August 10, 2022

By Tim Briese

3.1 miles, 500’ elevation gain, 3:45 roundtrip time

I had read intriguing things about Lake Agnes for a number of years and Teresa and I went to check it out today. It is a beautiful place and lives up to the hype. It is located in a part of Colorado that we seldom visit, near Cameron Pass about fifty miles west of Ft. Collins. We left home early in the morning and made the rather lengthy drive there, arriving in the area around mid morning. About three miles west of Cameron Pass on CO 14 we turned left onto a gravel road. This area is in the Colorado State Forest State Park and an entrance fee is required so we stopped at a pay station and paid the requisite fee. Then we drove down a hill and turned right onto a road that went steeply uphill a little over a mile to a parking area for Lake Agnes.

on the road to the trailhead, with the nokhu crags looming above

the historic lake agnes cabin at the start of the trail

The trail up to the lake is only about 0.8 miles long but it provided a nice little workout as it gained a few hundred feet of elevation.

view of the nokhu crags as we hiked up the trail

The lake lies in a spectacular bowl with the Nokhu Crags towering above to the east and Mt. Richtofen to the south. The first view of the lake when one reaches its northern shore is beautiful.

lake agnes, with mt. richtofen above at the left

We proceeded to follow a trail around the west side of the lake. Several people were hiking or fishing.

on the trail around the lake

When we neared the south end of the lake the trail became more faint but we were lured on by lush and prolific wildflowers that we could see ahead.

some flowers along the lake

We relaxed with lunch on the grass in a profuse bed of wildflowers.

a nice spot for lunch

Then we continued on around the south end of the lake and found more meadows rampant with wildflowers.

We continued hiking all the way around the lake.  A talus slope lined the eastern shore and it was slow-going but doable.

We made it back around to the north end and took a couple more photos before heading back down the trail.

a meadow along the trail on the hike back

We drove on to Grand Lake that evening and into Rocky Mountain National Park to look for moose in the Kawuneeche Valley, and were not disappointed.

a sunset scene in the valley

The next morning we drove across Rocky Mountain National Park on our way home.

a lush meadow in RMNP

elk along trail ridge road