Bierstadt Lake EarthCache
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Rocky Mountain National Park is located west of Estes Park and north and east of Grand Lake. This is a fee area of the National Park Service, and costs $30 per vehicle. This fee is covered in the Rocky Mountain National Park Annual Pass, the Rocky Mountain National Park/Arapaho National Recreation Area Annual Pass, and the America the Beautiful Pass. Please see the following website (visit link) for the entire fee schedule. The park is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Road and Trail Conditions and Closures can be found at: (visit link) Recorded information for the condition of Trail Ridge Road can be found by calling (970) 586-1222. Please remember that all geologic features within the borders of Rocky Mountain National Park are protected by law, as are all natural and historic features. Please do not disturb, damage, or remove any rocks, plants, or animals.
Parking is located at the Bierstadt Lake Trailhead, Bear Lake Trailhead, or you can park at one of the several shuttle bus parking lots and take the shuttle to Bear Lake and hike in from here.
Bierstadt Lake is an example of a kettle lake. A kettle is formed when a huge chunk of ice breaks off of a retreating glacier. This ice may be covered by sediments (soils and sand, gravels and boulders) from the till which was carried by the ice of the glacier, or by sediments carried by the outwash stream of the glacier. When the ice melts, the sediments slump, and a depression is left behind. If the bottom of the depression will hold water, it will often form a kettle lake. The sizes of kettle lakes can vary greatly, but they are usually fairly shallow.
Kettle lakes which are found in Rocky Mountain National Park can be found in the outwash plains of glaciers, and found associated with the moraines of glaciers. Bear Lake, to the southwest, was the result of a kettle which formed due to a moraine. The Sheep Lakes, in Horseshoe Park, are examples of kettle lakes which were formed in the outwash basin of a glacier.
To receive credit for this EarthCache, send me an email with the answer to the following question:
1.) Do you think that Bierstadt Lake was formed from a kettle which resulted from sediment deposited in an outwash plain, or a moraine? Give support for your answer.
Please consider posting photos of yourself, or the local geology, when you log this EarthCache. Photos can be an additional rewarding part of your journey, but posting them is not a requirement for logging this EarthCache, and is strictly optional.
The above information was compiled from the following sources:
2004. Rocky Mountain National Park. In Harris, A.G. et al., editors. Geology of National Parks, Sixth Ed. P. 337-356. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.
Cole, J.C., and Braddock, W.A. 2009. Geologic map of the Estes Park 30’ x 60’ quadrangle, north-central Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3039, 1 sheet, scale 1:100,000, 1 pamphlet, 56 p.
Colorado Geological Survey. 2003. Messages in Stone. Matthews et al., editors. Denver, Colorado.
KellererLynn, K. 2004. Rocky Mountain National Park. Geologic Resource Evaluation Report. NPS D307, September 2004. Online at: (visit link)
Rocky Mountain National Park. Online at: (visit link)
Informational signage at the site.
Rocky Mountain National Park was most helpful in the background discussion, aid in the choosing of sites, and review of this EarthCache. My thanks to the Park for allowing the placement of this EarthCache!
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