Colorado 14ers Ranked: All 58 Peaks From Best to Worst
After more than 10 years of hiking Colorado 14ers, completing all 58 peaks and logging over 140 total 14er summits, I decided it was finally time to rank every Colorado 14er from best to worst.
This ranking is based on my personal experiences across all seasons and includes factors such as scenery, route variety, scrambling, trail quality, accessibility, camping opportunities, snow climbing/descent potential and overall mountain experience.
If you’re looking for a quick answer:
- Best Colorado 14er: Longs Peak
- Best Beginner Colorado 14er: Huron Peak
- Best Colorado 14er Scramble: Crestone Needle
- Most Underrated Colorado 14er: Wetterhorn Peak
- Lowest Ranked Colorado 14er: Mount Bross
Of course, these rankings are completely subjective and likely to spark debate, which is half the fun. Let me know where you agree, disagree or think I’ve completely lost my mind.
Watch: Colorado 14ers Ranked From Best to Worst
Prefer watching instead of reading? This video breaks down all 58 Colorado 14ers, explains my ranking methodology and dives deeper into why each mountain landed in its respective tier.
Continue below for the complete written rankings, photos and detailed notes on every peak.
Colorado 14ers Ranked From Best to Worst Criteria
How am I ranking these 14ers you ask? Well, as with any ranking system this is all based on my personal experience and taking into account the following areas.
- Views
- Route Variety
- Scrambling opportunities
- Year Round Accessibility
- Snow Lines (couloirs to climb or snowboard down)
- Trail Quality
- Camping & Backpacking Opportunities
- Crowd Levels
- Overall Mountain Experience
As you can see, this list is NOT exclusively ranking the standard routes up and down the Colorado 14ers, it takes many other factors into play.
Frequently Asked Questions About Colorado 14ers
What is the best Colorado 14er?
Based on more than 140 Colorado 14er summits over 10+ years, Longs Peak is my highest-ranked Colorado 14er thanks to its route diversity, scrambling opportunities, year-round accessibility and overall mountain experience.
What is the best beginner Colorado 14er?
Handies Peak (via the American Basin) or Mt Sherman via Southwest ridge are the easiest 14ers to start on. Although there are no easy 14ers – these two offer a good introductory experience to Colorado’s 14ers.
Read about the 10 Easiest Colorado 14ers here.
What is the hardest Colorado 14er?
While difficulty depends on conditions and route choice, but looking at standard routes, I would say Capitol Peak with a close second to Little Bear Peak.
Read about the hardest Colorado 14ers here.
How many Colorado 14ers are there?
This should be an easy answer but it largely depends on who you ask. The answer is 58 based on most of us who try to hike them all but you will also hear 53 as a common answer. In order for a 14er to be counted as an official “summit” it must rise above 14,000ft, must have an official survey giving it a name and must rise at least 300ft from the peak next to it.
F Tier Colorado 14ers – 3
- Mt Bross
- Can’t legally summit, boring, same views as rest of DeCaLiBron (this acronym still makes no sense to me)
- Culebra Peak
- Pay to play and for that reason, I am out.
- Challenger Point
- ABYSMAL trail conditions with long approach, loose/dangerous/1 million social trails. Very similar views to Kit Carson. Personal grudge with this mountain.
D Tier Colorado 14ers – 10
- Grays Peak
- Lost Rat is a fun ski line and snow climb but it melts out quickly. Standard route is not it. However, multiple ways to approach (Loveland, From the South etc.)
- Torreys Peak
- Ditto to above, but more ski and snow climb lines.
- Mount Democrat
- Great intro 14er but boring overall experience. North Couloir saves this from being a F experience.
- Mt Oxford
- Steep, loose trail but beautiful views and approach. Have to regain elevation on steep, loose trail.
- Mt Belford
- Steep, loose trail but beautiful views and approach. Slightly better than Oxford due to less elevation gain.
- Mt Antero
- Great approach from Browns Creek, but long – standard trail is bad and boring. Top is weird with mining claims.
- Mt Lincoln
- Arguably an F Tier mountain but I was feeling nice…
- Mt Sherman
- Cool mining artifacts at start but when the road to the trailhead takes longer than the hike, that is never a good thing.
- Mount Cameron
- Not really a 14er anyway…
- Mt Bierstadt
- Once heard someone call it the Walmart of 14ers, that made me laugh. Always crowded/hard to find space on the mountain, debated between landing in F.
C Tier Colorado 14ers – 16
- Mount Blue Sky
- Multiple approaches + mountain goats on top. Driving to summit and somewhat boring hiking land this in the middle.
- Mt Yale
- Multiple approaches on decent trail conditions. Good views but no really exciting terrain.
- Quandary Peak
- Lots of ski lines, fun scrambling but permit system is a real bummer.
- Redcloud Peak
- Beautiful San Juan views but hiking somewhat loose and boring.
