La Plata Peak Ellingwood Ridge 14er Trail Guide
La Plata Peak via Ellingwood Ridge is considered a Colorado classic by many. Great athletes like Anton Krupicka and Kilian Jornet have conquered it in under 2 hours but for most mortals, this will be an EXTREMELY long day on the mountain. This is one of the most technical, frustrating and for some, fun, routes on a 14er in Colorado. The 2ish mile ridge of La Plata Peak named after Albert Ellingwood consists of an endless series of class 2, 3, 4 and 5 towers with hundreds of options to traverse. This route is only recommended with PERFECT weather and someone who is used to route finding. Although I love hiking alone, I would recommend a partner to help scout out this hike.
La Plata Peak Ellingwood Ridge Quick Facts
Virtual Trail Guide: La Plata Peak via Ellingwood Ridge
La Plata Peak via Ellingwood Ridge Rating: ★★★ (3/5 Stars)
Distance: 9.5-10+ RT
Elevation Start: 10,157ft
Highest Point: 14,360ft
Total Elevation Gain: 5,900ft+
Estimated Time to Complete: 12-14 Hours RT – Give yourself at least 4-6 hours on this ridge.
Difficulty: Difficult to Strenuous Difficulty System Explained
Class: Class 3+ (easy to find Class 4 and 5 on this ridge) What does this mean?
Season: Late June- Early November – Expect snow outside of this period
Weather: Check the Weather Forecast
Trailhead: La Plata Peak
Directions to La Plata Peak Ellingwood Ridge
Getting Here: From Points East: Take US24 to Colorado 82 and head towards Independence Pass. Continue driving for 14.5 miles until you reach the small, marked parking area for La Plata Peak on your left.
From Aspen/Points West: Take Colorado 82 and head towards Independence Pass. Drive about 30 miles until you reach the small, marked parking area for La Plata Peak on your right.
For either location, you can enter La Plata Gulch Trailhead into your GPS.
Fees: There is no fee to hike La Plata Peak.
Parking: Parking for La Plata Peak can be limited, especially during the summer months. This is a popular spot to hike during the summer and fall while also serving skiers, snowmobilers and “snowshoers” during the winter. The parking area can fit about 10-15 cars with room to park on the shoulder of the road as well. Get here early though because although this route is not popular, the mountain itself is. There are no restrooms at the trailhead.
Summary
Camping: Independence Pass has several campgrounds which you can read more about here. Trailhead camping is an option, but extremely limited. Finally, you can dispersed or car camp along most of Independence pass but options may be limited in busy months. In the winter, car camping at the TH is your best bet. Theoretically you could find camping along the hike itself, but that also would not be ideal.
Dogs: La Plata Peak via Ellingwood Ridge is absolutely not a dog friendly hike.
Make it a Loop: Unless you are truly a fan of suffering you will want to make this hike a loop and hike down the standard route of La Plata Peak.
Trail X Factors: Route Finding & Rock Quality
Chances are if you are reading about this route, you have a ton of experience on 14ers and route finding. If not, I would highly recommend it. The name of the game for La Plata Peak via Ellingwood Ridge is route finding. On this hike, you have about 4 miles with a trail and 5.5 without. The hike to gain the ridge requires some trail finding skills but nothing like Ellingwood Ridge itself. I can’t stress enough how many hours that MOST people will spend on this ridge climbing up towers, getting cliffed out, climbing, downclimbing, retracing your steps and facing a whole variety of class 2, 3, 4, and 5 terrain. For the most part, you can keep this route class 3 but there are 100% going to be sections that are higher than that and it’s just a matter of whether or not you can find a way around them.
The rock on this route is just awful. Even before gaining the ridge, you need to ascend a steep western slope of Ellingwood. This consists of unstable rocks of all sizes and loose dirt on slopes that are easily 30+ degrees in steepness. Once you do get on the ridge, be sure to test every.single.piece.of.rock. Far too many times we sent rocks of all sizes into the gullies below and even more times having to tell each other that various sized rocks were “very loose.”
Hike Tip(s): When hiking La Plata Peak via Ellingwood Ridge, you always need to give yourself the option to turn around. Whether you are getting cliffed out by a 20+ foot drop or finding yourself on terrain that is above your skill level, having an exit strategy is important. My biggest advice for this hike is to make sure that whatever you climb or downclimb you are able to do in reverse. Chances are you will need to retrace your steps countless times to find the best way forward.
