ouzel falls hike

date of activity: May 17, 2009

Ouzel Falls is located in the southeastern part of Rocky Mountain National Park. This beautiful region of the park is known as Wild Basin. This section of RMNP sees far fewer visitors than the more popular parts of the park accessed by the two main entrances at Estes Park and Grand Lake. I imagine this has a lot to do with two things: (1) To get to the Wild Basin Trailhead you have to drive a couple of miles back a one lane dirt road, and (2) Going to Wild Basin means you’re going to have to get out of your car & hike somewhere, rather than just tooling around in your car gawking at the scenery and elk.

The Wild Basin Trailhead lies at 8,500 feet and is 12.5 miles south of Estes Park on CO 7 (Peak to Peak Highway). After you go through the entrance station, you’ll pass Copeland Lake on your right. I’d heard that you can get some nice shots of Copeland Mountain reflected in the lake, but when I was there last weekend, Copeland Lake looked pretty ghastly. It looked like it was only about half-full, which really surprised me since I would’ve thought it’d be filled to the brim from spring snowmelt. I found out later, though, that the city of Longmont, way down yonder on the dry & dusty plains, owns the lake and sometimes draws the water down quite a bit.

This was my first visit to Wild Basin and I only went an easy 2.7 miles up the Thunder Lake Trail to Ouzel Falls. The trail up to the falls is super nice and not at all rocky or terribly steep like some other trails in the park. In fact, if it wasn’t for the snow & ice that were still on some sections of the trail a bit higher up, I’d classify this hike as a pleasant stroll.

Just a short quarter-mile or so up the trail, you’ll come across signs directing you off to the left to Upper & Lower Copeland Falls. Neither set of falls is really anything to write home about. They’re just a couple of steep drops in North St. Vrain Creek. I did take a couple of shots of Upper Copeland Falls, but they didn’t come out very well due to the high contrast between areas of deep shade & bright sunlight. Probably the best photos here would need some overcast to even out the light.

About two miles up the trail, you’ll find Calypso Cascades (9,280 feet). Cony Creek tumbles 200 feet down the steep hillside, slaloming between boulders & fallen trees. Unfortunately, getting a good shot here beneath the trees was also complicated by areas of deep shade & bright sunlight.

Less than a mile from Calypso Cascades, you’ll reach Ouzel Falls (9,460 feet). The trail crosses Ouzel Creek on a small wooden bridge below the falls. From the bridge, you can see the 50 foot waterfall, sitting back the creek a little ways. To get closer to the action, you’ll need to leave the trail and follow the left side of the creek up the hillside to the base of the falls. When I was there, spring snowmelt was really pumping up the volume of water plunging over the five-story drop. The jumble of large boulders right around the base of the falls complicates the attempt to find scenic compositions. The close terrain & the trees don’t really allow you the option of “backing up” and trying to find a pretty shot of the falls from anywhere farther back. My best shot was taken from a large, flat boulder that juts up on the eastern side of the falls, immediately next to the creek rushing by on the right.

Although I only went as far as Ouzel Falls on this hike, I look forward to many return visits to this beautiful part of RMNP, when I’ll go farther in & higher up into Wild Basin.

Thanks for reading about stuff I’ve photographed. ~Rich