North Eolus & Mt Eolus Hike Guide
North Eolus & Mt Eolus are a pair of 14ers located in southern Colorado. Part of the Weminuche Wilderness, these two peaks require a long approach via the Chicago Basin. Both peaks are Class 3, but I would say that Eolus Peak is slightly more technical than North Eolus. The two mountains are connected by a high Class 2 ridge that has some exposure, but nothing too crazy. North Eolus is not a ranked 14er, but still considered as part of the 58 that most people hike to check them all off.
North Eolus & Mt Eolus Quick Facts
Virtual Trail Guide: North Eolus & Mt Eolus
North Eolus Peak Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5 Stars)
Mt Eolus Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5 Stars)
Distance: All distances are one way and assume starting point of Purgatory Creek TH. If taking the train in, subtract about 9.75 miles from each segment)
16 Miles From TH to Columbine Pass Trail, 19 Miles From TH to Twin Lakes, 21.8 Miles From TH to North Eolus, 22.6 Miles from TH to Eolus Peak
Elevation Start: 7,826 ft (Purgatory Creek TH), 11,000 ft (Chicago Basin)
Highest Point: North Eolus: 14,039 ft, Eolus Peak: 14,083 ft
Total Elevation Gain: 3,700 ft (From Chicago Basin)
Estimated Time to Complete: 7-8 Hours to get to the Chicago Basin, 1-2 Hours to Twin Lakes, 3-4 Hours to Hike Both North Eolus & Mt Eolus. All times measured in one way estimates.
Difficulty: Difficult – What does this mean?
Class: North Eolus: Class 3, Eolus Peak: Class 3
Season: July – September (Expect snow outside of this period)
Directions to North Eolus & Mt Eolus
Trailhead: Purgatory Creek – For more information about the approach, visit this page.
Getting Here: Directions vary drastically depending on whether you are coming from the north or south. In either case, navigate to Purgatory Resort and find Tacoma Dr directly across from the resort. Continue on Tacoma Dr for about ¾ of a mile and find the parking area on the left.
Fees: None
Parking: The Purgatory Creek trail has a rather large lot to leave your car for multiple days. We spent about 4 days in Chicago Basin and had absolutely no issues with our cars in the lot for that amount of time. The lot can fit about 30 cars but there are not any restrooms at the parking lot.
Summary
Train Information: If you plan on taking the train into the Chicago Basin, there is a $110 or so fee to do so. The train will drop you off at the Needleton stop, which subtracts about 19 miles RT from this hike. However, as of 2018 – all train service to the Needleton stop has been cancelled. Visit the Silverton Durango train site for more information.
Camping: Camping has many options in Chicago Basin. Expect wildlife to frequent your camp so plan on bringing bear bags to protect your food. Camping in the Chicago Basin does prevent fires at all times and requires you to carry in and out everything that was not there in the first place (toilet paper included). In terms of spots to camp, I would recommend hiking up to Columbine Pass and working backwards to find a spot. Please don’t ruin the experience for others: camp at least 100 feet from the trail and any sources of water.
Dogs: If you plan on bringing dogs into the Chicago Basin, I wouldn’t recommend bringing them up Eulos Peak, but they should be okay going up North Eolus Peak. Both mountains have sections of sharp rock which could be problematic on your dog’s pads.
Make it a Loop: North Eolus & Mt Eolus form a lollipop loop. However, if you are looking to do other hiking in the area, you could easily pair these two with Sunlight Peak & Windom Peak.
Trail X Factors: Ledges on Mt Eolus
While hiking North Eolus & Mt Eolus, you won’t find that route finding is much of an issue until you reach the final “shelves” section of Eolus Peak. Here, you will find a number of different routes to choose from some of which are safer than others. Ultimately, your goal is to work up this mixed section and gain the left side of the ridge. When I hiked up Eolus, I stayed more straight and ended up on some pretty exposed Class 3 and 4 hiking. If you stick to the “standard path” you will avoid anything over a low Class 3 move.
Hike Tip(s): Similar to the route on Capitol Peak, when hiking up North Eolus & Mt Eolus, you want to make sure you came back the same way you came (IE take the ridge back to the main trail). If you try to get cute and add a shortcut, you could end up “cliffing out” or in a very dangerous situation. Besides blatantly choosing a shortcut, it could also be easy to descend too low when coming down Eolus Peak, so just try to keep an eye on where the ridge is located and follow the cairns, as there are a decent number of them along the trail.
Best Views: North Eolus & Mt Eolus have good views starting around 13,300 feet when you round the corner and are greeted with spanning views of the basins below. Once on the summit of North Eolus & Mt Eolus, views are similar and jaw dropping in all directions.
North Eolus & Mt Eolus Hike Route
(Includes Approach, All Four 14ers & Hike Back to Camp)
Gear Needed
- 14er Day Hike Packing List
- Men’s Trail Runners
- Women’s Trail Runners
- La Sportiva Trango Hiking Boots (Men’s)
- La Sportiva Trango Hiking Booths (Women’s)
- Backpack
- Climbing Helmet
- Food & Water
- Optional: Garmin inReach
- Optional: Hiking Poles
- Optional: Headlamp
- Optional: Garmin Fenix Watch
- Optional: Camera and Lens
- Optional: GoPro, Joby Tripod
- *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.
