Mills Lake is situated between Thatchtop Mountain and Half Mountain, with Longs Peak looming overhead to the South. It is in beautiful Glacier Gorge and is only the first lake of several accessible from here. It sits at an altitude of 9,940' and is almost 16 acres in size. Another much smaller lake joins it at the Southern end, Jewel Lake. Glacier creek flows out of it at the North end and immediately creates the Glacier falls, silenced in winter.
The trip from the trailhead is about 2.6 miles. Rainbow trout have been found in the Lake.
This Lakes' namesake, Enos Mills (1870-1922,) was one of the most important figures connected with the establishment of the Park. It was through his unrelenting efforts that Congress finally approved the addition of this area to the National Park system. Abner Sprague, a local hotelier and a famous guide for the area before it became a Park, named Mills Lake after him as well as other features in the Park (Mills Glacier and Moraine, but not Mill Creek which was named after a sawmill built there).#
