Raw Data ( not edited)
1320: Start.
It is 1409 and I feel really good strong it's a beautiful picture perfect day Clear blue sky.
1431: 2.72 miles. 976 feet vertical. Steep climbing starts.
1447: Rest & energy stop. 3.05 mi, 1,270 feet vertical. 1:17:47 hiking time. I ate a Strawberry Special K protein bar with 12g of protein. Also has 180 calories, magnesium, calcium, & vitamin D.
1457: Ready to continue. Light wind picked up. Feels good.
1538: 5 minutes break. Vertical gain: 1,858 ft. This is harder than I remember it being. I'm not to my highest progress from previous climb.
The trail goes up a narrow gully called Shadow Canyon. There are huge boulders strewn about in this canyon. They were in the process of weathering and breaking apart. One of the guys that I saw on the summit told me that he frequently sees bears on this Trail. It is a steep trail at the upper portions. That shouldn't surprise me because when you look at the Flatirons they are steeply tilted.
1601: Feeling weak. Having some balance problems. Feel like taking a nap. Hit my left elbow on a rock. I didn't feel real good the past few days and the day before this hike I had diarrhea. While hiking I had some nasal congestion, which made it a little harder to breathe.
Vertical gain: 2,093 feet. 3.7 miles.
1608: Making another push.
1630: Arrived at the saddle. Even though I was so close to the top, I still thought about stopping there. I could have climbed a Bear Peak, but South Boulder Peak is higher.
My body was hurting so I had to mentally block that out to continue. There were two or three times that I thought about stopping and turning around. In the final push to the summit I made several one minute stops where I sat down to rest.
You can still see standing dead, burnt trees from a wildfire that happened several years ago. It appears to be taking a long time to recover, probably because there isn't much soil. I think this was part of the Fourmile Canyon fire in 2010. Now, 11 years later the area still hasn't recovered in there aren't very many trees growing. This fire may have been a spark from the main fire since it is not near the main fire perimeter.
1700: Arrived at the summit (8524 ft). There were three other people up there. This Summit is tilted Rock similar to the Flatirons that you can see from Boulder. This is an iconic mountain because it is the highest of the Flatirons. The Flatirons are in nearly every publicity photo for the city of Boulder.
1716: Starting down. Met 3 others on summit of South Bear Peak.
1729: Back down to the saddle between Bear Peak and South Boulder Peak.
With photo on COTrex app.
This is a very difficult climb for the "average" hiker. Difficult for the slightly above average hiker. I had 8.6 miles roundtrip with 2,800 feet of vertical gain, which is more vertical than many 14ers. Excellent training for climbing 14ers. The scenery was spectacular on this picture perfect day. If you know where to look, you can see Longs Peak, Pikes Peak, Grays, Torreys, Mt. Evans, & Beirstadt. There is some easy bouldering at the very summit and a nice drop off on the south side. Be careful getting that summit selfie.
1900: Back to the car in Doudy Draw trailhead. Totally exhausted. The descent took 1 hour and 44 minutes. I didn't take any rest stops other than just a few 1 minute stops to catch my breath.
Vertical gain: 2,812! 8.6 miles, 5:02:13.
jake_the_snake - Aug 17, 2020 7:34 am Date Climbed: Aug 16, 2020
South Boulder Peak
Beautiful hike
JesseSumrak - Feb 29, 2020 6:34 pm Date Climbed: Feb 29, 2020
Bear Peak + South Boulder Peak
Fun hike this morning. Super icey, so it was the first chance I've had to use microspikes, which worked perfectly. Never slipped. Went up fern trail, tagged Bear Peak but didn't stay for long due too pretty fierce wind, then dropped down and went to South Boulder Peak. Made the return trip via Bear Canyon trail. Perfect day!
kswolff - Nov 30, 2019 7:35 am Date Climbed: Jul 21, 2018
Hopped over here after bagging Bear. Fun pair of summits that are definitely worth your time if you are in the area.
Kiefer - Nov 14, 2017 1:04 am Date Climbed: Jan 30, 2016
Icy!!