Mick’s Trip: North Eolus & Mt Eolus: September 2018
- Part 1 of this weekend (Chicago Basin Approach via Purgatory Creek)
- For Part 2 of this weekend (Sunlight Peak & Windom Peak)
After a long two days of hiking into the Chicago Basin via the Purgatory Creek trail and then Sunlight & Windom Peaks the next day, the day was finally here to hike North Eolus & Mt Eolus. When a 6AM start is considered sleeping in, you know that you are with a group of seasoned hikers. All three of us hit the trail and began the short but steep slog up towards Twin Lakes. The day before, we had hiked the same route up to Twin Lakes and were aware of the steep trail that awaited us. This time, it seemed that either our legs had gained some strength from the previous long days of hiking and reached the trail to North Eolus & Eolus in no time at all.
We had seen a good chunk of the initial trail in addition to North Eolus & Mt Eolus the day before, so we had a pretty good idea of what to expect today. What we couldn’t tell from far away was how the trail up to these two 14ers lulled you to sleep. The trail was in great condition and started semi flat. However, after a ¼ mile or so of hiking, the grade slowly increased and didn’t let up until the summit of both mountains. We hiked into the southern basin of both mountains leaving the packed dirt trail behind and entering a massive rock field. We were able to follow the well marked trail and work up towards the top of the basin until it finally turned left. This section was a mix of solid granite and dirt that looked almost like a ramp. After a few hundred yards of this section, we rounded a corner and were greeted with views of the true summit of North Eolus Peak.
We worked up more sections of granite slab (mostly Class 2) and saw the true owners of Eolus Peak, the mountain goats. There were two massive goats perched on a huge chunk of rock, enjoying the mid morning sun. They gave us looks as anyone would when an alien entered their home turf but remained sitting. We marveled at their size for a while and eventually kept moving up towards the summit. After gaining the ridge, the trail split: left to the summit of Eolus Peak and right to the summit of North Eolus. Since it was Erin’s birthday and North Eolus & Mt Eolus would be her 14er finishers, we let her choose the way. She decided to hit North Eolus first, so we scrambled up the short section of Class 3 rock and reached the summit about 5 minutes later.
When checking the weather from the day before, we were not sure what to expect but luckily were greeted with an almost cloudless blue skies to the west. We enjoyed the summit for about 5-10 minutes and eventually moved on towards our second peak of the day and the only true 14er of the pair: Eolus Peak. I have spoken about this before, but in Colorado a summit must lose at least 300 vertical feet before rising again to consider itself a true summit, North Eolus does not do that but is still counted by most as part of their 58 “14ers”.
Eventually, we all reunited on the summit of Eolus Peak. Nick and I congratulated Erin on her awesome achievement and took lots of summit photos. After a little while, we noticed some dark clouds heading our way and decided it was time to leave. On the way down, I stuck with the group and discovered that the normal trail was much easier than my previous route. We made it back down to the catwalk and over to North Eolus Peak just as the dark clouds filled the sky. Luckily, the storms never came (for us at least, it looked like mountains to our south got blasted with rain) and we enjoyed a cloudy but dry hike back to the Twin Lakes. We soaked up these beautiful views one last time and then headed back down to camp. Instead of hiking the full 15 miles out, we decided to pack up, hike about 5 miles out and then set-up camp again. We figured that mentally and physically this distribution of hiking would be best for all of us. The final hike out of the Chicago Basin was a pain in the ass as we had conquered everything we had set out to do. All of our feet were in pain, our backs tired from carrying our heavy bags and stomachs in need of a real hot meal.
The downclimb to the spine of ridge of Eolus Peak was a little more slow going than the way up, but nothing too crazy. Once down, we started our way across the Class 2 catwalk. It had some sections of exposure, but for the most part was about 10-12 feet wide with flat, solid rock. Towards the end of the thinner section, there was a massive chunk of loose rock, I hope that future hikers do not get into trouble with it. After the catwalk, we entered a section of Eolus I will refer to as the shelves. It was basically the entire western slope of Eolus Peak which consisted of dirt, loose rock and sections of solid rock. It very much reminded me of the crossover on Pyramid Peak. The trail here gave us many options and all three of us took our own unique routes. In general, we kept working up higher through the switch backs, eventually bearing left. I decided to pick my own more direct line up the final section which lead me to a few areas of highly exposed Class 3 and low Class 4 moves. This section reminded me of Mt Lindsey when you are hiking up and out of the gully on the left to gain the proper ridge line.
The Chicago Basin was a beautiful spot and North Eolus & Mt Eolus were probably my favorite portion of the trip. However, if I was to return to this remote wilderness area, I would hope that the train would be up and running again so that I could avoid those painful 30+ approach miles.
