The Mt Sneffels Hike: Three Days on Colorado’s Prettiest 14er

Day 1 of 3

Arrive in Ouray and let the altitude land

Fly into Montrose, drive the hour south to Ouray, and do nothing strenuous. Ouray sits at 7,800 feet and the summit is more than 6,000 feet above that. The single biggest reason people fail on Sneffels is not fitness, it is arriving from sea level and climbing the next morning.

4 stopsDay one

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⠿Not the order you want? Drag a stop, or use the arrows beside it. Stops move between days too.

1. ⠿↑↓1
   Drive from where are you driving from?~1 hr · Ouray sits at 7,800 ft · Drive

   Montrose (MTJ) is the practical airport, about an hour north of Ouray. Get in, get to town, and do nothing hard. The summit is more than 6,000 feet above where you sleep tonight, and arriving from sea level then climbing the next morning is the single most common reason people turn around on this peak.

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2. ⠿↑↓2
   Ouray Perimeter Trail~6 mi loop · gentle · acclimatisation · Hike

   A roughly six-mile loop that rings the town, with bridges, a gorge and a few hundred feet of gain. It is exactly the right amount of work for a day when your only job is to let your body notice the altitude.

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3. ⠿↑↓3
   Ouray Hot SpringsRecover and hydrate · Viewpoint

   The reason half of Ouray’s visitors are here. Sit in it, drink more water than you want to, and go to bed early. Hydration genuinely helps with altitude and you will be starting in the dark on day three.

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4. ⠿↑↓4
   Night in OurayBook early, the town is small · lodge

   Ouray is a small town with a famous hot spring, and summer weekends book months ahead. There is no permit to worry about on Sneffels, so lodging is the one thing that actually needs reserving in advance.

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Day 2 of 3

Drive Yankee Boy Basin and scout the road

Today is about the road, and the road is the part people underestimate. From Ouray, County Road 361 climbs into Yankee Boy Basin. It is fine for most vehicles as far as roughly 11,700 feet. After that the last mile to the signed upper trailhead at 12,460 feet is rough, rocky and narrow, and it wants high clearance four wheel drive with a short wheelbase. Rental SUVs get damaged on it every summer, and most rental agreements forbid the attempt.

4 stopsDay two

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⠿Not the order you want? Drag a stop, or use the arrows beside it. Stops move between days too.

1. ⠿↑↓1
   Drive CR 361 into Yankee Boy BasinEasy to ~11,700 ft, then rough · Drive

   County Road 361 climbs from Ouray into the basin. It is fine for most vehicles to roughly 11,700 feet. Beyond that the last mile to the upper trailhead is rocky, narrow and steep, and wants high clearance 4WD with a short wheelbase. Drive it today, in daylight, so you know exactly where your vehicle stops before the alarm goes off tomorrow.

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2. ⠿↑↓2
   Yankee Boy Basin wildflowersPeak mid-July · among the best in Colorado · Viewpoint

   In mid-July this basin is one of the best wildflower displays in the state, columbine and paintbrush right up to the scree. It is also the classic view of the mountain, so you can stand here and pick out the gully you will climb and the notch you will squeeze through.

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3. ⠿↑↓3
   Upper trailhead, 12,460 ftThe signed start, if you can drive to it · Viewpoint

   The signed upper trailhead sits at 12,460 feet. Reaching it turns summit day into a three-mile morning. Not reaching it is completely normal and simply means walking the last mile of road, adding roughly two miles and 700 feet to the round trip.

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4. ⠿↑↓4
   Second night in OurayOr sleep high in the basin · lodge

   Two nights in Ouray is the simple version. If you are set up for it, dispersed camping in the basin puts you higher and closer, but there is no water and no toilet up there, so you carry everything in and out.

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Day 3 of 3

Summit day: the Lavender Col and the V-Notch

Start before dawn. From the upper trailhead the trail climbs into the basin and then up into the Lavender Col, the long scree gully that fills the space between Sneffels and Kismet. It is loose. There is no elegant way to say it: you will slide, and anything you knock loose goes straight down onto whoever is below you, which is why helmets are normal here and why parties spread out rather than stack up.

4 stopsDay three

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⠿Not the order you want? Drag a stop, or use the arrows beside it. Stops move between days too.

1. ⠿↑↓1
   Lavender ColThe scree gully · helmets and spacing · Hike

   Start before dawn. The trail climbs into the basin then up into the Lavender Col, the long scree gully between Sneffels and Kismet. It is loose, you will slide, and anything you dislodge goes straight down onto whoever is below. Helmets are normal here and parties spread out rather than stacking up.

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2. ⠿↑↓2
   The V-NotchClass 3 crux · exit west and scramble · mtn

   At the top of the col a narrow slot appears in the rock. This is the crux: climb up through it, exit west, then scramble a short exposed Class 3 step to the summit ridge. Only a few moves, but genuine scrambling with air beneath you, and the point at which this stops being a hike.

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3. ⠿↑↓3
   Summit, 14,155 ftThe whole San Juan range · Viewpoint

   The San Juans in every direction, and the Dallas Divide dropping away to the north. In late September the aspens below are turning and it is the view that put this mountain on the Colorado quarter. Be off the top by midday.

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4. ⠿↑↓4
   Getting home: Montrose~1.5 hr from the trailhead · Drive

   Back down the gully slowly, because the descent is where most accidents on this peak happen. Once you are on pavement, Montrose (MTJ) is about an hour and a half. If you have another day, the Million Dollar Highway south to Silverton is worth every minute.

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