South Boulder Peak & Bear Peak

Climbing Party: Amanda Harnden, Aaron Dover, Scarlet
Elevation Change: 3,200'
Difficulty:   Strenuous
Hiking Calculator:  27

Directions: From Denver take US-6 West to Golden, which will turn into 93 Northbound towards Boulder.  Follow 93 North and turn onto 170 heading Southerly direction.  Follow 170 about 1.8 miles and look for parking lot on the right hand side.  Non-Boulder County residents must pay $5 to park.

This mountain came at us with quite the reputation of being a BEEEAAST!  I had not done any hiking on either S. Boulder Peak or Bear Mountain, but Amanda had when she first moved to Colorado, and I remember her telling me how hard she thought it was back then.  Well, she was right.  The elevation gain by itself is comparable-if not more, than the amount of gain found on some of Colorado's 14,000 foot peaks.  The other fun thing about this hike is that in the last 1.3 miles, you gain 2,000 feet of the 3,200 total elevation gain.  It's proximity to Denver makes it a perfect 14'er boot camp.  How do your legs feel on the way down?  How is your breathing? Your pace?  Gain, mileage, difficulty are all on par...the only thing that may be a little different is obviously the elevation starting and ending points, exposure above treeline, and planning requirements.  Check out the stats on the right=============> Click on them for bigger view...

Mile 1-2:  Easy ramble through the Towhee trail, along a creek, no tree cover.
Mile 3: After climbing into the tree cover, the fun starts.  Large amounts of elevation gain, some scrambling required, might be tough on dogs.  Straight up until you reach the "T" where you can hang left to S. Boulder Peak, or go right to Bear Peak.
Mile 3-4:  We went to S. Boulder Peak first which has incredible views all the way around, and was very windy.  Tough to find a good lunch spot!  We headed back down to the "T" and then up to Bear Peak.  Trail to Bear Peak was much easier and in better condition.  More people having lunch on Bear.
Mile 4-7.2:  Tough 1.2 mile descent to start, then rolling, easy trail back to parking lot.

Happy summer hikers!

View from the top of S. Boulder Peak...best view from the front range...PERIOD!