Rio Grande National Forest · Colorado

Bear Lake

3.4 mi of trail, end to end · native material surface · trail No. 721 · trail class 3 · typical grade 12-20% · tread 18-24 inches wide · hiking, horse

Trailhead Bear Lake Trailhead Drive there

Bear Lake Trailhead the Forest Service's write-up

The trailhead is approx. 1 1/2 miles up FDR 105 from its junction with FDR 260. There is limited parking.

This trailhead on fs.usda.gov

Bear Lake Trailhead - Trail # 721 the Forest Service's write-up

The Bear Lake trail is 3.34 miles long. It begins at Forest Road 105 and ends at Bear Lake, a popular fishing lake.

The Bear Lake Trail provides a good starting point for longer backpacking trips. Prior to reaching Bear Lake, cutoff trail # 721.1A cuts off and connects with the Conejos Peark trail # 720 which heads west to Conejos Peak or south to trail # 724.

The trail is open for the following uses: Horseback riding, backpacking, hiking, cross country skiing and snow shoeing

This trailhead on fs.usda.gov

Every trail in Rio Grande National Forest

All 227 trails in Rio Grande National ForestFind a trailForest on fs.usda.gov

About this trail's facts

The lines are the US Forest Service's National Forest System trails layer (public domain), read 2026-10-16 and simplified for the map; the length is the line's, end to end, and the class, surface, grade and tread width are the forest's own entries where it publishes them - a forest that publishes the centreline alone has none. The trailheads and the points along the way are the Service's recreation points, and the write-ups its own recarea text, unedited. Heights come from USGS 3DEP through Terrain Tiles on AWS (Mapzen/Tilezen), read along each line and rounded; a short trail on steep ground can be off by a few tens of feet. Closures change: check the forest's own site before you go.