Great, sunny weather but damn...super icy.
alexwatson - Mar 1, 2017 5:36 pm Date Climbed: Feb 11, 2017
Forgot my spikes
Slipped and Fell over from Bear Peak. Literally...forgot my spikes, so I was slipping and sliding the whole way. lol.
xDoogiex - May 21, 2016 4:46 pm Date Climbed: May 18, 2016
With bear peak
Ran over after peak peak
Diggler - Jan 14, 2016 8:16 pm Date Climbed: Jan 12, 2016
(Boulder) Tri-tip Challenge
This summit somehow managed to elude me during my (numerous) years at CU. Finally got 'er done. First of 3 summits that day, starting (& ending) at Chautauqua. After making good time until the Mesa-Shadow Canyon junction, followed by a more-work-than-I'd-remembered grunt to the saddle, got to utilize recent trail-breaking efforts of the generous guys ahead of me to the summit. Summited at 14.45. Amazing views of the Front Range! Favorite quote of the day (same guys): "That dude's crazy for wearing just shorts & a T-shirt up here!")
Walkoutnow - Oct 23, 2015 8:06 pm Date Climbed: Oct 17, 2015
First of three
Flew in for a quick weekend excursion with my friend Lynn - car dropped at Gregory Canyon, then taxied to south mesa trail head. We did a 3 peak traverse with Bear Peak and Green Mountain. 11.5 miles and a beautiful day. Off to the Pearl street district in Boulder for some cold beers that night. Fun trip
I've climbed South Boulder Peak three times, but my latest time was August of 2014. It was part of an epic 19-mile hike, the longest hike I've ever done (so far). I made a figure-8 loop starting from the Crescent Meadows trailhead along the Walker Ranch trail west of Boulder. I descended east down crescent meadows trail (section of Walker Ranch) to the footbridge over South Boulder Creek at the bottom. Next, I climbed the Eldorado Canyon Trail for about a mile, then went cross country northwest up the slopes and summited South Boulder Peak from the west side. I then descended the Shadow Canyon trail, but instead of going to the mesa trailhead east of Eldo Springs, I took a little-known, unmarked trail that cut straight south down a valley to the hotel-pool area in Eldo. Then I walked through Eldo State Park (important to refill your water there) and took the Eldorado Canyon Trail back to the Walker Ranch trail, and completed the Walker Ranch Loop going counter-clockwise. PHEW!!!!!
Let me tell you though, that hike pretty much toured the most beautiful places that the Boulder foothills have to offer. If you are in great shape like I was last summer, and want to do the best long day hike near Boulder, feel free to repeat my hike. I CHALLENGE YOU. Beware, there's over 6000 feet of combined elevation gain, and you should be comfortable scrambling class 3-4 rock just for the small section below South Boulder Peak. Also, it's important to start at Crescent Meadows trailhead because that puts your water fill-up spot in Eldo Canyon at the halfway mark.
belexes - Mar 29, 2015 4:18 pm Date Climbed: Mar 28, 2015
Shadow Canyon
CMC hike. This was my second time on South Boulder. It was sunny and warm, breezy at the saddle and summit. There is still some snow above the saddle. Microspikes would have been useful. We took it pretty slow going up the canyon, there were some slower hikers. Plenty of hikers and walkers enjoying the park, it was a good day.
locke456 - Sep 21, 2014 3:51 pm Date Climbed: Aug 31, 2014
Boulder Trip
Was in Denver for Labor Day weekend and had hoped to climb Mount Evans. Weather didn't cooperate, so I ended up climbing South Boulder Peak and Bear Peak instead. Perhaps expectedly, the thunderheads descended out of the big mountains when I was just leaving the summit of Bear Peak, and I had a bit of a jog to get down into Shadow Canyon before the storm hit.
awhite28 - Jul 19, 2014 9:15 pm Date Climbed: Oct 8, 2004
South Boulder
From Boulder
LDuszer - Jun 19, 2014 1:00 am Date Climbed: Jun 18, 2014
Great morning
I climbed this in the morning before going to work. Left my car at the South Mesa TH at 6:20, was on the summit at 8:15, then back down to my car at 9:15. Another runner was coming down from Upper Bluestem and said he had seen a mountain lion there. Fortunately I was headed in the other direction...
eric-griz - Jun 26, 2023 8:23 pm Date Climbed: Jun 25, 2023
Steep, but beautifulLove hiking in the Flatirons. Hiked up Fern Canyon with my brother.
tjburr - Sep 25, 2021 10:03 pm Date Climbed: Sep 25, 2021
South Boulder PeakRaw Data ( not edited)
1320: Start.
It is 1409 and I feel really good strong it's a beautiful picture perfect day Clear blue sky.
1431: 2.72 miles. 976 feet vertical. Steep climbing starts.
1447: Rest & energy stop. 3.05 mi, 1,270 feet vertical. 1:17:47 hiking time. I ate a Strawberry Special K protein bar with 12g of protein. Also has 180 calories, magnesium, calcium, & vitamin D.
