and Ypsilon Mountain become spectacular.

Continue northwestward on the trail for another 2.5 miles through beautiful coniferous forest. Eventually, you'll reach a small but beautiful lake (Chipmunk Lake) that serves as a warm-up for Ypsilon Lake. Shortly after passing Chipmunk Lake, the trail crests a ridge and then descends steeply to Ypsilon Lake.

Contacts

Shared By:

Brian Smith with improvements by David Johnson and 1 other

Trail Ratings

  4.2 from 17 votes

#6876

Overall
  4.2 from 17 votes
5 Star
47%
4 Star
24%
3 Star
29%
2 Star
0%
1 Star
0%
Trail Rankings

#473

in Colorado

#6,876

Overall
4 Views Last Month
1,943 Since Jan 15, 2015
Intermediate/Difficult Intermediate/Difficult

0%
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29%
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71%
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Photos

Ypsilon Mountain, RMNP (Fall 1979) with permission from BoulderTraveler
Jan 19, 2015 near Estes Park, CO
The bridge across Roaring River has been rebuilt, providing easy access to the Ypsilon Trail.
Jul 4, 2017 near Estes Park, CO
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Weather


Current Trail Conditions

All Clear 62 days ago
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Check-Ins

Oct 5, 2023
Dasha Spriggs
heavy incline, beautiful endpoint
Jul 10, 2023
Richard Gledhill
Jun 7, 2022
James Essex
12h 04m
Aug 27, 2021
Tsering Drolma
Jul 7, 2020
Brad Costa
Sep 25, 2019
Bruce N
There is a comment that leashed dogs are allowed. This is not true. Dogs are not allowed on any trail in the Park. Please review the Park map
Sep 24, 2019
Il Noh
Aug 11, 2019
Sarah Davis
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