Maroon Peak

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 11/7/2026, By: mijoflynn
Info: It's closing weekend for the Maroon Bells Scenic Area, so I hiked a ways up the West Maroon Trail. This is less a Bells than a general Elks CR, since no one else has posted from here recently.

-- Maroon Lake (~9500') to Crater Lake (~10,200'): bootpacked ice, snow, slush, mud depending on time of day and sun exposure.
-- To 2800' o' Suck and crossing to east side of creek (~10,500'): 0-3" of moist snow. If it's really going to be sunny and 50 for a week, a lot of this is going to melt out. I followed someone's tracks to where you turn off for the Bell Cord, and then broke trail from there.
-- To treeline and crossing back to west side of creek (~10,900'): 3-12" of beautiful powder. Easy going and routefinding.
-- Above treeline: 1-2', and occasionally more, of powder. Hard to find the trail here, so if anyone heads this way, don't feel obliged to follow my trench. I struggled to about 11,250' -- five miles in, and about a mile and a half short of the pass -- and then called it. I hadn't planned on going all the way to the pass anyway, given what happened on Frigid Air last week.

Had boots, gaiters, poles. Brought spikes and snowshoes but didn't use either. I certainly would have switched to snowshoes if I'd gone any further.

CAIC has been more concerned about the Elks than any other range, but FWIW, I saw no sign of anything sliding on either side of the valley. The east-facing headwall at the top of the valley looked to be wind-drifted and corniced -- that might be more problematic than the terrain I hiked through. 

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 10/5/2026, By: backcountrybrodes
Info: Snuck in my 5th lap on the Bells Traverse for 5 years in a row yesterday! 6 inches of snow in spots with some melt/freeze on the north faces of both Maroon and N. Maroon which made the day interesting. The downclimb off of Maroon required attention and was the most difficult part of the day for us. Rest of the traverse is bone dry until the next storm rolls in. If you're looking to climb the route in mostly summer conditions, this is likely the last week to do so.

I found one alternate line on the Bells Traverse that bypasses both the 2 chimneys, and one alternate and shorter class 3 bypass to descender's right of the N. Maroon chimney. I will document both in a TR soon. 

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 9/24/2026, By: medleyjosh
Info: Conditions update and a suggestion for the route photos

As of yesterday, there is a little snow on the north-facing slope of South Maroon, which makes the initial descent to the traverse dicey if you don't have good traction. I would recommend microspikes for that section. The rest of the traverse is clear.

I also want to suggest one main addition to the photos in the route description, plus two smaller ones. Some context first: I prepared for this climb more thoroughly than anyone else in my party. I read the written description several times, studied the photos closely, and watched every video of the traverse I could find. I went in feeling like I understood the route well, and I still made a route-finding error.

Toward the end of the traverse, I was confused (without realizing it) about whether we were approaching the third difficulty or standing at the top of the third cliff band. We were approaching the third difficulty, but I thought we were at the cliff band. As a result, I was looking at photo 15 when I should have been looking at photo 13. If you compare those two photos, you can see why someone in my position would go right instead of left. The mistake was mine, but when I reread the description now, I can see how easy it would be for someone else to make the same one.

The route asks climbers to translate a dense written description and some ambiguous photos into decisions on the spot, while short on oxygen and under at least some threat to their safety. That translation is prone to error, even for someone who has done the homework.

The fix I would most like to see is a clear photo of every left-or-right decision point on the route, with each one numbered. There are somewhere between five and ten of these, and each one is consequential. Numbering them would give everyone a standard way to talk about the route, and it would make it much harder to confuse one decision point for another, which is exactly what happened to me.

The consequence of turning right instead of left there (and not realizing it) is climbing the third difficulty from a more exposed and possibly slightly higher class of pitch. I do remember thinking, "This is just about as hard as the crux - why do people call that previous one the crux?" - and that should have alerted me, but we were all quite exhausted and had a little tunnel vision by that time, so we ploughed ahead.

Note - no one needs to read this and respond with "you shouldn't have done this or that." The point is that the description and the photos are not as clear as they could be. I think there should probably be more like 30 photos on the crux. I'd be willing to participate in a reshoot if someone from 14ers was willing to use the new photos.