1457: Ready to continue. Light wind picked up. Feels good.
1538: 5 minutes break. Vertical gain: 1,858 ft. This is harder than I remember it being. I'm not to my highest progress from previous climb.
The trail goes up a narrow gully called Shadow Canyon. There are huge boulders strewn about in this canyon. They were in the process of weathering and breaking apart. One of the guys that I saw on the summit told me that he frequently sees bears on this Trail. It is a steep trail at the upper portions. That shouldn't surprise me because when you look at the Flatirons they are steeply tilted.
1601: Feeling weak. Having some balance problems. Feel like taking a nap. Hit my left elbow on a rock. I didn't feel real good the past few days and the day before this hike I had diarrhea. While hiking I had some nasal congestion, which made it a little harder to breathe.
Vertical gain: 2,093 feet. 3.7 miles.
1608: Making another push.
1630: Arrived at the saddle. Even though I was so close to the top, I still thought about stopping there. I could have climbed a Bear Peak, but South Boulder Peak is higher.
My body was hurting so I had to mentally block that out to continue. There were two or three times that I thought about stopping and turning around. In the final push to the summit I made several one minute stops where I sat down to rest.
You can still see standing dead, burnt trees from a wildfire that happened several years ago. It appears to be taking a long time to recover, probably because there isn't much soil. I think this was part of the Fourmile Canyon fire in 2010. Now, 11 years later the area still hasn't recovered in there aren't very many trees growing. This fire may have been a spark from the main fire since it is not near the main fire perimeter.
1700: Arrived at the summit (8524 ft). There were three other people up there. This Summit is tilted Rock similar to the Flatirons that you can see from Boulder. This is an iconic mountain because it is the highest of the Flatirons. The Flatirons are in nearly every publicity photo for the city of Boulder.
1716: Starting down. Met 3 others on summit of South Bear Peak.
1729: Back down to the saddle between Bear Peak and South Boulder Peak.
With photo on COTrex app.
This is a very difficult climb for the "average" hiker. Difficult for the slightly above average hiker. I had 8.6 miles roundtrip with 2,800 feet of vertical gain, which is more vertical than many 14ers. Excellent training for climbing 14ers. The scenery was spectacular on this picture perfect day. If you know where to look, you can see Longs Peak, Pikes Peak, Grays, Torreys, Mt. Evans, & Beirstadt. There is some easy bouldering at the very summit and a nice drop off on the south side. Be careful getting that summit selfie.
1900: Back to the car in Doudy Draw trailhead. Totally exhausted. The descent took 1 hour and 44 minutes. I didn't take any rest stops other than just a few 1 minute stops to catch my breath.
Vertical gain: 2,812! 8.6 miles, 5:02:13.
jake_the_snake - Aug 17, 2020 7:34 am Date Climbed: Aug 16, 2020
South Boulder PeakBeautiful hike
JesseSumrak - Feb 29, 2020 6:34 pm Date Climbed: Feb 29, 2020
Bear Peak + South Boulder PeakFun hike this morning. Super icey, so it was the first chance I've had to use microspikes, which worked perfectly. Never slipped. Went up fern trail, tagged Bear Peak but didn't stay for long due too pretty fierce wind, then dropped down and went to South Boulder Peak. Made the return trip via Bear Canyon trail. Perfect day!
kswolff - Nov 30, 2019 7:35 am Date Climbed: Jul 21, 2018
South Boulder PeakClimbed via Shadow Canyon. Very hot day
myrone - Jul 19, 2019 8:28 am
South Boulder Peak from South Mesa THHave climbed this peak twice; once alone and once with oldest son and his girlfriend. Both times had good weather and fine views.
Onager - Nov 16, 2018 7:49 pm Date Climbed: Nov 16, 2018
Fun hikeFun hike with Matt then Avery brewing after!!
JRaphaelson - Aug 10, 2018 11:58 am Date Climbed: Aug 7, 2018
From Shadow CanyonGreat hike on a hot hot day.
BKiser90 - Jul 4, 2018 10:22 pm Date Climbed: Jul 4, 2018
Bear and South BoulderHopped over here after bagging Bear. Fun pair of summits that are definitely worth your time if you are in the area.
