This is the trailhead that you should choose if you are short on time at the Park. A lot of nice and interesting trails / sites radiate from this trailhead. Parking here gets filled up very early, so.

Nice trail to Emerald Lake. Uphill quite a bit but some great scenery, some of the best on the east side. I think Dream Lake is the best in that 3 lake series. Fairly heavily trafficked.

This hike is mostly flat (one short section does have an incline) , and is really pretty. We visited later in the day (6 p.m.), and at that point it was not super crowded.