Mt Bancroft East Ridge Winter Hike Guide
Mt Bancroft is a 13,000 foot mountain located in the Front Range of Colorado. This mountain is not extremely popular but offers several routes to its summit, none of which have an official trail. Mt Bancroft’s East Ridge is a great option for those hikers looking for a challenging line to this 13er. The East Ridge offers a 60ft rappel with a small class 5 section and loads of class 3 and 4 ridge scrambling. Mt Bancroft can be hiked year round but is most popular in the summer months due to easier access.
Mt Bancroft Quick Facts
Virtual Trail Guide: Mt Bancroft East Ridge Winter Hike
Mt Bancroft East Ridge Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5 Stars)
Distance: 6-8+ Miles RT
Elevation Start: 10,261ft (from road), 11,200 (from Loch Lomond – Upper TH)
Highest Point: 13,250ft
Total Elevation Gain: 5,829 (from road)
Estimated Time to Complete: 10-12 Hours RT
Difficulty: Difficult What does this mean?
Class: Class 5 What does this mean?
Season: Year Round – Easier to Access June – October
Directions to Mt Bancroft
Trailhead: Loch Lomond or Steuart Road
Getting Here: From I70, take exit 238 for Fall River Road and continue 8.2 miles up towards the small town of Alice. Take a left onto Alice Road and drive for about a mile. This is Steuart Road and the lower TH. If conditions and your car allows, continue driving another 2.3 miles on the 4×4 road to Loch Lomond and the upper TH.
Fees: There is no fee to hike Mt Bancroft.
Parking: Parking for Mt Bancroft is extremely different depending on the season you visit. If you head to this hike in the summer or early fall, there is a small lot that can fit 5-10 cars before the 4×4 section of this road. In the winter when you can’t drive at all on Steuart Road, parking can be extremely difficult to find. We ended up parking in a closed road about a ¼ mile away from the start of the hike. Regardless of when you visit, it’s clear that residents of the area do not want you parking on or near their land and I don’t blame them.
Summary
Mt Bancroft Camping: There are plenty of camping options if you head to Mt Bancroft in the summer or fall. At the start of the hike there is a campground along with loads of dispersed camping options along the forest road. This is an extremely popular spot to camp because of its proximity to Denver, so get here early on weekends if you are looking to snag a spot.
Dogs: This hike is absolutely not dog friendly. If you hiked up the south slopes of Bancroft, you could bring a dog on this one though.
Make it a Loop: Mt Bancroft is a lollipop loop hike starting on the east ridge, descending the south slopes and exiting back onto the forest road.
X Factors: Wind & Approach
As Nick and I found out first hand, the winds in this basin and part of Colorado in general can be extremely unpredictable. On our first attempt of Bancroft, we were quite literally blown off the mountain with MUCH higher than forecasted winds. On the second attempt the winds almost turned us around again but luckily they died down later in the morning. This is absolutely not a hike you would want to attempt with high winds.
Mt Bancroft can change from a 5-6 mile hike to a 8-9 mile hike depending on the time of year you visit and how far you are able to get on your approach. If you are hiking on the longer side of things it’s just a forest road with relatively little elevation gain so it’s not like the difficulty is significantly harder, it will just take you more time.
Hike Tip(s): Even though the hike up to Mt Bancroft is fairly short, give yourself plenty of time and a great weather window to complete this hike. Once you gain the East Ridge, there really are no points of bailing if the weather turns bad, especially after you tackle the rappel. Since the ridge is so technical and the rock quality is hit or miss, spending 3+ hours on the ridge is certainly realistic, especially if your group is more than 2 people.
Best Views: The hike up Mt Bancroft is beautiful from the time you get past treeline until you get to the summit. You pass two high alpine lakes along the way and you have an awesome perspective of neighboring James Peak (LINK). From the summit, views of almost the entire Front Range are flat out spectacular in all directions. This hike is just flat out beautiful, especially in the winter.
Mt Bancroft East Ridge Winter Route
Gear Needed
- 14er Day Hike Packing List
- Men’s Trail Runners
- Women’s Trail Runners
- La Sportiva Trango Hiking Boots (Men’s)
- La Sportiva Trango Hiking Boots (Women’s)
- Backpack
- Food & Water
- Minimum of 50m Rope
- Belay Device
- Climbing Harness
- Cordage for Anchor – There is a station here, but always good to have backups
- Climbing Helmet
- Optional: Protection for Climb After Rappel – We a #1 TCU, only placed one piece of gear
- Optional: Garmin inReach
- Optional: Hiking Poles
- Optional: Headlamp
- Optional: Garmin Fenix Watch
- Optional: Camera and Lens
- Optional: GoPro, Joby Tripod
Winter Gear
- La Sportiva Trango Hiking Boots (Men’s)
- La Sportiva Trango Hiking Booths (Women’s)
- La Sportiva Mountaineering Boots
- Mountain Axe
- Gaiters
- Optional: Crampons
- Optional: Crampon Bag
- Optional: Avalanche Gear: Beacon, Probe, Shovel
- Optional: Snowshoes
- *Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you.
Our Trip to Mt Bancroft: March 2021
Winter 2021 was coming to an end and after a failed attempt on the East Ridge of Mt Bancroft a few weeks prior, my friend Nick and I headed back for round two. There was more snow this time around which made TH access much more difficult. We cruised up to Loch Lomond and were once again greeted with high winds and blowing snow. Demoralized, we continued on through the punchy snow hoping that the winds would die down.
As we got to the base of the East Ridge, the weather suddenly turned and the day turned into a beauty. We made our way up to and along the snow covered rocky ridge and made it to the rappel. The winds picked up again but not enough to make things dangerous and we both enjoyed the short rap down into the notch below. With our climbing gear already out, we decided to put in a piece of gear for the next Class 5 portion and Nick led the small climb.
The rest of the ridge was a mix of Class 3, 4 and minor sections of 5 climbing. There was one section with a tricky cornice with heavy exposure under it, but the rest was fairly dry. As we got closer to the summit, we noticed some heavily wind slabbed slopes and avoided them like the plague. After a quick detour, we arrived on the summit of Mt Bancroft with absolutely beautiful weather.
The hike down was much faster with a lot more postholing and deep snow but was grateful to have a strong partner in Nick who led most of the way. Overall, we both had an absolutely amazing day on Mt Bancroft. The ridge scrambling was insanely fun, technical climbing a nice spice of life and the rappel maybe my favorite part of the day. I would easily revisit this hike for another round in drier weather.
Looking down to the rap. 
Summit!