Kiefer - Nov 14, 2017 1:04 am Date Climbed: Jan 30, 2016
Icy!!Great, sunny weather but damn...super icy.
alexwatson - Mar 1, 2017 5:36 pm Date Climbed: Feb 11, 2017
Forgot my spikesSlipped and Fell over from Bear Peak. Literally...forgot my spikes, so I was slipping and sliding the whole way. lol.
xDoogiex - May 21, 2016 4:46 pm Date Climbed: May 18, 2016
With bear peakRan over after peak peak
Diggler - Jan 14, 2016 8:16 pm Date Climbed: Jan 12, 2016
(Boulder) Tri-tip ChallengeThis summit somehow managed to elude me during my (numerous) years at CU. Finally got 'er done. First of 3 summits that day, starting (& ending) at Chautauqua. After making good time until the Mesa-Shadow Canyon junction, followed by a more-work-than-I'd-remembered grunt to the saddle, got to utilize recent trail-breaking efforts of the generous guys ahead of me to the summit. Summited at 14.45. Amazing views of the Front Range! Favorite quote of the day (same guys): "That dude's crazy for wearing just shorts & a T-shirt up here!")
Walkoutnow - Oct 23, 2015 8:06 pm Date Climbed: Oct 17, 2015
First of threeFlew in for a quick weekend excursion with my friend Lynn - car dropped at Gregory Canyon, then taxied to south mesa trail head. We did a 3 peak traverse with Bear Peak and Green Mountain. 11.5 miles and a beautiful day. Off to the Pearl street district in Boulder for some cold beers that night. Fun trip
hightinerary - Jul 14, 2015 5:18 pm Date Climbed: Jul 14, 2015
ComboI climbed Bear Peak via the Fern Canyon Trail, then continued to South Boulder Peak.
RockyMountainAddict707 - May 5, 2015 12:35 am Date Climbed: Aug 1, 2014
I CHALLENGE YOU (19-mile day hike)I've climbed South Boulder Peak three times, but my latest time was August of 2014. It was part of an epic 19-mile hike, the longest hike I've ever done (so far). I made a figure-8 loop starting from the Crescent Meadows trailhead along the Walker Ranch trail west of Boulder. I descended east down crescent meadows trail (section of Walker Ranch) to the footbridge over South Boulder Creek at the bottom. Next, I climbed the Eldorado Canyon Trail for about a mile, then went cross country northwest up the slopes and summited South Boulder Peak from the west side. I then descended the Shadow Canyon trail, but instead of going to the mesa trailhead east of Eldo Springs, I took a little-known, unmarked trail that cut straight south down a valley to the hotel-pool area in Eldo. Then I walked through Eldo State Park (important to refill your water there) and took the Eldorado Canyon Trail back to the Walker Ranch trail, and completed the Walker Ranch Loop going counter-clockwise. PHEW!!!!!
Let me tell you though, that hike pretty much toured the most beautiful places that the Boulder foothills have to offer. If you are in great shape like I was last summer, and want to do the best long day hike near Boulder, feel free to repeat my hike. I CHALLENGE YOU. Beware, there's over 6000 feet of combined elevation gain, and you should be comfortable scrambling class 3-4 rock just for the small section below South Boulder Peak. Also, it's important to start at Crescent Meadows trailhead because that puts your water fill-up spot in Eldo Canyon at the halfway mark.
belexes - Mar 29, 2015 4:18 pm Date Climbed: Mar 28, 2015
Shadow CanyonCMC hike. This was my second time on South Boulder. It was sunny and warm, breezy at the saddle and summit. There is still some snow above the saddle. Microspikes would have been useful. We took it pretty slow going up the canyon, there were some slower hikers. Plenty of hikers and walkers enjoying the park, it was a good day.
locke456 - Sep 21, 2014 3:51 pm Date Climbed: Aug 31, 2014
Boulder TripWas in Denver for Labor Day weekend and had hoped to climb Mount Evans. Weather didn't cooperate, so I ended up climbing South Boulder Peak and Bear Peak instead. Perhaps expectedly, the thunderheads descended out of the big mountains when I was just leaving the summit of Bear Peak, and I had a bit of a jog to get down into Shadow Canyon before the storm hit.
awhite28 - Jul 19, 2014 9:15 pm Date Climbed: Oct 8, 2004
South BoulderFrom Boulder
LDuszer - Jun 19, 2014 1:00 am Date Climbed: Jun 18, 2014
Great morningI climbed this in the morning before going to work. Left my car at the South Mesa TH at 6:20, was on the summit at 8:15, then back down to my car at 9:15. Another runner was coming down from Upper Bluestem and said he had seen a mountain lion there. Fortunately I was headed in the other direction...