Two smaller additions would also help: a close-up of the crux (the second difficulty) placed right after the current photo 11, and a photo of the ridge-walking section between the crux and the third difficulty. 

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 9/13/2026, By: jessishiking
Info: Successful traverse! My second of the Great Traverses and a new favorite.

The 2800 feet of suck up S. Maroon do, in fact, suck. I’ve seen some debate about whether there is a Class 3 route on S Maroon, and if you follow the description closely, there is! Very possible to miss a step and end up in 4/5 territory, so be prepared for this possibility. Put on your helmet as soon as you reach the ridge around 13,200.

The traverse itself is a real test of route-finding. I went with a buddy of mine who guides for Aspen Expeditions, and nearly every person we encountered was off route, especially the solo hikers. One person headed straight for the Y Couloir where there have been fatalities this year. I say this not to dog on other hikers, I offer it as encouragement for anyone reading to go with a friend! Someone from the Forums or the Fbook group with class 4/5 experience. Two heads are absolutely better than one for this climb.

I’ve read trip reports of folks taking the ridge direct from one Bell to the other, which is absolutely doable, but we chose to do more down climbing off the ridge into Class 3 territory which is smoother, faster, and more stable. When route finding remember that going down is an option too, not just up and across.

The two gullies coming down from N. Maroon are a bit of a beast — they are steep, and as before, think down instead of across. The leaves are already changing so our views were stunning.

Overall the traverse is an exhilarating hike, and the climbing of the chimneys is a blast. Some funky footwork required for stability, but overall found my hand holds here to be more stable than Pyramid or Cap.

Study, study, study the route description here, trip reports, go with a friend, or even hire a guide to make sure you come back safely!

Trip totals: 11 hours, 12 miles. Traverse completed in 90 minutes. 

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 8/23/2026, By: poolguy25
Info: Got an early start around 3am from Maroon lake. Made great time up the South Maroon trail and made summit by around 7:50. Enjoyed the trail, and summit to ourselves. As well as being the first ones to summit for the day. Started the traverse around 8:30am and made summit of North Maroon around 10 am. We opted to save time and weight by not carrying rope/climbing gear. Very doable if comfortable in 5th class terrain, of course just be cautious of the rotten rock. It is everywhere. I did not see any class 3/4 variations as described in some posts. And I would rate the "difficult" sections at about a 5.6/5.7 with more exposure than most make it sound like. It is also easy to get off route once descending N. Maroon.
Great day, had some darker clouds all morning. Got a little rain, and a little gropple along the traverse/downclimb. But very manageable. Beautiful day in the elks.
11 hours from car to car. I tracked about 11.32 miles with 5700' of gain. 

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 8/3/2026, By: blonde_dinosaur
Info: Wow, was I nervous for the traverse. It really helped to read trip reports and especially to watch the videos posted. My partner and I met up with two other groups of two and a single party and we all did the traverse together - and let me tell you it was a blast! Thank you for a great day out Ross, Josh, Cassie, Jen, and Esan for such a fabulous traverse experience. Two things of note that I don’t feel like are talked about as much: the down climb from Maroon is really shitty. The rock is horrendous and you just have to find the best way down.
Second thing is that after the third difficulty, there is a point where you have to downclimb a smooth rock to a tiny saddle to regain the ridge - I think this is the leap of faith. There aren't footholds on the smooth rock to get down. We did not find a better way down than to have people spot the shorter folks and to have some brave people jump down to the saddle. This was one of my least favorite parts and it is after the difficulties so I felt a bit mentally exhausted for it.
Lastly, because I was so anxious, I did something that I could control which was to bring the best footwear possible, ie climbing shoes. 100% NO REGRETS. It made the climbing fun and not scary for me. If you are also feeling anxious, I’d just bring climbing shoes. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 8/5/2026, By: ColoNativeGal
Info: Summer conditions. We got lucky and a guide leading two clients passed us during the gully ascent. We went up gully #1 and they went up gully #2. The guide commented that gully #1 was harder and more class 4 terrain. We also had more rock fall in that gully. The recommendation is gully #2. I found the route finding on this one to be very important. Having the photos, description and gpx is super helpful. This mountain really makes you work for everything both ascending and descending. Really test your holds and footing. I did have what I thought was a solid foot on a rock move and I bounced down a couple of ledges on my bum. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 7/29/2026, By: kmoss2
Info: Look, it's perfect summer conditions - that's obvious. Might I suggest two mindset tricks:
1. Don't call it "2800' of suck"... it's "2800' of SAVOR", okay?!! Yeah it's a long & steep approach but haven't you ever waited in a long line for an epic roller coaster?? Cost of admission, baby. Makes the ridge to summit section that much sweeter.
2. I've been calling myself a Gully Goddess since climbing Little Bear via the Hourglass last week. It worked wonders for LB, C2 to Ellingwood, Snowmass & Pyramid scree, North Maroon & now Maroon today. You know the gullies are gonna be loose -- isn't getting creative to find solid footing the fun part anyway??

