Crested Butte Trails: Crested Butte Mountain Summit 12,162 Feet

From the Town of Crested Butte: Take Gothic Road (Route 135) north 2.4 miles up toward the ski base area. Free parking is available just past Treasury Road on your right. A second free parking lot is located just past The Plaza. Turn right on Snowmass Road and the lot is located past The Plaza covered parking lot on the right. The Silver Queen lift starts up on June 22nd and lift tickets are for purchase at the ticket center (free ride down if you hike from the base area). Call (970) 251-7022 for more info.  Map

From the base area, hop on the Silver Queen lift [1]. From the top of the lift, head left and uphill into the trees where there is a sign. The trail starts climbing wooden steps through the forest [3]. Continue up until the trail levels out near some picnic tables [4]. Here you'll see the remainder of the summit block and a highly visible trail up the saddle [5]. The path gets steeper as you head up past the tree line and top out with views of the town of Crested Butte south [6]. Follow the trail to the right and back down a few hundred feet before ascending a steep, slippery slope (which can be covered with snow) to a signed viewpoint [7].

Get ready for some more serious climbing and scrambling through the boulders that make up the summit. The trail gets faint further up, but shouldn't get more difficult than basic scrambling [9]. When in doubt, keep going up. Some rocks will move under foot so be sure to use your hands for balance. You'll notice a couple plaques, memorials, and flags once you reach the top [10].

If you are hiking from the Base Area: Start on Up and Away Trail. Follow the trail as it climbs from the base area and eventually ends at painter boy road. follow the road left and up to the painter boy lift. Pass the lift and continue climbing on the road. Eventually the road will top out at a junction with a large trail map on the left side, it's a good idea to double check the map here. From the road junction take the trail Primer and climb up to the Red Lady Lift. Once at the red lady lift you can jump on the Upper Mountain Access Trail/ the Silver Queen Trail. This trail is a 4x4 road that switchbacks from the Red Lady lift up to the Silver Queen lift. Once on the road you follow it all. the way to the Paradise lift, then continue on to the Silver Queen lift. There are some scenic overlooks with picnic tables on some of the switchbacks. Once you reach the Silver Queen lift you can follow the above directions to reach the summit.