Region
Highlights
- Mount Bierstadt is a Colorado 14er in the Front Range.
- Because it is generally considered an easy climb, along with its accessibility from nearby Denver, Mount Bierstadt is one of the most popular mountains to climb in Colorado.
- The most popular route begins at Guanella Pass. From Guanella Pass it is approximately a 3 mile hike with a climb of 2,391 feet.
- Alternative trails cover the eastern slopes for longer hikes.
- Once at the summit, a popular option is to continue the hike to nearby Mount Evans along a ridge known as The Sawtooth, an intermediate-level hike. Often such a trip will involve a detour down to Abyss Lake at the bottom of the valley separating Bierstadt and Evans.
Routes
/-105.668762901845,39.5825974376586,11,0.00,0.00/320x240@2x?access_token=pk.eyJ1IjoicGVha2VyeSIsImEiOiJjampra3Z0bnAxeTVnM3FteHlybHY3b2p1In0.7a5dEa5-995VUv8ceHHNmw)
45 summits • 15.0 mi • 3,049 ft gain • 5 hr 7 min • Class 2
/-105.668762901845,39.5825974376586,11,0.00,0.00/320x240@2x?access_token=pk.eyJ1IjoicGVha2VyeSIsImEiOiJjampra3Z0bnAxeTVnM3FteHlybHY3b2p1In0.7a5dEa5-995VUv8ceHHNmw)
38 summits • 7.3 mi • 2,675 ft gain • 5 hr 40 min • Class 2
/-105.668762901845,39.5825974376586,11,0.00,0.00/320x240@2x?access_token=pk.eyJ1IjoicGVha2VyeSIsImEiOiJjampra3Z0bnAxeTVnM3FteHlybHY3b2p1In0.7a5dEa5-995VUv8ceHHNmw)
1 summit • 11.5 mi • 3,802 ft gain • 12 hr 53 min
/-105.668762901845,39.5825974376586,11,0.00,0.00/320x240@2x?access_token=pk.eyJ1IjoicGVha2VyeSIsImEiOiJjampra3Z0bnAxeTVnM3FteHlybHY3b2p1In0.7a5dEa5-995VUv8ceHHNmw)
1 summit • 11.8 mi • 4,049 ft gain • 10 hr 13 min
Latest summits

"Becca, Whitney, Jeremiah and I drove out crazy early and saw sunrise from the foothills of Bierstadt. We summited earlier than we thought, and the altitude gave SOME OF US gas. Jeremiah and I both had a headache for much of the climb, but his slow steady pace allowed us to make progress and take far fewer rests than the other hikers on the trail. For each of us, it was the first 14,000+ ft mountain!" — mikebenjamin • Jul 29, 2021

"10/10/2020: Rare clear day in the land of smoke. Over 200+ people on the mountain today but thinned out at the top. Golden Eagles, Pikas, and momma and baby Mountain Goats were better company. Took old decommissioned “trail” down to willow crossing. (6.5/2600)" — LoneWolf • Oct 10, 2020

"Fun climb, in spite a there being a huge number of people climbing and on the summit.
Not an epic climb in terms of distance or elevation gain, but it's steep all but the first mile. So it will work your legs.
Decent trail most of the way, but the last ~1/4 mile is a rock scramble that takes a while to get up or down." — stevebrown • Sep 24, 2020

"Made the trip with a friend from town. Luckily she brought running spikes and poles. Managed to get to the top in 1:56, which we are pretty proud of considering this was my second ascent and her first. Super windy close to the top but a lot calmer on the actual summit. We were glad we started around 6. It started getting busy as we were headed back down." — amybowen09 • Jun 27, 2019

"Started well before sunrise with the intention of reaching the summit in time to watch it. We were close. The going was a little slower than anticipated due to one of our party not feeling 100%. Still an awesome day!" — Kevin • Sep 2, 2017

"Started at sunrise. Obstacles included crossing a flooded stream and battling chilly wind gusts. Sun came out at the top and turned out to be a beautiful day. Took a little less than an hour to descend. This was my 2nd summit!" — melissakwriter • Jul 15, 2017

"My first winter fourteener! I can't stress enough how much more difficult this was than I ever expected. We started at about 5 am, made summit around 2:30 or 3 pm, and made it back to the car around 6 or 7 pm. A very long day! There was a pretty solid trench for a lot of it, but in places the wind had completely covered it so people had made their own new routes. Without snowshoes this would have been nearly impossible in some places. We made tons of wrong turns and bad route finding decisions on the way up that added tons of extra time to our accent. Following other people's tracks proved to be a huge mistake in several cases. The way down went a lot smoother and we made it down in much better time, reaching the summer trail head just as it was getting dark. It was a beautiful clear day and there was no wind at all on the way up, not even at the summit. The wind picked up a little bit on our way down, but still was not to bad. This climb kicked the crap out of me, and was a very humbling experience. We made a lot of mistakes, but fortunately none that led to any life threatening situations. In different circumstances they could have been. I learned a lot from this climb and gained..." — IanWright • Jan 27, 2016

"Cyril and I spent the night at ground zero in the pickup. Woke up and began the ascent at around 7:00 AM. Made the summit in about 3-4 hours and continued on through The Sawtooth. Descended through Hidden Valley and made it back to the pickup around 4:00 PM. " — ACDelco • Sep 26, 2015
"This was mountain 1 of 5 for the day. We hit the trail at about 4 am. On the way up Mount Bierstadt we ran into someone we had met a week earlier wile climbing Grays and Torreys. After a short conversation we discovered that he and his friend (Andrew and Julio) had the same goals for the day, and decided to climb across The Sawtooth to Mount Evans together. They were amazing climbing companions and I suspect that we will climb many more mountains together in the future. On the descent from The Sawtooth ridge traverse you end up in the valley below The Sawtooth. This valley had mile after mile of muddy bog through overgrown willows that were overgrown to a point where the trail often disappears. There are countless places where the trail splits off with all but one option being a dead end. I felt like a mouse in a maze except our maze had knee deep mud the whole way. We ended up doing a lot of bushwhacking. Eventually it meets up with the official trail to Mount Beirstadt. We finally made it back to the car after doing more than 16 miles, and backtracking dozens of times through the bog, by around 11pm. An amazing and challenging hike with wonderful people that I won't soon forget. ..." — IanWright • Aug 23, 2015

"Had a buddy, Eduard Rasenack, come to town. He wanted to hike a 14er so up we went. He is from sea level and really struggled, but he made the summit! This was my 3rd 14er summit in a week and I was also tired." — Brandon-Shinsplint- • Jul 15, 2015