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If you’ve been following along on Instagram, we spent a quick 36 hours in Rocky Mountain National Park last weekend. On Saturday we took an ambitious hike – click through to see more photos and details.

I’m considering this an ambitious hike because it’s a 6 mile loop, and we decided to do it with only one kid in a pack! Unlike previous hikes, we didn’t even take the second pack along, instead, Alex (4 almost 5yo) hiked the entire hike with only a few quick pick-ups. What an animal!

As such, come along as I follow behind these two:

Cub Lake Loop

This site provides a map detailed overview of the hike, breaking it down into sections. We hiked the loop in the counterclockwise direction, starting at the Fern Lake Bus Stop Lot (point B on this map).

Once you leave the parking areas, the loop starts on a closed road to the Fern Lake Trailhead. The photos below show some of the 2.5 mile hike to the first bridge that you’ll cross at The Pool.

As you can see, the trail in the valley was covered in snow when protected by the shade of the trees, but was often dry where exposed to the sun. There were a few wet areas, but everything was easily walkable with a good pair of boots.

After you cross the bridge at The Pool, you have the option to veer off of the loop and continue up to Fern Falls and Fern Lake. We stayed on the loop towards Cub Lake.

At this point in the hike, the trail starts climbing up the mountain. This section of the trail was the most difficult, but still it wasn’t that bad if you’re relatively fit. At this time of year there were two challenges, 1. the steep climb, and 2. the snow. This section was completely covered by snow. Some hikers used crampons, we just went with our boots and had no problems. But, I do think the hike would have been more slippery if we were coming from the other direction and had to hike down the steep and snowy trail.

Keeping my focus on staying upright, I have no photos from that section!

As the trail starts to level out slightly, you can take a look around and see the obviously charred trees. Along the hike, I had noticed beetle damage, and some charred logs, but I thought this area had been decimated by beetles. Instead, it was caused by the Fern Lake Fire, and the beetle damaged trees added easy fuel to the fire.

At this point we also saw what appear to be fresh scratches on an aspen. They were about 6 feet off the ground, and we’re assuming that they’re from a bear?

After a bit more uphill, you’ll start to descend to Cub Lake. Again in the photo below you’re seeing dead trees from the Fern Lake Fire. In this post you can see photos of Cub Lake as the area looked before the fire.

Leaving the lake, it’s all downhill and into the valley!

Cub Lake Loop w/kids

Just like the Deer Mountain hike, this was one of the longer day hikes we’d be willing to take with the kids while still packing extremely light.  If you want to know more about how we prepare for a short hike with two kids in tow, read this post and the accompanying comments.

In total, this hike took us three hours. We could have definitely packed a lunch and took a leisurely rest at the lake, but we know our limits. With kids aged almost 3 & almost 5, it’s almost always better to keep moving. If we stop for too long, it’s hard to get started again, so we packed a few snack bars and plenty of water for snacking while we hiked.

At this time of year there were plenty of wet/snowy sections along the trail. This was probably the strictest we’ve ever been with Alex about not getting his feet wet. Luckily he stayed dry for the entire trek, but an extra set of clothes, or at least socks and shoes may be helpful if you’re concerned about wet feet.

There are plenty of moments along the first half of the hike (on the way to The Pool) where you’re close to the river and on a relatively flat trail. If you don’t feel up for the full hike, an out and back along this section would be a nice, leisurely hike that would also be entertaining for kids.