It’s probably not much of a surprise, but Colorado’s ‘easier’ fourteener routes tend to attract the most hikers. After all, the tamer nature of a trail – albeit in still very dangerous terrain – can make these peaks more accessible for a larger group of people. Peaks like Quandary, Grays, Torreys, Bierstadt, and Elbert tend to get mentioned the most among the state’s ‘easy’ first-timer climbs, but there’s often a major omission from that list – Handies Peak, perhaps offering the shortest and most straight-forward summit-bound route among the fourteeners, also surrounded by some of the best views in the state.

Editor’s Note: No fourteener climb is ‘easy’ and all can pose the risk of serious injury or death. Climbing a 14er means entering dangerous terrain that’s above treeline and regardless of a peak’s difficulty rating, this should never be taken lightly.

Located in the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado, the standard route to the summit of 14,058-foot Handies peak is relatively short – 5.75 miles round-trip with about 2,500 vertical feet of gain. AllTrails estimates that it takes about four hours to complete, which is not much time compared to the all-day commitment that many other peaks require of most hikers. On top of that, fourteener trails don’t get much easier to follow than the standard route to the top of Handies – well-trodded dirt nearly the entire way to the summit, save a few clear-cut rocky sections here and there.

Even still, it’s estimated that only 7,000 to 10,000 people climbed the peak in 2023 – the most popular fourteener route in the remote San Juans by far, but well below the 20,000-plus that climb other ‘easy’ fourteeners.

Why is that the case? It’s got to be the peak’s remote nature – but that remote nature is part of the charm and a key reason why Handies Peak should be on your list this summer.

Leaving from the American Basin Trailhead, reaching the start of the Handies Peak climb is roughly a 5.5 hour drive from Colorado Springs, ending with a rugged road. The closest town to the trailhead is Lake City, known as ‘the most remote town in the lower 48,’ and that’s still about an hour-drive away from the Handies Peak standard route starting point.

That said, while this peak takes some effort to get to, it’s perhaps the best ‘beginner’ fourteener in the state, especially for those in vehicles capable of making it all the way up the rough road to the true trailhead. For those who can’t, expect about two additional miles of easy hiking with about 300 additional feet of vertical gain.

If you haven’t considered adding a climb to the Handies Peak summit to your summer bucket list yet, it’s worth checking out – if not for the hike itself, for the views in a basin that’s known for its lush nature and wildflowers.

Learn more about the climb to the summit of Handies Peak here.

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