Maroon Peak is majestic. Having done Pyramid, North Maroon & Maroon in back-to-back days, I still think route finding is trickiest in final part of Pyramid, but that Maroon for sure takes the most endurance. For anyone who has done Crestone Peak + Crestone Needle but not the bells yet, definitely a similar flavor in that the Peak & Maroon take more endurance, while the Needle & N Maroon are shorter but include some class 4.

OK. This east coaster is now done for the 2026 season so don't worry, I'll stop sharing cheesy peak conditions updates now! 

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 7/20/2026, By: ryansappleid
Info: No complaints, route is in perfect condition. Went up with a group of four others which helped the trail finding immensely. 2nd Flatiron Freeway is a good place to practice. There was definitely some butthole clenching moments. I found the "3rd difficulty" to be the most intimidating, we ended up taking the chimney on the right as it was less exposed. With approach shoes, climbing experience, and encouraging friends, you'll be okay. 

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 7/7/2026, By: streetyz
Info: Summer conditions the whole way, visibility was very good considering fire conditions. There was maybe ~3 steps in snow we had to do in the chimney directly below the ridge on North Maroon. Someone fixed a rope/handline down the chimney using one of the small rock towers as an anchor, IMO it gets in the way and is unnecessary, but might be helpful to some (?). Beautiful day, get after it! 

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 7/6/2026, By: Buffalo97
Info: Beautiful day to complete the Maroon Bells traverse. There was a small amount of snow on the South Maroon ascent before the ridgeline, but it was easily bypassed by hiking above it. Weather was near perfect with minimal wild fire smoke throughout the day. The only serious obstacle was a traffic jam at Bell Cord caused by a mountain goat trying to cross at the same time as our group 

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 6/28/2026, By: ajtrezco
Info: Only snowfield on the way up south (before ridge) has melted enough to make it treacherous—footsteps are almost gone, snow is bulletproof in the early AM. Bring spikes if you don’t want to hike down and around. Smoke is also really bad in the area; worst I’ve probably seen in the last 20 years. Blew away by the time the sun came up this morning with the high winds, but was moving back in by about 5pm, just as bad as the evening before. Otherwise, traverse is still perfect conditions, descent down North has about the same amount of snow in the chimney, which wasn’t enough to cause any problems. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 6/21/2026, By: Mustavio
Info: Summer conditions. One place on the approach where snow covers a bit of the trail, then one place up top where I had to step over some snow. No traction required. What a great start, have a great season! 

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 6/13/2026, By: macg91
Info: Most of the remaining snow on the standard route is avoidable. There was one short mandatory snow crossing after gaining the ridge while traversing to the gullies. There were good steps kicked in and spikes/axe may be helpful but we did not find them necessary. There were several other snowfields in this area that we were able to scramble around without exceeding class 3. Likewise there are a few snowfields on the 2800-ft ascent below the south ridge that can be avoided. Ridge to N Maroon is completely snow free. 

Route: Bells Traverse
Posted On: 6/9/2026, By: Connor1
Info: See conditions report from N Maroon peak.