Editor’s note: This is part of The Know’s series, Staff Favorites. Each week, we offer our opinions on the best Colorado has to offer for dining, shopping, entertainment, outdoor activities and more. (We’ll also let you in on some hidden gems).
One of my favorite places to watch a sunrise is a flat spot on a ridge halfway up a 13,800-foot mountain at Guanella Pass with a sadly uninspiring name that belies the adventure it offers: Square Top.
What an enthralling place that ridge is to celebrate a new day in solitude, contemplation and wonder. It overlooks the pass, well above timberline at about 12,600 feet. Looming on the other side of the pass are two of Colorado’s best-known fourteeners, Mount Bierstadt and Mount Blue Sky. Watching the sun rise over Blue Sky is a magical experience.
That viewpoint on Square Top’s southeast ridge is roughly 2.5 miles from the Square Top Lakes trailhead on the pass, a climb of 1,000 feet, which a reasonably fit hiker can do in 60 to 90 minutes. En route, there is a pair of beautiful alpine lakes.
Here’s a tip, though: Instead of getting up in the middle of the night in hopes of scoring a parking spot in competition with the hordes who are there to climb Bierstadt, I suggest heading up in the evening when parking is less of a challenge, hiking up to that flat spot on the ridge and throwing down a mat and a sleeping bag to spend the night under the stars. Trust me, it’s worth it.
After savoring the sunrise, you can hike another mile or so up the ridge to the mountain’s summit at just under 13,800 feet, an ascent of 1,200 feet. Heading west up that ridge amid the long shadows and golden light of the early morning sun is exhilarating, and the view at the summit is worth every step. The distinctive twin fourteeners of Grays and Torreys are only four miles to the northwest. Turning your gaze in the other direction toward Bierstadt, historically one of Colorado’s busiest fourteeners, you can relish being on an uncrowded peak that stands only 200 feet below fourteener status.
The complete hike from trailhead to summit and back is a little over 7 miles. If you do it the way I’ve done it, sleeping under the stars, you can hit the summit, head down to the trailhead and make it to Georgetown or Idaho Springs in time for lunch.
Be advised: Clear Creek County recently posted “No Parking” signs along the road at the summit of the pass. There are two parking lots on the pass, but they typically fill up. The fine for illegal roadside parking is $87.50.
That’s all the more reason to head up to the pass at a leisurely pace after dinner, go for a nice hike in the cool of the evening, enjoy the sunset casting alpenglow on Bierstadt and Blue Sky, curl up in a sleeping bag under the stars — I recommend timing it for a full moon, by the way — and enjoy one of the best outdoor experiences Colorado has to offer.
