Region
Most climbed route
Grays Peak Trail and Torreys Combo via Stevens Gulch TH
7.7 mi • 3,609 ft gain • Class 1
Highlights
- Grays Peak is the highest Colorado 14er in the Front Range.
- Its summit is the highest point exactly on the Continental Divide.
- Like the other fourteeners nearby, Grays Peak is considered to be an easy hike by 14er standards and is very popular among weekend climbers.
- Often a climb to the summit of Grays Peak is accompanied by continuing on to Torreys Peak, less than a mile away. From the summit of Grays, a trail descends to a saddle before climbing up to the summit of Torreys.
- The summit includes a very small U-Shaped rock shelter and has extensive views stretch south to Pikes Peak and the San Luis Valley, east to the Great Plains, West to Silverthorne, and north to Longs Peak and Rocky Mountain National Park.
Routes
75 climbs • 7.7 mi • 3,609 ft gain • 7 hr 52 min • Class 1
3 climbs • 7.2 mi • 2,923 ft gain • 7 hr 19 min
3 climbs • 7.9 mi • 3,536 ft gain • 7 hr 33 min
Latest climbs
"9/24/22: Standard route up Grays Peak NRT with same return. Beautiful perfectly clear day with views hundreds of miles in all directions. Really nice summit area and met some really nice folks on the way up and at the summit and on the way down. (7.9/3100)" — LoneWolf • Sep 24, 2022
"Got to the trailhead at 3:45AM, parking lot was filled 20 minutes after, set off the hike at 4:30 for an easy summit by 7:40. Descent was quick and easy and only took about two hours despite me being slow. But I swear it will forever be the death of me when I get stuck behind a Nissan on the dirt road up and it takes an hour to go 2 miles. Otherwise very fun and easy beginner climb!" — paandooo • Aug 12, 2022
"Climbed Kelso Ridge for some fun class 3 practice. Intermittent snow and water on the standard trail. Small snow crossings on the ridge above 13,000 feet. Knife Edge is clear (shown in the video). Easy solid snow steps from the crux to the summit. Don't bother bringing traction, gaiters wouldn't be a bad idea though. Still some postholing on the descent.
https://youtu.be/wsHB078CpRs" — cheeseishappiness • Jun 12, 2022
"Torreys and Grays via the Class 3 Kelso Ridge route. Our first 14ers! The road to the trailhead was as scary as the climb haha. We camped in the woods at the upper lot and got an alpine start up the route. Beautiful weather and great company made for a fun day of scrambling in the alpine. " — wacbravo • Sep 15, 2021
"Pretty rough road reaching the trailhead. Hike up to Gray was beautiful. Views were incredible. Sadly, the group decided to not continue to Torrey. So we headed back down. 7.2 miles." — newenglandwarrior • Aug 5, 2019
"Kelso-Grays-Torreys-Grizzly-Cupid traverse
20.82km with 2,241m gain in 9:00hrs
The third day brought much better and quieter weather, was a bit windy and 4,000m+ but at least no showers or thunderstorms.
A road to Grays trailhead is 4.8km one way from I-70 and requires a 4x4. After initial 800m got concerned about our rental Santa Fe and decided to walk it up. Should've driven the road the whole way, would've saved me 4km in distance and 300m gain. Except of few washed out spots, it was completely fine. The smallest/lowest car I saw at the trailhead, was a BMW sedan.
The rest was pretty straightforward: just followed a trail, scrambled Kelso and returned to the trail. Grays Peak is pretty much a local "Ha Ling". Very crowded.
The whole traverse is Class 2 (easy scramble) at most, with more than half is merely hiking.
Met with my wife and son at Grizzly Peak, so the second part for me (and return for them) was definitely slower." — alexp • Aug 7, 2018
"My first mountain climbed! I also bagged Torreys Peak the same day. I learned new terms like post holing and false summit that day. Incredible experience though! I found a new hobby that day." — scottshindler • May 5, 2018
"Dirt road to TH from exit 221 on Hwy 70 was drivable in Toyota Highlander. Hiked from TH:11,240' to Grays Peak on class 1 trail to summit, 2hrs 15mins (4 miles) from TH to peak." — BradStemm • Aug 2, 2016
"I climbed Torreys Peak and Grays Peak via Kelso Ridge. My third summit of Torreys, and second summit of Grays. We met up with a larger group to camp the night before in honor of Selena LeDoux's birthday. Most of the group chose to go up the standard route. My friends Hunter Nerison, Joshua Meyer, and myself decided on Kelso Ridge. There was snow the last hundred feet or so up Kelso Ridge, perhaps a bit more, but the route was mostly clear. It was a beautiful day and good times were had by all!" — IanWright • Jun 18, 2016
"It was overcast for most of the day with a few moments where the sun poked out through the clouds. After Gray's we continued on to Torrey's and fortunately it stayed nice enough until we were back down most of the way to the tree line. There were hundreds of people doing this hike while we were there and it as very crowded at the summits. We met a lot of really nice and interesting people along the way. There were a few places that were fairly steep, but overall It was a pretty easy hike by fourteener standards. " — IanWright • Aug 16, 2015
Photos
Awards
Challenges
About peakery awards
Log climbs on peakery to earn awards:
Peak Badges: Earn a special badge for each unique peak you summit. See all of your badges on your Badges page.
First Ascent Award: Only 1 available per peak. Goes to the first peakery member to log a successful summit of a peak. Snag this award and the peak will forever bear your name.
King of the Mountain Award: Only 1 available per peak. Summit a peak more times than any other member. Beware: this award can be lost!
Summit Steward: Summit a peak at least 5 times to become one of its Summit Stewards. As Steward of a peak, you’re encouraged to keep that peak’s info up-to-date on peakery and spread goodwill on your future climbs up the peak.