(Editor’s note: This is part of The Know’s series, Staff Favorites. Each week, we offer our opinions on the best that Colorado has to offer for dining, shopping, entertainment, outdoor activities and more. (We’ll also let you in on some hidden gems).
The Brainard Lake Recreation Area — with its beautiful lakes, great hiking, expansive views and dramatic mountain peaks on the edge of the Indian Peaks Wilderness — is one of the most attractive recreational destinations in northern Colorado.
But it makes me think of a quote by baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra, who baby boomers remember as much for his memorable non-sequiturs as his baseball accomplishments. Of a particularly busy restaurant, he famously said, “Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded.”
The Brainard Lake Recreation Area has gotten too crowded over the past decade, so a reservation system was instituted in 2021. It’s very easy to fall into the rut of looking elsewhere for outdoor recreation options instead of dealing with reservation hassles, but Brainard Lake is worth the time and effort to snag a permit — if you can be flexible.
The two most dramatic peaks at Brainard Lake are Mount Toll and Mount Audubon, part of a stunning cluster of mountains strung along the Continental Divide that is visible from Boulder and much of northern Colorado. Toll tops out at just under 13,000 feet, while Audubon’s summit stands at 13,223 feet.
My favorite Brainard Lake memories involve them both. Back in the 1990s when I was new to ski mountaineering, I climbed Toll and descended on skis with Ron Haddad, author of “Indian Peak Descents,” a guidebook about the area. It was the Fourth of July, but the ski route on the peak still had enough snow for a sublime 1,600-foot descent. That adventure remains one of my most memorable and enjoyable days on skis.
Not long after that, I saw a photo of Toll that was taken from the summit of Audubon. Toll is one of the most picturesque peaks in northern Colorado, and seeing what it looks like from Audubon — only 1.2 miles from summit to summit — fired my imagination. I knew I had to climb Audubon and get that photo of Toll.
Climbing Audubon from the Mitchell Lake trailhead at Brainard Lake involves a hike of 8 miles roundtri,p with an ascent of 2,500 feet. Along the way and on the summit, there are stunning views of Longs Peak, 11 miles to the north in Rocky Mountain National Park. And when Mount Toll comes into view near the summit of Audubon, the view is mesmerizing. Audubon is a great example of how 13,000-foot peaks can be every bit as fun and rewarding to climb as fourteeners.
For those preferring less arduous ways to enjoy the Brainard Lake area, I recommend the hike to Blue Lake, which is situated at the foot of Mount Toll. It’s a 5-mile roundtrip trek with an ascent of 790 feet from the Mitchell Lake trailhead.
The lake’s deep blue hue is stunning, and I’ll never forget walking across it when we skied Mount Toll. Even on the Fourth of July that year, it was still frozen.
Brainard Lake also has five picnic areas, and there are fishing spots within the recreation area.
Reservations are required to park in the Brainard Lake Recreation area ($14 plus a $2 reservation fee) and are sold via recreation.gov. It is possible to park for free without a reservation, just outside the recreation area entry at the Gateway Trailhead lot, but that would require hiking 2 miles just to get to Brainard Lake and 3 miles to get to the Mitchell Lake trailhead.
Another way to enjoy Brainard Lake and beat the reservation requirement is to ride in on a bicycle. Try parking in the RTD lot in Nederland and biking to Brainard Lake via the Peak to Peak Highway during leaf-peeping season. It’s about 16 miles one way and the views of flaming aspen can be phenomenal.
