On a hot summer day I drove on backroads for an hour to get to Rossmoore Lake.   There are some 4WD tracks to the lake, but the best road is the Rossmoore Lake Road, accessed by the Long Lake Road or the McConnell Forest Service Road.   Either of the recommended roads are backcountry gravel roads, but do not need 4WD, although high clearance is recommended.   When I got there on the July long weekend, people were camping at the Rec Site, including a truck that had pulled a trailer in to the lake.

The launch area is at the southeast corner of the lake, but I chose a hand launch spot near the dam, then I paddled around the lake in a counter-clockwise loop.

The Rossmore Forest Fire burned most of the forest around the lake and extended north and south.    The fire did not go all the way up Ridge Mountain which has remained green (mostly lodgepole pine).

When the lake was dammed, it expanded the lake’s size, flooding lower shorelines.    The waterlogged trees, the burned trees, and some windblown trees create hazards along the edge of the lake –   Rossmoore Lake (link)

I paddled past the Rocky Mountain Rangers Cabin on the northeast shore on the way back to the end of the lake.

A YouTube short features a few moments from this outing: