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
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45 summits • 15.0 mi • 3,049 ft gain • 5 hr 7 min
36 summits • 7.3 mi • 2,675 ft gain • 5 hr 10 min
1 summit • 11.8 mi • 4,049 ft gain • 10 hr 13 min
Latest summits
"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
"After climbing Evans the day before I was stoked to climb Bierstadt. The day was bright and sunny, and weather was good. I was amazed at how windy and cold the summit was. I was glad I had brought rain gear to use as a wind brake. " — Brandon-Shinsplint- • Jul 12, 2015
"After an innocuous day up at altitude, we were poised to hike our first 14er of the trip, just two days after arriving at Denver. Mount Bierstadt is one of the closest to Denver, just an hour away, and we had dinner plans later in the evening with Lauren’s cousins so we figured it was the right call. Maybe not, as it turned out.
I’ve climbed my fair share of mountains in the past five or so years, so this was business as usual for me. But ever since I was stricken with altitude sickness last year, I wanted to make sure that I properly acclimatized, lest I be stricken with it again. Ascending up to 12000 feet yesterday proved to be tiring, but no adverse symptoms manifested. I was convinced that this was ample acclimation to my surroundings, but I assumed wrong.
The day commenced at 5:45 AM, with a quick drive to the trailhead. We were on our way up the mountain around 7:30, and the parking lot was full despite the fact that it was a Friday. Hikers with sneakers and inadequate layers were rampant, and we figured that a great deal of these people wouldn’t summit because of the below freezing wind chills closer to the top.
The going was easy, for the most part. We took infreq..." — justinraphaelson • Jul 10, 2015
"After attempting to sleep in the car during a snowstorm near the top of Guanella Pass, my brother and I began our hike at 4:10am. The snow conditions were pretty bad not just for boots but for snowshoes as well, but we made the decision to continue anyway. Because of this, the going was extremely slow, but we finally reached the summit at 10:15am. We had originally planned to traverse the Sawtooth over to Evans, but the snow conditions were too dicey, so we descended Bierstadt, returning to the trailhead at 1:40pm." — Globetrotter87 • May 30, 2015
"The best thing about hiking one of the easiest 14ers in CO is the opportunity to pass over 100 people on the way up. Less then 2 hours from sleeping bag to summit then off to Sawtooth." — Christopher • Jul 21, 2013
"Went back up Bierstadt one week after taking a large group. I had lost one trekking pole on the way down the previous week, so I returned to the summit hoping to find the pole somewhere. No luck on for the pole, but it was a fun day of fast and light hiking." — aweygandt • Jul 20, 2013
"I felt tired as I roll over and wait for the alarm to sound. My excitement made it difficult to sleep through the night. All in all I slept about 3 hours. At 2:34 am the alarm sounded signaling the beginning of my adventure.
My hotel was a little more than an hour and a half away from the trail head at Guanella Pass. Once there, i was not alone. two other cars were in the parking area at 11,000 feet.
Still dark outside I set off on the well defined trail at 5:00 am. I was not prepared for the cold. I anticipated that it would be chilly, but I was not prepared for the frigid 37 degree temperatures. The nearly full moon illuminated the path so much that I did not need my headlamp. By 6:00 am the sun was beginning to rise and began to warm my frozen hands.
The hike was relatively mild at first with some downhill scrambling through low bushes. About a mile into it the incline began. The initial climb was relatively mild, but quickly increased in difficulty. It would remain difficult to the top.
Once the sun came up, I was welcomed with amazing views. I passed lakes and wildlife waking up to greet the day. I came across a herd of mountain goats grazing about half way to the ..." — BasecampElPaso • Jul 17, 2013
"First summit of Bierstadt was with my Father when he came out for a visit. We got a bit off route at one point (I still don't know how that happened on such a clear route), but we figured out the way soon enough. " — aweygandt • Jun 12, 2012
"Got a later start than I wanted to, but it was my birthday so I decided to sleep in a little bit. Gorgeous day. Sun reflected off the snow burned the crap out of my face... Idiot. Oh, well. Great hike, more people out there than I thought would be." — drschickchiro • May 14, 2012
"6pm start, ran the majority of the approach until the trail became too technical. At at the summit. Heavy clouds rolled up from the valley cutting supper short. Ran down the mountain, back at the trailhead by full dark. " — native414 • Jun 4, 2011
"This was the first 14'er I had hike in over 3 years. It was also the first time I had attempted to hike a 14'er with my son. He was 10 years old at the time. We arrived at the trailhead off of Guanella Pass around 8:30AM to find the parking lot full. It was necessary to drive another 1/2 to find a parking spot. This unfortunately added some considerable distance to our hike that we really didn't want to have.
In the end run we successfully reach the summit around Noon. We didn't linger too long as my son really wanted to get back to the car and head home. " — jfk013 • Jul 18, 2009
"The shortest day of the year may not be the best day to climb a 14er. From Guanella Pass this is not a hard climb but it put the hurt on us that day. I've been back three times since to do the Sawtooth Ridge and I've enjoyed it more each time. " — ChrisMeloche • Dec 20, 1995
Photos
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