The trail to Mount Princeton is a moderate 7 mile hike near Buena Vista. It is one of Colorado’s fourteeners located in the beautiful Collegiate Peaks of the Sawatch Range, making it a popular hike.
Mt. Princeton is not the tallest of the Collegiate Peaks (Mt. Elbert, Colorado’s highest peak, is located in this same mountain range) but it is a very prominent peak and you can see this hike from the town of Buena Vista below. If you look closely, you can even see the radio towers for the upper trailhead and most of the Mt Princeton trail.
HIKE TO: Mount Princeton
TRAILHEAD: Mount Princeton Upper Trailhead
MILES: 7 miles out and back
TIME: 5.5 hrs
DATE I WENT: 7/11/24
DIFFICULTY: moderate
ELEVATION: 14,194 ft
ELEVATION GAIN: 3,362 ft
HIKE PERMIT: no
PARKING: free
LOCATION: San Isabel National Forest — Buena Vista, Colorado
Mt Princeton Trailhead
There are two trailheads to hike Mount Princeton, a lower and upper trailhead. The lower trailhead is suitable for all cars and the upper trailhead requires an AWD or 4WD with decent clearance on it. We hiked from the upper trailhead.
Lower Trailhead
The lower trailhead sits at an elevation of 8,960 ft and has a large parking lot and a porta-potty restroom. If you start here, you will add 3 miles each way with 1,872 ft of elevation gain to your hike.
Upper Trailhead
The upper trailhead is where the radio towers are and starts at an elevation of 10,832 ft. The road from the lower trailhead to the upper trailhead is very narrow and follows the hillside with little spaces to pull off for cars passing through in the other direction. I would avoid driving this at busy times.
This section of the road is actually fairly smooth but there are a few grade dips* (aka terrain dips, Coweta dips) and one huge pothole-like dip in the middle of the road higher up so a vehicle with some clearance is recommended. My Bronco Sport has about 8” of clearance and did great on the road.
Less than 5 mins up the road from the radio towers is another parking option that can hold several cars. There were some campfire pits around these spots and it’s a lot more level and flat if you plan to sleep at the trailhead the night before. The road from the radio tower to this area does not get any harder than what you’ve already been through.
*A grade dip is basically like a speed bump on a forest road. They are permanent drainage features to keep water moving across the road/trail to prevent damage to the road.
Mt Princeton Hike Description
We set out to hike Mount Princeton because we wanted a chill, nontechnical hike—we knew this would be a slog though. My energy levels had been very slow so this was slow-going for us.
We started from the radio towers at 7:03 am and it was already really hot in mid-July. Most hikers started before us but we were taking our time this morning.
The first part of this hike is on the same dirt road (Mt. Princeton Road) you drove in on (so drive up as far as you can to make this a shorter hike). The hike is very exposed in the morning so I’d recommend an earlier start, a sun hat, and a sun hoodie.
You hike for 1.5 miles with 975 ft of elevation gain on the road until you reach a trail junction to your right side at an elevation of 11,807 ft. Do not miss this—this is the trail junction to hike to Mount Princeton! If you continue straight, you’ll be hiking to the Mount Princeton Chalet.
The trail junction is marked with yellow tags, but about 150 feet before the markers, there is another trail option that connects to it—we took that shortcut trail but it’s steep with loose rocks.
At 7:47 am, we were on the official Mount Princeton Trail. The next 0.25 miles is very easy; a narrow dirt path surrounded by wildflowers and grass with open views. This section was also the windiest of the whole hike as it’s more exposed in the open. We took a long snack break here and chatted with some hikers while I caught my breath.
The last 1.75 miles is mostly traversing through boulders which will likely slow down your pace a bit. We’ll break this part down into a few mini sections.
It starts with a flat traverse through a boulder field that is easy-going (for a boulder field) with mostly stable rocks (but always be sure to check for loose rocks yourself).
