Northeast Ridge over UN 13,094

Overview

Sunshine Mountain (not the one near Telluride) rises in the upper reaches of Henson Creek, north of the Engineer Pass road. It's reached over Dolly Varden Mountain and UN 13,094 on mostly tundra.

Past UN 13,094 you drop over talus to a saddle and follow grassy ridges and saddles east to Sunshine. The way down makes a loop through a steep basin and an old mining road to the Engineer Pass road. It is Class 2, but a long day for young kids.

The loop is about 8.5 miles with 2,880 feet of gain. UN 13,094 to Sunshine is about 2 miles and 720 feet one way, and takes over an hour. The loop ends with about 0.75 mile of road walking.

Plan of the day

Getting to the trailhead

From Gunnison or Montrose, take US 50 to the Highway 149 junction at the east end of Blue Mesa Reservoir and follow 149 south about 45 miles to Lake City. In town, go west on 2nd Street (3rd Street also works and passes a park with restrooms), then turn left on Bluff Street onto County Road 20, the Henson Creek road and part of the Alpine Loop.

County Road 20 is good gravel that cars can drive for 9.1 miles to Capitol City. You pass the Nellie Creek road at about 5.2 miles. At Capitol City, keep left on the Alpine Loop toward Engineer Pass. Past the old Rose Cabin site there's a vault toilet on the left, roughly 1,500 feet short of the cabin site. Drive about 1.7 more miles west and park in a pullout on the right (north) at about 11,410 feet. It's just short of a log cabin on a bluff with a footbridge over the creek; if you reach that cabin, you've overshot a little. A high-clearance vehicle is fine from Lake City.

From Silverton, the other way in is County Road 2 (the Alpine Loop) up the Animas River: about 4.2 miles to Howardsville, 4.3 more to the old Eureka site, then a steeper, narrower shelf road. Follow the signs to Engineer Pass. This side needs 4WD, and conditions change from year to year. Drop east from the pass, past the first trees and a couple of bends, to the log cabin; the pullout is just past it. There are no Forest Service campgrounds on this road, but there are plenty of primitive spots along it. Capitol City has some, mixed in with private cabins, so be careful where you set up. A side road (County Road 20X) near the creek just past Rose Cabin has more sites, but watch for private mining claims. The only toilet is the vault toilet near Rose Cabin. Weekends get busy.

Next: the route, step by step →

The route

1. 1

   Henson Creek West pullout 11,410' · 0 mi

   Walk back down the road to the east side of Henson Creek. Go a short way north, then turn east and cross below a deep ravine.

2. 2

   Ravine 11,700' · 0.4 mi

   Climb grass and open trees along the east side of the ravine onto a broad ridge.

3. 3

   Treeline 12,200' · 1 mi

   Cross a short flat stretch of tundra, then work up through about 400 feet of talus, keeping out of the worst of the rubble on the south and southwest sides.

4. 4

   Dolly Varden Mountain 12,750' · 1.5 mi

   Above 12,600 feet the slope eases onto a big dome of tundra and chip rock. The high point of this high 12er is near the ridge to UN 13,094.

5. 5

   Saddle 12,600' · 1.75 mi

   Go east down to the saddle.

6. 6

   UN 13,094 13,094' · 2 mi

   Climb about 500 feet of big, steep, broken rock. It looks worse than it is. The summit is small.

   Watch for: Steep broken rock.

7. 7

   East saddle 12,850' · 2.4 mi

   Drop east on talus, then a tundra bench, then more talus to the saddle.

8. 8

   Next saddle 12,900' · 3.2 mi

   From here it's mostly grass. Gain about 150 feet to the east and turn northeast on tundra with a few rock outcrops, or side-hill around the bump to the next saddle.

9. 9

   Sunshine Mountain 13,329' · 4 mi

   Head east, then southeast, up grassy slopes that aren't steep. The ridge gets narrower and rockier near the top, but it stays easy.

Getting down

Walk about 1.5 miles back west to the saddle just east of UN 13,094. Drop south into the steep basin, traversing southwest down loose scree and across a broad ridge to an old mining road on the west side of the creek that meets the main road just west of Rose Cabin. Follow it down past switchbacks near 11,600 and 11,400 feet to the Engineer Pass road at about 11,000 feet, then walk about 0.75 mile up the road to the car. Or just go back over UN 13,094 and Dolly Varden.

If things go wrong

The basin south of the saddle east of UN 13,094 is the fastest way down to the road.

3D flyover

See the trail on video

Other routes

Every way up Sunshine Mountain we list, with its class.

• Sunshine Mtn. NE Ridge this routeClass 2 8.5 mi