Bear Lake and Long's Peak, Rocky Mountain NP, CO

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Bear Lake is one of the most beloved destinations in Rocky Mountain National Park, a small subalpine lake sitting at roughly 9,475 feet at the end of Bear Lake Road in the park's eastern side, not far from Estes Park, Colorado. Ringed by Engelmann spruce, subalpine fir, and aspen, it reflects the surrounding high peaks on calm mornings, and an easy, mostly level trail of about half a mile circles its shore. The lake also serves as a hub for longer hikes to Nymph, Dream, and Emerald Lakes, Lake Haiyaha, and Flattop Mountain, which makes the area busy in summer, when a shuttle system and timed-entry permits help manage the crowds. Rising to the south is Longs Peak, at 14,259 feet the highest summit in the park and the northernmost of Colorado's fourteeners. Its flat-topped profile and sheer east face, known as the Diamond, make it one of the most recognizable mountains on the Front Range. The peak is named for Major Stephen H. Long, who led an 1820 expedition across the plains and sighted it from a distance, and its first recorded ascent was made in 1868 by a party that included John Wesley Powell. The classic Keyhole Route to the summit is a long, demanding scramble with exposed ledges and steep slabs, usually attempted with a pre-dawn start to avoid afternoon thunderstorms. In autumn, golden aspens around Bear Lake add color beneath the peak's granite walls, and in winter the area becomes a quiet spot for snowshoeing and backcountry skiing.