- Sunshine Peak
- Same grade as Redcloud since they are right next to each other…
- La Plata Peak
- Ellingwood Ridge is a classic but a slog. North Couloirs are tough to access.
- Mt Princeton
- Could be a D mountain in retrospect…
- Kit Carson Peak
- Solid scrambling on North Ridge but longer approach and the descent down Challenger is awful. Conditions in its South Gully leave a lot to be desired. Beautiful views of Sangres and Sand Dunes National Park.
- Humboldt Peak
- Great outing in both the Summer and Winter, easy to backpack as well. Rough approach road.
- Mt Columbia
- Slightly worse than Harvard due to lack of fun scrambling. Trail so much better thanks to CFI.
- Ellingwood Point
- Long approach but multiple to choose from. Not the most memorable mountain.
- Little Bear Peak
- Easily a C+ mountain. However, lots of loose rock and a long approach knock it down significantly.
- Maroon Peak
- C+ experience but steep approach, permit system and loose terrain knock this down to a C for me. However, beautiful views and the traverse is fun.
- North Maroon Peak
- Almost exactly the same notes as above but I didn’t love the ledges descent either.
- Mt Wilson
- Fun adventure for long day or multiple but traverse and terrain itself is full of loose terrain.
- El Diente Peak
- Same notes as above.
B Tier Colorado 14ers – 18
- Handies Peak
- B+ mountain just wish it had some scrambling.
- Mt Sneffels
- Could easily be an A mountain if wasn’t as crowded and poor trail conditions on standard route. Stunning summit views.
- Mt Massive
- Easily linkable, less crowds than Mt Elbert, good to ski, subpeaks.
- Mt Shavano
- Angel is a classic snow line, new re-routed trail – just no super fun terrain and summit views are just okay.
- Tabeguache Peak
- Neighbor to Mt Shavano, B- mountain.
- Missouri Mountain
- Improving the trail conditions near ridge and summit would easily bump this to an A mountain. But that loose dirt/rock/scree is no fun.
- Castle Peak
- Nice lollipop loop – good to pair with another 14er and beautiful views.
- Conundrum Peak
- Fun snow line, easy to link – descending without snow can be challenging.
- Pyramid Peak
- Permit system stinks, but love the goats, views and some fun features on the mountain.
- Windom Peak
- Bit more of walkup, loose quality B+
- San Luis Peak
- Remote. Feels like a true adventure even with lackluster trail.
- Mt Lindsey
- Good scrambling near top, beautiful approach, lots of water features along the way.
- Uncompahgre Peak
- Walk up but fun in Spring, Winter (when accessible) and Summer/Fall. Looks badass from far away.
- Mt Harvard
- Scrambling near summit saves this from a C mountain. Link up to Columbia more fun on the Harvard side.
- Blanca Peak
- B- mountain but with ability to do both Gash ridge and Little Bear Blanca traverse + standard route makes this one a solid B for me.
- Mount of the Holy Cross
- Great loop with multiple routes, iconic ski line and fairly remote for this area.
- Wilson Peak
- Multiple approaches some fun scrambling but rock quality near summit leaves something to be desired.
- Pikes Peak
- Winter access, great for trail running, multiple routes and ability to refuel on the summit. Know that people will hate this landing here but Pikes just feels different for me than other 14ers.
A Tier Colorado 14ers – 7
- Crestone Peak / East Crestone
- Re-gaining elevation and the scrambling slightly less fun than its neighbor but other than that a near perfect mountain experience.
- Capitol Peak
- True sense of an adventure with long day or backpacking trip. Fun scrambling and knife edge is very dramatic. However, rock quality near summit is not great and there can be bottlenecking on knife edge.
- Mt Elbert
- Lots of routes to link, accessible year round, fun ski lines but there is no fun scrambling and can be quite popular.
- Snowmass Mountain
- Some of the best views on any Colorado 14er hike, including Snowmass Lake which is one of the best in the state. However, rock quality on the ridge leaves some to be desire and without snow you deal with A LOT of loose rock.
- Eolus
- Fun scrambling, bit of route finding, remote, sense of adventure, insane summit views. However, loose trail conditions exist and its quite a journey to get back to the mountain by foot or train.
- North Eolus
- Ditto to above with less scrambling.
- Sunlight Peak
- Leap of faith is one of the most exhilarating moves on a Colorado 14er, standard route. However, same cons to above and there is more loose trail on the way to the summit area.
S Tier Colorado 14ers – 4
- Crestone Needle
- Great rock quality and fun scrambling, beautiful approach, stunning views from top. No notes…
- Wetterhorn Peak
- Fun scramble on top, unique crossover, secluded and multiple ways to access its standard route. Admittedly, a nostalgia pick for me.
- Huron Peak
- Easy approach, A+ views, variety of terrain, the best intro 14er IMO.
- Longs Peak
- A million different approaches, year round access, ability to easily link up routes, multisport possibility and solid overall rock quality overall. Longs Peak is the best 14er in Colorado in my opinion.
