Grizzly Peak (Summit County, Colorado)


Grizzly Peak is a high mountain summit in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. Also known as Grizzly Peak D, the thirteener is located in Arapaho National Forest, southeast by east of Loveland Pass, Colorado, United States, on the Continental Divide between Clear Creek and Summit counties. Its proximate parent peak is Torreys Peak.

Location and geography

Grizzly Peak sits along the Continental Divide on the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The summit is located near Interstate 70, east of the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel. The larger Grays Peak and Torreys Peak sit nearby, and the closest major town is Silver Plume, Colorado. It is also in close proximity to Mount Sniktau, which rises to at its peak. Other nearby points of interest include Loveland Ski Area, Breckenridge Ski Resort, Keystone Ski Resort and the Arapahoe Basin.

Other summits with same name

The state of Colorado actually has four other Grizzly Peaks and one Grizzly Mountain on record. The Grizzly Peak in Chaffee County, which sits in the Sawatch Range, is the tallest of these. The Summit County Grizzly Peak is fourth-tallest of the mountains, and is thus also referred to as "Grizzly Peak D":
RankMountainElevationRange
54Grizzly PeakSawatch Range
130Grizzly PeakSan Juan Mountains
142Grizzly MountainSawatch Range
145Grizzly PeakSan Juan Mountains
302Grizzly PeakFront Range
415Grizzly PeakSawatch Range

Hiking

The trail to Grizzly Peak, which allows hikers to reach the summit of the mountain by foot, is accessible immediately off of a parking lot at Loveland Pass on U.S. Highway 6. The trailhead begins above the treeline at about and rises to the peak, but reaching the summit does not necessarily require the use of extra mountain climbing equipment such as ropes. Visitors can also reach Mount Sniktau, a smaller peak, from the same point along Loveland Pass.
From the summit, hikers can see Loveland Pass below them, plus views of nearby Chihuahua Lake and the Arapahoe Basin ski trails.

Historical names