Fourteener visitation in Colorado saw a negligible increase in 2024, according to detailed annual estimates released Monday by the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative.
An estimated 265,000 people visited Colorado fourteeners last year, an increase of 1.9%. As usual, Mount Bierstadt and Quandary Peak were busiest with an estimated visitation of 25,000 to 30,000 each. CFI said the best estimate for Bierstadt is 28,000, with Quandary coming in at 26,500.
The twin peaks of Grays and Torreys saw a decline from the previous year, dropping below 20,000 to an estimated 18,400 combined. Mount Elbert, the state’s highest peak, also dropped below 20,000 to an estimated 17,200.
Those declines were offset by increased visitation at the “Decalibron Loop,” a cluster of fourteeners north of Fairplay near Alma that includes Mount Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln and Bross. The loop was closed for half of the 2023 season and saw only 7,000 to 10,000 visitors that summer. Visitation doubled there in 2024 to more than 15,000 as Mount Democrat became public land and an electronic liability waiver system was implemented by a landowner on Mount Lincoln to make hiking on the peak legal, rather than constituting trespassing.
Mount Blue Sky saw visitation estimated to be in the 20,000 to 25,000 range. That number is sure to plummet this year because the road to Summit Lake is closed for road repair.
CFI began issuing its annual estimates in 2015. Over those 10 years, the record number for Colorado fourteener visitation was 415,000 in the pandemic summer of 2020. Since then, visitation has “returned to the mean,” according to a CFI news release. Use dropped to a record low of 260,000 in 2023, which was a 6.8% decrease compared to 2022. Visitation increased by 5,000 in 2024.
“Several factors could be influencing CFI’s estimated hiking levels,” according to the CFI news release. “The State Demographer’s Office noted much slower population growth recently than in prior decades, with additional demographic changes that could affect the population hiking fourteeners. The population aged under 18 declined in absolute terms. Those between 25 and 44 grew at a considerably reduced rate, while those over age 65 increased significantly.”
CFI also noted that the Colorado Tourism Office recently reported a decrease in overnight visitors in the mountains last summer. Still, the statewide economic impact of hiking Colorado fourteeners in 2024 was $71.9 million, based on historic fourteener hiking-use expenditure studies.
CFI uses several metrics to compile its annual fourteener visitation report. On some peaks there are automated counters along trails. It also employs other data sources and mathematical models to extrapolate its estimates.