When I first moved to Colorado, I met someone who claimed to have climbed "every single peak in the state of Colorado." Astonished, I exclaimed, "Wow! There must be thousands of peaks in Colorado!" He gave me a puzzled look and replied, "No, there are only fifty-four."
Wow! To say that there only 54 peaks in Colorado takes a special kind of ignorance. I'm certainly not hard-core, and I've climbed more than two-hundred. You were correct to suspect that there are literally thousands of peaks in the state.
I contributed to a project that located and catalogued all the peaks in Colorado. While I'm sure we're missing a peak or two somewhere out there, we've catalogued 4348 peaks that have at least 300' of prominence (this is the rule commonly used to define a 14er, with popular exceptions made for North Maroon and El Diente). This tally excludes the 2400 or so named peaks that do not meet this prominence criterion.
To my knowledge, no one has climbed them all, though Mike Garratt has likely done more than anyone else. He's climbed over 2600 of them, and he's tantalizingly close to having climbed every peak above 11,000'.
Yeah, people get into the 54 "Fourteeners" and forget about all of the "Thirteeners" and other magnificent peaks in Colorado. It's a mindset that if it's not a "Fourteener" then it doesn't exist.
I am planning on making my first trip to Colorado spring/summer 2014 and would like to hike a few peaks while I am there. I am looking for recommendations for something that is challenging, but not too technical (still working on some things). I am also not a big fan of lots of people so something that is a little less busy than others would be great. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
redsplashman23 - Feb 11, 2007 4:32 am - Voted 10/10
Great PageGreat Page! That had to take a lot of time to put together!
Sierra Ledge Rat - Mar 12, 2007 8:48 am - Hasn't voted
How many peaks in Colorado?When I first moved to Colorado, I met someone who claimed to have climbed "every single peak in the state of Colorado." Astonished, I exclaimed, "Wow! There must be thousands of peaks in Colorado!" He gave me a puzzled look and replied, "No, there are only fifty-four."
RyanS - Mar 13, 2007 3:12 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: How many peaks in Colorado?Wow! To say that there only 54 peaks in Colorado takes a special kind of ignorance. I'm certainly not hard-core, and I've climbed more than two-hundred. You were correct to suspect that there are literally thousands of peaks in the state.
I contributed to a project that located and catalogued all the peaks in Colorado. While I'm sure we're missing a peak or two somewhere out there, we've catalogued 4348 peaks that have at least 300' of prominence (this is the rule commonly used to define a 14er, with popular exceptions made for North Maroon and El Diente). This tally excludes the 2400 or so named peaks that do not meet this prominence criterion.
To my knowledge, no one has climbed them all, though Mike Garratt has likely done more than anyone else. He's climbed over 2600 of them, and he's tantalizingly close to having climbed every peak above 11,000'.
Sierra Ledge Rat - Mar 13, 2007 10:44 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: How many peaks in Colorado?Yeah, people get into the 54 "Fourteeners" and forget about all of the "Thirteeners" and other magnificent peaks in Colorado. It's a mindset that if it's not a "Fourteener" then it doesn't exist.
hildrethap - Nov 23, 2013 11:49 am - Hasn't voted
A little helpI am planning on making my first trip to Colorado spring/summer 2014 and would like to hike a few peaks while I am there. I am looking for recommendations for something that is challenging, but not too technical (still working on some things). I am also not a big fan of lots of people so something that is a little less busy than others would be great. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Matt Lemke - Nov 23, 2013 1:14 pm - Voted 10/10
Re: A little helpThat all depends on how comfortable you are scrambling and whether exposure really gets to you.