Then, the trail becomes less scrambly with a clear and firm path around mile 2.15 but there is loose sand and little rocks. This part starts with a flat-ish section and then hikes up a series of switchbacks to reach the ridge. There is an old trail that continues straight towards Mt Princeton but it’s blocked off by rocks at the beginning of the switchbacks. The trail is fairly obvious if you are paying attention but you could probably just follow the conga line of hikers as well since this is a popular hike. The elevation gain here is about 739 ft.
At 13,027 ft and 2.75 miles from the upper trailhead, you reach the ridge and get views of the other side of the mountain looking towards Mount Antero (14,276 ft) and Cronin Peak (13,802 ft). We got here at 9:05 am.
The final 0.75 miles was even slower going for me— there were a lot of full-size spiderwebs between the boulders which grossed me out a lot. I can handle most bugs, but I hate spiders and spiderwebs.
You follow the ridge for 0.33 miles on a roughly used trail through some boulders until you reach the last 0.42 miles that everyone dreads.
The last 0.42 miles to the summit of Mount Princeton gains 888 ft of elevation. There are sections of steep and loose sand/ dirt/ rocks so be mindful and pick your path carefully, but be more careful of going down this section as it’s easy to slip. This part took us 55 minutes to climb up.
At 10:19 am, we finally reached the summit of Mount Princeton at an elevation of 14,194 ft. From the summit, you get stunning 360 views of the Sawatch Range. Once you are done enjoying the summit, head back down the way you came in.
On our hike down, we met a family who brought their dogs out. It was one of the dog’s first big hikes and he wasn’t used to the rocky terrain which ended up hurting his paws. Mark ended up carrying him down half the trail from where they turned around. Just a friendly reminder to make sure your four-legged friends are comfortable with class two terrain before bringing them out.
What to pack for a Colorado 14er Day Hike
- Day pack (20 L)
- Hiking boots or trail shoes (I wore boots for this one)
- Approach shoes if you are scrambling the peaks
- Water filter if you are passing creeks. There is no water source for this hike
- Sun hoodie — 10% off Himali with code followtiffsjourney
- Trekking leggings with pockets —these have great reinforcements on them
- Merino wool hiking socks — click here to learn how to pick the best hiking socks
- Layers — a windbreaker or light rain jacket
- Headlamp – always pack one of these in case of emergency
- Bug spray in early summer
Click here to download the Mount Princeton trail GPX file for free.
FAQ: Mt Princeton
How long is the hike up to Mount Princeton?
The hike to Mount Princeton is about 7 miles round trip from the upper trailhead and 13 miles from the lower trailhead.
Is Mt Princeton hard to hike?
The hike to Mt Princeton is a moderate hike but it is at high altitude which always makes hiking more difficult. The trail itself is not hard if you are an experienced hiker who is comfortable with class 2 hiking and boulder fields. If you are a beginner hiker, you may find this hike more on the moderate-difficult scale.
What town is Mount Princeton in?
Mt Princeton is located near Buena Vista, Colorado as part of the Collegiate Peaks.
Can you drive up Mount Princeton?
You cannot drive all the way up to Mount Princeton but you can drive to an upper trailhead which cuts out about 6 miles roundtrip of the hike. You can even drive beyond that but there are just a few pull outs to park at for the next mile beyond the radio towers. If you have a side-by-side (Can-Am, Polaris, etc), you can drive all the way up to the Mt Princeton trail.
What class is Mt Princeton?
The trail to Mt Princeton is class 2.
Things to Do Near Buena Vista
Hike Lost Lake
Lost Lake Trail #1532 near Buena Vista and Cottonwood Pass is a hike you don’t want to skip. It’s short and flat with stunning lake views. Click here to read more.
Camp at Twin Lakes
Twin Lakes is about 30 minutes from the town of Buena Vista and has a lot of dispersed campsites. Make it a day and rent some stand up paddleboards and get out on the water.
Experience whitewater rafting at Brown’s Canyon
Colorado is known for whitewater rafting! Click here to book a half day tour to paddle Buena Vista’s Brown Canyon National Monument!
Where to stay in Buena Vista
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