Emerald Lake Climbing

This digital Emerald Lake climbing guidebook gives you GPS navigation, verified topos, and beta for hundreds of climbs. Explore classics and hidden gems with offline access to maps, directions, and beta videos. Whether it's your first visit or fiftieth, KAYA makes your Emerald Lake days smoother, safer, and more dialed.

The bouldering at Emerald Lake is spectacular, with massive boulders standing stoically underneath the looming east face of Hallett Peak, among waterfalls and wildflowers. Emerald Lake was home to some of the first true “alpine” bouldering in the US. The 1.5-mile hike gains 605 feet of elevation on a well-graded and well-established park trail. Expect to see many tourists along the way. Emerald Lake is situated in the heart of Tyndall Gorge, which is bounded to the north by Flattop Mountain (elevation 12,324 feet) and Hallett Peak (elevation 12,713 feet). The massive, da... Show more

This digital Emerald Lake climbing guidebook gives you GPS navigation, verified topos, and beta for hundreds of climbs. Explore classics and hidden gems with offline access to maps, directions, and beta videos. Whether it's your first visit or fiftieth, KAYA makes your Emerald Lake days smoother, safer, and more dialed. The bouldering at Emerald Lake is spectacular, with massive boulders standing stoically underneath the looming east face of Hallett Peak, among waterfalls and wildflowers. Emerald Lake was home to some of the first true “alpine” bouldering in the US. The 1.5-mile hike gains 605 feet of elevation on a well-graded and well-established park trail. Expect to see many tourists along the way. Emerald Lake is situated in the heart of Tyndall Gorge, which is bounded to the north by Flattop Mountain (elevation 12,324 feet) and Hallett Peak (elevation 12,713 feet). The massive, dark rock wall of the east face of Hallett Peak looms overhead. The actual summit of Hallett Peak is not visible from Emerald Lake. The season here begins around the beginning of May, but expect hiking over packed snow, and potentially, bitter wind, snow, and cold that early in the year. This area dries out quickly and is climbable into late October. From the park entrance on Highway 36 drive 0.2 mile and turn left onto Bear Lake Road. Take Bear Lake Road for 10.0 miles to the Bear Lake Parking Lot at the end of the road. Park here. It’s best to arrive early in the morning or after 3 pm, especially on the weekends. The Bear Lake Parking Lot is a large parking area with one trailhead at its western end. From here, follow the approaches described for each specific subarea.