This route is unlike any I have been on 90+ 14er summits. There are a million different ways to gain the summit and even though I am trying to provide one here, a true trail guide for this hike is nearly impossible to create because of the endless hiking options. Before setting out to attempt this route, be EXTREMELY comfortable with route finding in loose conditions.
Best Views: When I hiked La Plata Peak via Ellingwood Ridge the Colorado sky was blanketed with smoke. Even though the summit was less than 2 miles away for most of the hike, we could not see it clearly. I know that La Plata Peak itself has fantastic summit views but I can’t speak to the ridge because of the poor visibility.
La Plata Peak Ellingwood Ridge Route
Gear Needed
- 14er Day Hike Packing List
- Backpack
- Hiking Shoes or Hiking Boots
- Protection from the Sun
- Helmet
- GPS or navigational device – I use the Garmin inReach
- Pictures/Video/Description of Route
- Optional: Compass
- Optional: Hiking Poles
- Optional: Headlamp
- *Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you.
My Trip to La Plata Peak via Ellingwood Ridge: September 2020
Woof. What a day this was. I set out to tackle La Plata Peak via the Ellingwood Ridge on Labor Day. Snow was supposed to hit the mountains the next day and I wanted to make sure I got this hike in before the early snow made it too tricky for a few weeks. The California and Colorado wildfires made the air thick like fog and smelled like a bonfire. It was the worst air quality I had ever hiked in. I knew the area well and made it to the base of the ridge in no time. After struggling up the garbage trail conditions to gain the ridge I saw Ellingwood Ridge in front of me. La Plata Peak looked like it was 45 miles away even though it was less than 3.
I started the hike along the ridge and it seemed fairly straightforward at first. A little while later I met another hiker and we decided to tackle this route together. Very happy that we did. The day turned into 11+ hours (over 6 of that on the ridge). Ellingwood Ridge has ENDLESS opportunities for class 3+ hiking, a million different towers, countless ways to go and even more spots where a rappel or climbing gear is the only way forward. Retracing our steps, scouting out gendarmes and loose rock towers became the name of the game. Knife Edges, dirt gullies, crack climbing, retracing our steps and trying to make some use out of the “route description” we had was how the time passed by.
For the most busy weekend in Colorado, we saw three other hikers the ENTIRE day and they were turning around because of the poor air quality. Lucky them. La Plata Peak via Ellingwood Ridge was the most tedious day I have ever spent on a Colorado mountain in summer conditions. The amount of route finding was truly mentally exhausting but morally being let down time and time again with cliff-outs was worse.
If you set out to hike this route, be prepared for a very long day on the mountain, lots of exposure, even more route finding and high class hiking. There are ways to keep this hike class 3 but for most who want to get this ridge’s true experience, you will be hiking in higher terrain. Test all rock carefully because this route is full of garbage rock as well. I usually am a “type 3” fun person but I can safely say that I will not be revisiting La Plata Peak for any reason anytime soon.
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3 thoughts on “La Plata Peak Ellingwood Ridge 14er Trail Guide”
Wow!! Loved the video!! What an insane adventure. I’ve always thought… ‘well…. maybe’ about trying that route … now I think ‘well …. maybe not’. But thanks for suffering that pain to warn the rest of us!! Amazing scenery, even with the smoke! And some of the ridge moves??… ummm, you’re nuts dude lol. Thanks for posting!!
Where would you rank the route in terms of difficulty? Harder than any of the standard routes but easier than the four traverses? I’ve been eyeing this route to build up to the harder standard routes since most guidebooks grade it at class 3. Now I am thinking it might be a big leap from Longs Peak?
Hey Asher – this is a pretty massive step up from Longs and probably sits right in the middle of the four traverse. Certainly under LB/Blanca and Bells, but probably above the other two. Class is one thing, but route finding is a completely different animal for this as the majority of this hike has zero trail. IMO many people who do this ridgeline, don’t actually stay on the ridge which takes away 90% of the challenge, but also isn’t really doing the ridge. Its a classic because its aesthetically pleasing to look at but IMO, its not a very fun time in the moment compared to so many other ridgelines I have done.