Wild Basin Trailhead

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Rocky Mountain National Park
- Additional Parents
- Isolation Peak
- Chiefs Head Peak
- Ogalalla Peak
- Mount Alice
- Copeland Mountain
- Ouzel Peak
- Elk Tooth
Wild Basin Trailhead

Page Type:	Trailhead
Lat/Lon:	40.20850°N / 105.5656°W
County:	Boulder
Elevation:	8500 ft / 2591 m

Overview

The Wild Basin Ranger Station serves as the southern most entrance on the east side of Rocky Mountain National Park. This is a less traveled area of the park in relation to its northern counterparts, The Longs Peak area and the ever popular Glacier Gorge and Bear Lake Trailheads.

While not being quite as pounded by your typical tourist foot traffic, don't take anything away from this spectacular area. The Wild Basin Entrance, by way of the Thunder Lake Trail, gives one the opportunity to witness some of the best and most pristine scenery the National Park has to offer...you might just have to work a little harder to get there.

By taking advantage of a relatively mild hike, one can enjoy the beautiful Calypso Cascades and, just a little further up the trail, the impressive Ouzel Falls. But this is just where the fun starts. Wild Basin is home to some of the parks most spectacular summits and some world class climbing.

Follow the Thunder Lake Trail to Boulder Grand Pass to summit Tanima Peak or Mt. Alice. Or Take the Lion Lakes Trail to Chiefs Head Peak and, again, Mt. Alice. Or venture off to the south by way of the Bluebird Lake Trail and climb one of the many summits in that area, such as Ouzel Peak, Isolation Peak, Mahana Peak or Copeland Mountain.

The bottom line is that from the Wild Basin trails your opportunities for great days in the mountains are endless. The area is huge, the scenery spectacular and the climbing superb.

There is a ranger station, bathrooms and drinking water at the trailhead.

Getting There

You will need to enter the National Park at the "Wild Basin" Entrance. This is the Southern most entrance on the East side of the Park, about 20 minutes South of Estes Park on Hwy 7. From the entrance to the Park, you will follow a dirt road around Copeland Lake, following North St. Vrain Creek until you reach the Wild Basin Ranger Station and Trailhead.

NOTE: during the winter months (October - May) the dirt road to the trailhead may be closed as far as a mile before the "official" trailhead parking lot. For this reason, among many others, winter climbs or hikes may become quite a bit longer and more strenuous.