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My 57th 14ner. One of the most beautiful approaches and basins.
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A must do backpacking trip. Did it clockwise. Make sure you leave enough time to enjoy this incredible place. If you power through it, then you will be way too tired to care what’s in front of you. Did it in 4 nights with a friend. 11 miles on the first day to do the Maroon Bells and Frigid Air passes, then took the 2nd day to rest and take in the beautiful views. Did Trail Rider on the 3rd day and then Buckskin on Fourth. You don’t need much water since there are so many streams and lakes all over. You do need lots of calories so make sure you pack accordingly. Enjoy!
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We did this from Crested Butte to Aspen on July 15. We parked at copper creek trail head. Total distance was just over 17 miles. Left parking lot at 620 am and ended up at Maroon Bells shuttle around 430p. The river crossings slowed us down quite a bit. We stopped to switch out to water shoes where water was knee-deep 6 times. Only one of them was a bit tricky that was knee deep with fast moving water. We had equal number or more or river stream crossings where we could make it across without water topping over our boots. Once we went over the pass, there were a few easily navigable snow fields, but one sketchy area about 100 feet long that was luckily soft snow, but we were still glad we had our micro spikes and poles as it was definitely steep and a slip could have been ugly. The rest of the way down was rather uneventful except an area that had some massive downed trees over a short stretch. Had to go down hill on the first group and uphill on the second group to navigate. At the end end of the trail it is a bit of a painful uphill slog to get back to the shuttle pickup for Aspen so would be much easier to go down to East Maroon trailhead if you could get a ride from there. We were thinking of hiking back via West Maroon pass after a couple days in Aspen but not so sure now. Btw we only passed one hiker going the other direction to Crested Butte. Clearly not a lot of people have done this hike yet as trails a bit overgrown.
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This was a difficult hike made more so because there is still a lot of snow and the rivers are high. We hiked counter clockwise, we made it over the snow covered face of Buckskin Pass but were stopped at the river about a mile from Snowmass Lake. A few people we met risked a single log crossing but to fall off it would have been dire. Most people we met turned back at Buckskin Pass because of the snow and only a few that we knew of completed the loop. It was a beautiful hike despite not finishing the loop. We backtracked after being blocked by the high water and hiked to the river just before the Maroon Pass. This river was also sketchy to cross and only a few we met tried. Overall we hiked about 24 miles and had an elevation change around 8,000 feet. If you’re in good shape I this is a great hike and after the snow is gone it should be a bit easier.
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Really nice easy trail with great views. If you want something more challenging take the government trail cutoff.
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Epic hike to do in one day. Come prepared and fit. We started just after 4am to be safe with the chance of afternoon thunderstorms.
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This hike was a true bucket list item. The difficulty rating is for the steepness to the summit and the Rocky descent on aspen side. It was totally doable. The wildflowers on cb side were amazing. That’s the more beautiful side in my opinion but the aspen side had amazing views.
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This is a tough but very rewarding hike. Typical of most long hikes in the area, lots of large rocks to negotiate. Start early as afternoon heat and thunderstorms can taint an otherwise incredible hike. Mid July wildflowers up over our heads in valley on Crested Butte side of pass.
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This was the most beautiful hike I’ve ever done. The peak is strenuous (and windy), but has a very clearly marked trail the entire way. Tons of creeks and even more flowers!
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Not quite as nice as the four pass loop, but it’s equally challenging. I went counter clockwise camping at avalanche lake, GenevaLake and just over the creek at the lowest point before going over the Haystack Mountain pass. Note that after going over that pass, the NatGeo map becomes useless at some point. The map no longer follows the trail. I would have wasted a lot of time if I didn’t have GaiaGPS with me. As it was I lost a few hours bushwhacking and never found the return trail I wanted to follow. Ended up backtracking on the Ditch Trail I started out on.
Beware to not leave your shoes outside the vestibule at night like I did my last night. Some critter stole a shoe leaving me to hike 12 miles the next day with only one.
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Great time of year, some snow on sections, watch your step. Wear good Shores, easy hooker.
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Park at capitol lake trailhead unless you have a very high clearance vehicle. It is possible to drive up to hell roaring trailhead, but tough terrain. Steep sections on and off throughout the hike. Gorgeous stands of aspen and conifer forests. Normally a couple of spectacular view points, but this day was socked in with smoke from wildfires.
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