Mt Belford Colorado 14er Hike Guide

November 8, 2021 The Virtual Sherpa Comments 0 Comment

Mt Belford is a 14er located in the Collegiate Peaks of the Sawatch Mountains in Colorado. The trail up to this moderately trafficked 14er is very steep and involves lots of elevation gain. Since Mt Oxford is only 1.5 miles apart from Mt Belford, it’s common to hike these two mountains together. While this mountain does not have any technical hiking involved with it, I only recommend them for hikers who are in relatively good shape because of the steep terrain for almost the entire hike from the time you start from Missouri Gulch TH.

Mt Belford Quick Facts

Virtual Trail Guide: Mt Belford

Mt Belford Rating: ★★ (⅖ Stars)

Distance: 7 Miles RT to Mt Belford

Elevation Start: 9,690 ft

Mt Belford Elevation: 14,203 ft

Total Elevation Gain: 4,550 ft

Estimated Time to Complete: 4-5 Hours RT

Difficulty: Hard What does this mean?

Class: Class 2 – What does this mean?

Season: July – September (expect snow outside of this period)

Check the Weather Forecast

Directions to Mt Belford

Trailhead: Missouri Gulch

Getting Here: The hike starts at the Missouri Gulch Trailhead which is smack in between Leadville and Buena Vista. If you are coming from Buena Vista, head north on US24 and head south if you are coming from Leadville. Continue on 24 from either direction until you reach County Road 390. This is a fairly well maintained dirt road but can get pretty bumpy in spots. Take the road for about 7.5 miles until you reach the trailhead on your left. If you hit a “museum” on the right side of the road, you have gone too far. You can enter “Missouri Gulch Trailhead” into your GPS. The trail starts on the south west side of the parking lot near Clear Creek. Most passenger cars can get here no problem at all.

Parking: The parking lot at Missouri Gulch Trailhead is fairly large, but will 100% fill up on most summer weekends. Parking is free and there is 1 non-plumbing bathroom there. Bring toilet paper, because it will often run out due to the number of people using it. If the lot is full, there is some additional parking along the road.

Summary

Dogs: Mt Belford is a dog friendly hike in most seasons. If you are visiting in the early spring or winter, it is probably best to leave your dog at home due to snow levels adding to the danger and difficulty of the hike.

Camping: If you want to camp in the backcountry while hiking Mt Belford, that is an option, but you will have to hike about 2 – 3 miles in to find flat ground. If you want to car camp, there are camping spots along County Road 390, but they will fill up quickly. In the past, I have arrived around 5-6PM with rain incoming and forced to set-up the tent in a less than ideal location. You are not able to camp at the trailhead.

Make it a Loop: Mt Belford is an out and back hike. If you want to add another 14er in the area, you could add neighboring Mt Oxford or hike Missouri Mountain.

Trail X Factors: Elevation Gain & Exposure to Weather

Anytime you have a trail that averages 1,000 feet of elevation gain per mile, you are in for a long day, especially when hiking above 11,000ft for most of the day. Mt Belford gains over 4,500 feet in just over 7miles. From Missouri Creek TH to the summit of Mt Belford is basically straight up the entire time.

The other X Factor for Mt Belford is the exposure to weather. Once you leave the tree line around 11,000 feet, (about 1.5 miles into the hike) you have about 3 miles of exposed hiking to reach the summit. Mt Belford is surrounded by a variety of steep cliffs and drop-offs, so getting out of harm’s way is not easy should a storm or bad weather roll in.

Hike Tip(s): Whether you had a bender the night before or you are planning Mt Belford as part of a bigger hiking trip, I would strongly recommend hiking these on an energy level of (insert 100 emoji). This is a steep hike with LOTS of elevation gain that will test your leg strength early and often.

Best Views: In my opinion, the best time to hike Mt Belford would be early fall. You can see the foliage from up high and if your timing is good, see the neighboring peaks with some snow on them making for some awesome photos. Once on the summit, the views are best west and south where you can see a variety of other mountains in the area.

Mt Belford Hike Route

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Gear Needed

14er Day Hike Packing List

La Sportiva Trango Hiking Boots (Women’s)
Backpack
Food & Water

Optional: La Sportiva Mountaineering Boots
Optional: Microspikes
Optional: Gaiters

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My Trip to Mt Belford: October 2021

2021 was the year of 14er video re-shoots. Whether I thought the video sucked or just wanted to update it from several years back, I seemed to re-shoot a lot of them during this time. One of the last on my list was Mt Belford & Mt Oxford. I arrived at the TH, this time bringing Juno and found that the conditions were eerily similar to my previous hike up these two mountains 4 years prior. It was pretty evident early on that I was not going to add Mt Oxford and decided that if I could just summit Mt Belford it would be a nice day.

I worked my way up the steep switchbacks and eventually found myself in the Missouri Gulch valley proper. It was beautiful, fresh white snow capped all of the surrounding peaks and a brisk fall breeze was in the air. Juno and I started up the steep slopes of Mt Belford and my energy seemed to drain with each step I took. I felt like garbage and it was a really big struggle to get up to the summit. As I got on the eastern saddle of Mt Belford, the winds picked up and almost mirrored the conditions from my previous hike 4 years ago. Luckily, I had better camera equipment to deal with wind and was satisfied with how the virtual trail guide turned out. Juno and I enjoyed the summit for a while soaking in the beautiful views before heading back down towards the car.

Although it was a beautiful day, the hike up Mt Belford was not extremely entertaining, it might be one of my least favorite 14ers to be honest. I don’t know if I will be on the summit again anytime soon, but hope that this guide will help you out!