North Arapaho Peak & South Arapaho Peak Hike Guide
North Arapaho Peak & South Arapaho Peak are a pair of 13ers located outside of Eldora, Colorado. Commonly hiked together via a ridge traverse, North Arapaho & South Arapaho Peak offer a fun scramble along a mostly Class 3 ridgeline with one Class 4 move. If you want to venture from the standard route, Skywalker Couloir is a common approach in spring and winter month via a moderate to steep snow climb.
North Arapaho Peak & South Arapaho Peak via Skywalker Couloir Quick Facts
Virtual Trail Guide: North Arapaho Peak & South Arapaho Peak
North Arapaho Peak & South Arapaho Peak Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5 Stars)
Distance: 10.5 MIles RT – Ascending Skywalker Couloir or Standard Route 10 Miles RT
Elevation Start: 9,900 ft
Highest Point: South Arapaho Peak: 13,397 ft North Arapaho Peak: 13,502 ft
Total Elevation Gain: 4,600 ft
Estimated Time to Complete: 6-7 Hours RT without Skywalker, 8-10 Hours RT with
Difficulty: Moderate to Difficult What does this mean?
Class: Class 4 (South Arapaho Peak – Class 2, North Arapaho Peak – Class 4)
Snow Climb Steepness: Skywalker Couloir – Moderate to Steep (crux is about 60 degrees)
Season: June – October – expect snow outside of this period
Directions to North Arapaho Peak & South Arapaho Peak
Trailhead: 4th of July
Getting Here: From Nederland, take Eldorado Avenue for 4.8 miles until you reach the 4th of July Road. Take a right here and continue on this for another 4 miles until the road ends. The parking area is on the right side before the road splits/ends.
Once you are on Eldorado Avenue, the road does turn to dirt and can get a little rough in areas. However, most cars should be able to make it to the trailhead parking lot. If you have a lower clearance car, I would recommend parking in the lower section of the lot or along the road.
You can enter Fourth of July trailhead into your favorite navigational device.
Fees: None
Parking: North Arapaho Peak & South Arapaho Peak has a fairly large parking lot, but accessing it with a lower clearance vehicle can be tough. If you are in a car, I would recommend parking in the lower area or along the road. The trailhead does have a non-plumbing bathroom.
Summary
Camping: There is a campground before the trailhead, Fourth of July which you can stay at. However, once you start your hike a $5 permit is required to camp in the backcountry from June 1st to September 15th: permits are issued for 19 travel zones within the Indian Peak boundaries. For information or to apply for a use permit, contact the U.S. Forest Service, Boulder Ranger District, 2140 Yarmouth Ave., 303-541-2500, or the Sulphur Ranger District, 9 Ten Mile Drive, P.O. Box 10, Granby, CO 80446, 1-970-887-4100. For recorded information, call the Indian Peaks Wilderness Information Line at 303-541-2519.
Dogs: South Arapaho Peak is dog friendly, but I would not recommend bring a dog to North Arapaho Peak and certainly not up the Skywalker Couloir. This area does get crowded, so expect to see other dogs on your hike.
Make it a Loop: Far and away the most common way to make the hike to North Arapaho Peak & South Arapaho Peak a loop is to ascend via the Skywalker Couloir and then descend via the standard trail on South Arapaho Peak. This is a lollipop loop and is seasonal (snow required to ascend the couloir). Other hikes in the are include Diamond Lake and Lake Dorothy.
Trail X Factors: Trail Finding & Snow in Couloir and on Ridge
Let’s start with Skywalker Couloir – in order to make a snow climb here, you need to have prime conditions in the couloir. Be sure to check for reports beforehand and bring the necessary gear based on your climbing experience. If you plan on hiking the traverse over to North Arapaho Peak, be sure to be very wary of the cornices in the spring and winter months. Cornices tend to form on the east (right) side of the ridge and can be very deadly if you are caught on one. Route finding on the ridge comes into play year round, but more so during the months where snow lingers.
Down low, trail finding can also be an issue in the spring and winter months if you are not familiar with the area. Be comfortable with the general approach and have a GPS or map to help you out in case you get lost.
Hike Tip(s): When hiking North Arapaho Peak & South Arapaho peak, be sure to check out the weather to the west before heading over on the traverse. Once you are on the ridge line there is a ton of exposure to weather and no place to hide if a storm does roll in. In terms of general route finding, you can stay on the left side of the ridge or the top of the ridge itself for most of the traverse until you reach the final small climb to North Arapaho Peak.
Best Views: The views on North Arapaho Peak & South Arapaho are really great along the entire way once you get above treeline. The basin you work up to is beautiful and summit views are great in all directions. I would say that views are a bit more picturesque on South Arapaho Peak because the area on top is not as flat as North Arapaho Peak. Be sure to look down into the basin below the peaks to see a beautiful high alpine lake.
