Best trails near Nebel Horn

This is a difficult hike! The trail is steep essentially the entire way through the Fern Canyon turn off to the top of Bear. There is a small scramble at the top but nothing too bad. The views are gorgeous and worth the pain of the steep ascent. Sat on the top for 10-15 minutes before coming down. Came down Bear Canyon, and that was much more gentle and while little longer, worth it for the knees on the way down. Spikes are necessary, especially from the Nebel Horn-Bear saddle to the top. Happy hiking!

Found a cell phone on the fern canyon trail below the nebel horn today. I brought it down to the cragmoor trailhead and left it on the post with other lost items.

Used microspikes up the last 1,000’ once you get to the saddle by Nebel Horn. Very slippery in the evening, even w the spikes. Tiny postholes, but I was fine with low cut shoes, although somewhat moist in my shoes. The route to the horn will be off limits for raptor nesting until 7/1 I believe. I also used one trekking pole.

Used spikes past nebel horn to top and descended down the back way bc it looked sketch to come back down the ncar route. Seemed a few others did, tho. Used spikes for a little bit on the way down and then home free

Beautiful trail, fairly empty although it was late afternoon. Trail is almost entirely clear up to Nebel Horn, however the entire saddle between Nebel and Bear is packed snow. Crampons were very nice going up, couldn’t imagine going down without them.

Encountered a rattlesnake in the middle of the trail right by NCAR before you go downhill. Was not happy with me. Dry and great conditions up until the “ridge” (nebel horn) at which point you certainly need traction. Also summited bear and south boulder a few days after this. The snow is getting messy. Spikes weren’t so helpful midday Thursday

Use spikes at top of bear peak and going down between bear peak and nebel horn!

the hike becomes steep after nebel horn just be cautious on loose rocks while climbing down

Beautiful trail. We started at the NCAR parking lot which is huge, so no issue with parking. The trail was not crowded but we started at dawn to beat the heat. The way up Bear peak via Fern canyon is great but very steep as you get closer to the top. The last push to the peak is a scramble on huge rocks that feel slippery in places. We came down through west ridge which is less steep and probably easier on your knees. The views at the top are great : city to one side and mountains on the other! The detour to nebel horn was closed to protect wildlife.

Strenuous 6 mile hike. One of my favorites in Colorado.

Somewhat busy trail, but it was a beautiful and green! Would recommend hiking poles to save your knees on the way down! it was foggy when we went up, so we didnt have any views. This was a tough hike as my first hike of the season!

Trail was in great shape. If u are making the loop I would suggest starting on Shanahan side as it's a more technical, rocky path and easier to do uphill. Go down on west side trail if u have bad knees. Lots of fun great workout.

Great hike and great view

Steep but so worth it

I logged 10 miles with the loop.

Completed on 5/17. I originally planned to do a sunrise hike on Mount Morrison, but since I was too sketched out about the mountain lion activity there, I pivoted to this loop and I couldn't have been happier with that decision. What an absolutely phenomenal hike that's a must-do if you're in the Boulder area. With most of RMNP still being snowcapped, the views looking Westward were mindblowing. While descending Shadow Canyon can be steep at times, I'd still recommend going CCW, just so you ascend the steepest and hardest section (Fern Canyon trail) rather than descend. After a gentle beginning, the main push up Bear Peak is brutal (1700+ ft in less than a mile), but the views are unbelievable at the top. The trail doesn't go to the true summit of Bear Peak, but I'd still highly recommend the short scramble to get those 360-degree views. If you stick on the left/East side of the summit block, and scramble at the end, you avoid most of the sketchiness and exposure of the summit. The traverse to South Boulder was way easier than expected, and the views at the summit were ridiculous again. For the most part, the trails are excellently maintained and easy to follow, as I only had to check navigation once on the descent off South Boulder. The final few miles were easy, but still had some awesome meadow views of both peaks. Like with other hikes in Boulder, there isn't an actual parking lot, as most roads are open for normal street parking. I've never seen more trail runners on a hike ever, and while everyone was nice, getting here early is for the best, especially on the weekends. One last note is that I'd highly recommend hiking poles for this hike since these steep, rocky trails take a toll on your knees.

Parking is a mess but otherwise great. Went counter clockwise, so went over Bear peak first and ended with south Boulder. Descent is a fun quad buster.

Really pretty views! Tough hike but with it. We went up Mesa trail and didn't encounter any ice / snow. Going down Fern canyon, there was large patches of ice / slush that made the decent difficult and slow. Would currently recommend spikes if you have them! Still a nice hike

definitely is good to have Spike to get to the top of the peaks. it was fine without them all the way up to the first Ascent. I lost my spikes a mile down the trail so I didn't finish getting to Bear peak but I didn't want to take the chance to break my butt. thank you to the person who put my spikes on the trail post!!!