wild basin area

To preface, we are a family of four with kids ages 8 & 10. Our first day hiking, we started at the Bear Lake trailhead and hiked up to Dream Lake--a beautiful, great hike, but hard. The next day we went to Wild Basin and hiked up to Calypso Falls, and we loved every second of it. It's beautiful and much less strenuous, which was nice because we were able to then focus all our attentions on the scenery instead of the effort of the hike itself. Highly recommend if you have kids and/or if you just want to enjoy the beauty and serenity that RMNP has to offer.

This hike was fantastic, it was the BEST way to end my wedding week up in CO. This is definitely a few hour trip, if you want to make it to the top fall. I would go in May-July as the most recommended time. I recommend this to anyone, people who are not as fit can still make it to some great falls!

Not being able to hike higher elevations one day last week, a staff member at our hotel recommended this area for hiking. We decided to hike out to Ouzel Falls and back, about 5.4 miles total. Most of the trail is along a river, and there are plenty of little sights along the way: Caldwell Falls, Calypso Cascades, etc. The bridge at Ouzel Falls is out, so don't go that way if you you want to continue past the Falls. There is an alternate route to continue on to destinations past them, but you won't get to see Calypso Cascades. All in all--super scenic and pleasant hiking!

Wild Basin was probably my favorite of our few hikes in RMNP! It's not as strenuous and "uphill" as some of the other trails we'd done, so I was able to really focus on the beauty of the scenery. We hiked up to Calypso Falls and the whole trail was beautiful beginning to the end. I loved all of the water and the trees and the whole thing!

We hiked up to Calypso Falls...which is about 1.8 miles. I have a hard time with the altitude but those that do not this is a good hike. It's moderate and totally uphill all the way but well worth the energy and time. This area is very popular as there were quite a few people there.

Bridge is still out from the floods of Sept. 13. Still a great hike with tons of amazing falls/cascades along the way. We wanted to hike to Ouzel Lake and possibly beyond but couldn't figure out the way due to the bridge being out.

Went to a wedding at Wild Basin Lodge, in a lovely meadow across some bridges and wooded areas. Really beautiful ceremony, and good food back at the Lodge. Brunch at the Lodge the next morning, excellent pastries, good potatoes, saltiest eggs ever and not great pancakes. Post-wedding-brunch hike, best post-wedding activity ever! Drove maybe a mile or two past first ranger station, parked, walked another mile to the station at the base of the trail, and walked up to the second waterfall. Some in the party kept going to the third. (I think the first is Copeland, which is nice, 2 is Calypso, which is lovely, and 3 is maybe Ouzel? I didn't make it all the way up there). The hike is not super challenging, but it does take time. You get to see a LOT for the energy you expend hiking. Much better, in my opinion, than the Bierstadt Lake hike we did, which was much steeper and not along the water for the most part.

Wonderful short hike to a beautiful set of waterfalls. Peaceful. This area is much less crowded than other places in the RMNP.

Always chasing waterfalls! You gotta loved this area! One of the areas in RMNP affected by 2013 flood. You can still see Copeland Falls and Calypso Cascades but Ouzel Falls. The bridge is gone! We end up at Calypso Cascades. It was almost like a river when we were there because of the snow melts! Took some beautiful pictures, enjoyed what a beautiful country we have and off we went back to Estes Park!

We visited in July 2014. Unfortunately, I was in a walking cast and unable to walk much further than Copeland Falls. The trail follows the creek and was nice and shady. I was impressed on the road to the hiking area because of the gathered piles of deadwood and brush; I have never seen this done in any National Park and think it should be done everywhere to help preserve the bigger trees in the event of wildfire. I want to come back when my foot has healed and hike further in. The trail up to Copeland Falls was easy, even with my injured foot. At the trails head there are pit toilets, and a ranger station. There are also picnic tables and storage areas for food - leaving food in your vehicle is not recommended because of bear activity in the area

This is a exceptionally beautiful, wild area In RMNP. Take Route 7 out of Estes Park & go South. The signs will point you in the right direction. There's an entrance station there, so don't forget your receipt. The road to get there is very narrow. Barely enough room for one car in places, let alone 2. If you get there early this isn't a problem until it's time to leave. There's an endless flow of traffic later in the morning. You finally cross a bridge & the road becomes one way. You know then that the parking lot is close. There's a large lot, but it does fill up in the summer & on the weekends. There's overflow, but that just means you have farther to walk. There are a lot of trails in Wild Basin, but the most popular is Ouzel Falls which is 5.4 miles there & back. There's several Lake trails that are longer & more strenuous : Bluebird, Lion & Thunder Lakes. We took the Ouzel Falls trail that used to continue on to Ouzel Lake until a flood took out the bridge. There's a Ranger station by the parking lot, some kiosks & the fancy pit toilets common In RMNP. We were ready for lunch after our hike, so we drove back the way we came until we came to one of the scenic picnic areas along the way. We had our pick, so we lunched by the raging waters of St Vrain Creek. I LOVE National Parks! On our hike we talked to a guy who said he was local to the area. He said we were lucky. Usually the creek looked like what we were seeing in the Spring. It must have been unusually rainy to cause the creek to be so high & forceful. So beautiful. All in all a good day hiking.

I have hiked Wild Basin a number of times. It is not a trail I would take little kids on as it can be rocky and difficult to navigate because of tree roots and other small obstacles. The Copeland, Calypso and Ouzel Falls are all well worth the physical exertion it takes to hike the trail. Lots of breathtaking spots for pictures. I love to hike Wild Basin it is one of my favorite spots.

Great summer drive. Most driving is one lane, some turn-outs. We found that weekends, there can be traffic jams, with so many trying to see this scenic drive, and found week days with less traffic. Road can be rough, and driving slow is advised.

When visiting Rocky Mountain National Park, you MUST see the Wild Basin area. We travel here each year and few hikers will venture to the Basin. First, the road into this section of the park gives the appearance of an after-thought. Don't give up. The road is gravel, washed out, and slow going to get to the very narrow parking area. From here, you can hike through marsh areas, filtered sunlight through healthy forests, and waterfalls galore. Snowmelt this year provided roaring falls and plenty of moisture for the wildflowers as well.

My husband, his friend and I hiked from Wild Basin Trailhead. The earlier you get to this trail the better. Very few people on the trails before noon. There are a couple of places where bridges or parts of the trails were washed away by last years flood. In spite of that there are detours with very good signage and the waterfalls are breathtaking. I highly recommend this trail.