Diamond Lake Trail

Beautiful picturesque alpine lake nestled in the heart of the Indian Peaks Wilderness. Decided to do a midweek backpacking trip as Fourth Of July Road & Indian Peaks Wilderness as a whole is by far the most heavily trafficked wilderness area outside of RMNP. Even on a Tuesday/Wednesday the entire parking area near Hessie Rd and Buckingham Campground were packed to capacity. If you’re not at the trailhead by 5AM on a weekend, there is little to no chance you’ll find parking and will end up having to take the shuttle all the way from Nederland HS. The trail itself is well maintained, easy to follow, extremely heavily trafficked and offers amazing scenery and sprawling mountain vistas. This particular route also offers several full sized & incredibly scenic waterfalls, of which you’ll have to cross under a few (nothing technical, but exercising extra caution is necessary to avoid slipping & injury). The lake itself is easy to get to, and as such attracts heavy foot-traffic so expect large crowds, however It was a beautiful spot nonetheless. We also paid for camping reservations but Rec.gov either overbooked or several other campers didn’t get the memo and decided to camp without reserving a spot, so we were left with finding a flat spot that wasn’t in a designated campsite. We did end up finding a suitable spot, however the reservation system is only as reliable as its enforcement, which seemed to be slim to none. Also, the mosquitos at this time of year are absolutely relentless, so bear that in mind and be sure to pack strong bug spray, you’ll definitely need it. All in all, this was a fun spur of the moment jaunt up to a picturesque alpine lake with excellent mountain views and endless waterfalls, however the insane crowds and relentless mosquitoes, took away from the experience a bit. I would recommend, if possible, to avoid this lake for camping and hike a bit further to less trafficked areas.