Well-known alpine summit accessed by a heavily traveled trail featuring sweeping views, high-altitude terrain, and a steady ascent suitable for experienced hikers.
General Information
Elevation Gain: ~3,300 feet
Difficulty: Moderate to strenuous
Best to start early morning to avoid afternoon storms
Frisco (15 mi)
Blue River (5 mi)
How to Get There
From Breckenridge (10 mi): Take CO-9 south from Breckenridge, turn right onto Blue Lakes Road, and follow it to the designated trailhead parking area.
Overview
Quandary Peak is the highest summit of the Tenmile Range in the Rocky Mountains and is the most commonly climbed fourteener in Colorado. It has nearly the same elevation as Castle Peak and Mount Blue Sky. It lies in Summit County and within the White River National Forest about 6 miles (10 km) south-southwest of the town of Breckenridge.
The standard route up Quandary Peak is a trail hike (class 1), starting from a trailhead about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Hoosier Pass on the east side of the peak. Hence it is a popular fourteener to climb because of the relatively easy ascent and its proximity to Denver and Breckenridge. Quandary Peak is also popular with backcountry skiers and snowboarders. The gentle ascent makes for an easy climb from the east with less danger from avalanche than on many other fourteeners. The other slopes of the peak are steep and appeal to expert backcountry skiers. One such steep ski mountaineering route is the Cristo Couloir.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Quandary Peak", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
Featured Trail
Jeff P from Berkeley, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Image Size Adjusted
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North Mount Elbert Trail
10.4 miles roundtrip, 4,468 feet elevation gain
