Wildflower-filled alpine meadow stretches across the foreground, dotted with pink, yellow, and white blooms. Steep gray-and-green cirque walls rise behind it under a heavy cloud layer, with a small patch of lingering snow near the ridge.

Ice Lake Basin

Silverton, CO

Ice Lake sits at 12,585 feet in a glacial cirque surrounded by the dramatic peaks of Vermillion, Golden Horn, and Pilot Knob. The lake is known for its impossibly vibrant turquoise color, set against lush wildflower meadows in midsummer. The basin also includes Island Lake, another photogenic alpine destination.

Photography Guide

Best Time: golden hour
Crowds: Moderate
Shot Types: widelandscapereflectiondetail
Best Seasons: summer

Practical Tips

The 7-mile round trip trail gains over 2,500 feet of elevation. Start early to avoid afternoon thunderstorms and secure trailhead parking along South Mineral Road.

Is it a good day to go?

7-day outlook

Mild, dry days with light winds are the most comfortable for a visit.

Forecast by Open-Meteo. Verdicts weigh the forecast against the conditions that suit this spot.

Author's Comments

The first time I saw Ice Lake I did not believe the color. I had heard the descriptions and seen other people's photographs and assumed, the way I always assume, that some of it was saturation pushed too far in post. It is not. The lake is genuinely that turquoise, a color that belongs more to the Caribbean than to a glacial cirque at 12,585 feet, and the first reaction is something close to disbelief. The hike earns it. Seven miles round trip and twenty-five hundred feet of climbing, most of it through the lower basin where the wildflowers in late July go absurd - paintbrush and columbine and lupine in densities I have not seen anywhere else in Colorado. I tell people to start at first light, not because the trailhead fills, though it does, but because the afternoon storms in this basin are not theoretical. By two in the afternoon you want to be coming down, not going up. Golden hour at the lake itself is the photograph everyone is after, and it is worth the wait if you can manage the descent in fading light. Vermillion and Golden Horn and Pilot Knob hold the last sun longer than the basin floor, and there is a window when the peaks are still warm and the water has gone deep and quiet. Reflections work best in the morning when the wind has not yet picked up. I have made both photographs and I am not sure which one I prefer. Push on to Island Lake if you have the legs. It is another four hundred feet up and most people do not bother, which is reason enough.

Gallery

A narrow dirt trail winds through a high alpine meadow of red, yellow, and green wildflowers, with granite boulders and steep gray cirque walls rising around it. Above the basin, evergreen trees dot the lower slopes under a bright blue sky with scattered white clouds. Photo: Adam Baker from Houston / Moscow / Toulouse (travel a lot) / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0

High above Ice Lake Basin, deep turquoise water stands out against broad patches of lingering snow and gray alpine rock, with thin clouds drifting across the cirque. The wide aerial view shows the basin’s rugged high-country terrain and the lake’s vivid color contrast. Photo: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC / Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

A high-altitude satellite view shows a large lake still partly covered in white ice, with smaller dark green lakes nearby set among brown, rugged terrain. Scattered snow patches and cloud shadow add texture across the mountain landscape. Photo: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC / Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Wide view of a snow-filled alpine basin with steep, rugged peaks and dark rock ridges rising around a frozen or snow-covered lake. In the lower right, a lone hiker in a knit hat and backpack looks out over the bright winter landscape under a cloudy sky. Photo: Greg Willis from Denver, CO, usa / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0

This image shows a labeled relief map rather than a mountain lake, with brown shaded basins, ridgelines, and blue dashed arrows tracing drainage paths across the terrain. White text marks places such as Columbia Basin, Saddle Mountains, Yakima Valley, and Walla Walla Valley. Photo: Williamborg / Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Turquoise alpine water fills a glacial basin, with a large white snow or ice floe floating in the foreground and smaller slabs scattered across the lake. Steep rocky slopes with lingering snow rise around the still surface, which reflects the dark cirque walls and sky. Photo: Павел Хлыстунов / Pexels

A partly frozen turquoise alpine lake sits beneath steep, snow-streaked cirque walls, with dark rock faces and white snowfields glowing in low golden light. Foreground patches of grassy meadow and exposed stone frame the icy water and rugged peaks. Photo: Marina Zvada / Pexels

A turquoise alpine lake with thin ice stretches across the foreground, backed by steep, snow-streaked mountain walls under a low cloudy sky. A small grassy ledge at the bottom edge adds a dark foreground contrast to the cold, glacial basin. Photo: Marina Zvada / Pexels

An overhead view of a turquoise alpine lake tucked into a rocky glacial cirque, edged by broad white snowfields and broken ice. Dark stone walls frame the water, with a narrow pale-blue meltwater channel cutting through the snow on the right. Photo: michele giordano / Pexels

Nearby Places

A green alpine slope below dense dark evergreens is dotted with white mountain goats, with bright purple and yellow wildflowers filling the foreground. In the middle distance, a mineral-stained orange scar and a small snow patch cut through the mountainside.

Hidden Gems

Silverton, CO

Ophir Pass

Ophir Pass is a 11,789-foot alpine pass between Silverton and Telluride that follows a historic toll road built in 1881. The Silverton side features expansive views of the mineral-stained peaks of the Red Mountain mining district. Near the summit, the road traverses above timberline with vast open tundra and scattered wildflowers.

morningsummer

A winter scene of Bridal Veil Falls pouring over a cliff in a thick white plume, with the rock face and foreground boulders coated in snow and long icicles. Mist rises around the frozen waterfall, softening the gray sky and the towering canyon wall.

Photogenic

Telluride, CO

Bridal Veil Falls

At 365 feet, Bridal Veil Falls is the tallest free-falling waterfall in Colorado. A historic hydroelectric power plant sits at the top of the falls and is one of the oldest alternating current power plants still operating in the world. The falls are visible from the east end of Telluride's box canyon.

morningspring · summer

Snow-streaked Red Mountain peaks rise above a dense dark-green forest, their rust-red and orange slopes glowing in warm afternoon light under a pastel blue-and-pink sky. A weathered mining trestle and scattered industrial ruins sit in the foreground, emphasizing the area’s mining history.

Overlooks

Ouray, CO

Million Dollar Highway - Red Mountain Pass

Red Mountain Pass sits at 11,018 feet along U.S. Route 550, the famous Million Dollar Highway connecting Ouray and Silverton. The surrounding peaks are stained vivid red and orange from iron oxide mineralization. Several pullouts offer views of the barren, colorful peaks and remnants of historic mining operations.

afternoonsummer · fall