North Arapaho Peak & South Arapaho Peak Hike Route
Started up the Skywalker Couloir, then tagged North Arapaho before heading back to South. Forgot to turn the watch off after I started driving : /
Gear Needed
- 14er Day Hike Packing List
- La Sportiva Trango Hiking Boots (Men’s)
- La Sportiva Trango Hiking Booths (Women’s)
- La Sportiva Mountaineering Boots
- Backpack
- Food & Water
- Microspikes
- Gaiters – only needed in winter
- Mountain Axe – only needed for couloir climb
- Climbing Helmet
- Optional: Ski or Snowboard
- Optional: Crampons– only needed for couloir climb
- Optional: Crampon Bag– only needed for couloir climb
- Optional: Garmin inReach
- Optional: Hiking Poles
- Optional: Headlamp
- Optional: Garmin Fenix Watch
- Optional: Avalanche Gear: Beacon, Probe, Shovel – only needed for couloir climb
- Optional: Snowshoes – only needed in winter months
- Optional: Camera and Lens
- Optional: GoPro, Joby Tripod
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My Trip to North Arapaho Peak & South Arapaho Peak: June 2019
There are days where the 2AM alarm feel like death and others when it feels like a normal hour to wake up. On this day, I rolled out of bed and felt energized and ready to go. I had an hour and a half drive to meet Nick at the trailhead but even with the rough dirt road, made in there no problem. Our goal for the day was to climb up the Skywalker Couloir and if snow conditions allowed, traverse over to North Arapaho Peak & South Arapaho Peak to finish the day.
Skywalker Couloir
We hit the trail and walked a couple of silent miles in the dark under the stars. Nick and I are both not always morning people so we gave each other space and enjoyed the conversation-less miles with dirt crunching under our feet. After 1.5 miles of hiking, we reached several snow melt stream crossings and diverged from the standard trail. We entered into a massive snow field and bushwhacked our way to the entrance of Skywalker Couloir. During our approach, I kept second guessing if this was the right mountain or couloir, it looked so damn steep!
We hiked up a couple of hundred yards and then found a nice spot to test the snow and pop on our crampons and break out the ice tools. At this point, the sun was rising so we took in the colorful views that mother nature was providing us. After a quick break, we hit the couloir and slowly made a boot track up the steep terrain. The snow was nice, soft enough to dig in a crampon but not soft enough to posthole. As we worked up towards the middle, there were pockets of wet slides from days before that were surprisingly hard and icy. With each step our calves felt more and more burn as the grade of the Skywalker Couloir increased. Towards the top, you could see the different exits: an easier exit to the left, Princess Leia straight ahead and then Han Solo to the right. We decided to take the classic exit of Leia which also happened to be the steepest. I measured an angle of just over 60 degrees at the crux, a fall here would be very bad and would send you tumbling hundreds of feet. With each swing of the ax into the crunchy snow I tried to imagine how a dog could possibly make it up this route (I had read about someone bringing their pup earlier in the week). After a handful of steep steps, I topped out of the couloir and entered the rocky terrain near the summit of South Arapaho Peak.
Traverse to North Arapaho Peak
After changing out of our snow climbing gear, we gained the ridge of North Arapaho Peak & South Arapaho Peak and met up with our friend Rick who had hiked up the standard route of South Arapaho Peak. We all took a quick look at the ridge and noticed that there was still a ton of snow on the east side along with several huge cornices. Our confidence was at an all time low to complete the traverse, but decided to hike a bit to scope out conditions. We started along the ridge and kept to the left (west) side. The snow appeared to be melted out, almost completely, which was an awesome sign. We reached the Class 4 move which was just a slab of rock that was 10-15 feet long with moderate exposure on each side. It was bone dry and all three of us made it up no problem.
After the Class 4 move, we regained the ridge and were able to see 95% of the rest of the North Arapaho Peak & South Arapaho Peak traverse. It appeared to be almost entirely snow free on the west side and for the first time all day, we thought we had a chance to safely make it! We continued along the ridgeline to some airy class 3 terrain which was a blast to hike across. After some more exposed ridge, the trail worked back to the west side of the saddle and we came across some snow fields that needed to be carefully tested before crossing. Some areas where icy, but for the most part they were sugar snow.
Finally, we reached the last section of the North Arapaho Peak & South Arapaho Peak traverse that required us to make a small snow climb to gain a class 3 rock scramble. It was nothing crazy, but we found out on the way back that we could avoid the snow entirely. After climbing through some loose rock, we finally reached the summit of North Arapaho Peak which was large and flat with a huge stack of rocks to mark the summit. We didn’t linger long on the summit because it was so windy and some dark clouds were moving in. We snapped a few photos, marveled at a massive cornice on the north side of the summit and moved back down to the ridge.
Descent from South Arapaho Peak
Getting back to South Arapaho Peak was much quicker than the way there because we knew the route at that point. We made quick work of the traverse and headed up to the summit of South Arapaho Peak (the 1st time for Nick and I and the second time for Rick). We sat on the summit for 2-3 minutes and had some snacks, snapped some pictures and rehydrated.
After a quick break, another group joined us on the summit so we decided to let them enjoy the views to themselves and head down. The hike down South Arapaho Peak was very straightforward with a trail to follow for most of the way and then a couple of snow fields to cross. We ran into several other people heading to the summit of South Arapaho. After a while, the standard trail disappeared again and we had to do some minor route finding to reach the streams that we crossed earlier in the day before regaining the standard trail again.
The remaining hike was quick but at this point in the day, 12pm, the trail was getting very crowded so I was glad to reach the trailhead and head out. Overall, I loved our day on North Arapaho Peak & South Arapaho Peak and really enjoyed climbing up Skywalker Couloir. This day on the mountain was one of the best I have had in a long time. The couloir climb pushed some of my mental toughness, the traverse to North Arapaho Peak was a ton of fun and the hike back to the car was a nice mellow way to round out the day. I would highly recommend this hike and recommend you watching my video recap below!
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