Pikes Peak

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 6/12/2026, By: Bobak Radbin
Info: Trail is dry and easy to follow the entire route. I only encountered one or two small snow patches near the upper mountain, and both were easily avoidable. No traction, gaiters, or special equipment needed.

Started hiking at 6:40 AM and reached the summit in about 4.5 hours. Weather was excellent with clear skies, light winds for most of the day, and great visibility. Trekking poles were very helpful on the descent.

Overall, the route is in great shape and ready for normal summer hiking gear. 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 6/8/2026, By: Buckie06
Info: One or two small snow crossings, no need for microspikes. The port-a-pots are open at the top of Devil's Playground. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 6/7/2026, By: nohandz
Info: Perfect weather today - long sleeves and an occasional windbreaker. There are a few snow patches in the last 800’ or so, but nothing to warrant spikes. I was blasted, so I found a shuttle down. The donuts were bomb! 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 6/2/2026, By: theolubke
Info: The talus field from 13.6k to 14k feet has snow throughout the low spaces between rocks. Can largely be avoided by staying on rocks, but does make the section trickier. Also 2 sloped sections of snow to cross at around 13,100 feet. Good sets of footsteps to follow in both. Each section is about 30-50 steps long. Spikes not needed but I did see 2 trailrunners who were wary about crossing one of the sections. Even with warmer temperatures, this high snow is likely to linger. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 6/2/2026, By: Myankelshurt
Info: A few patches of snow the last mile, but did not require spikes.
Almost complete summer conditions. 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 5/31/2026, By: greenschist
Info: Some lingering snow:

-At the top of the hill after clearing treeline, just before the trail turns southeast towards Devils Playground parking lot. Some post holing on the way back.

-On the north slope of Little Pikes Peak. Less postholing here.

-Intermittent snow after Little Pikes and throughout the talus field. It’s melting quickly in some areas.


We didn’t use microspikes and I don’t think they would have made a difference. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 5/25/2026, By: BorderCollie
Info: Did Barr Trail bottom to top today. No problem. Brought spikes but didn't even use them. The last mile of trail is moderately snowy/icy but I got there early enough before it got slushy. Hiking down.....spikes would be needed, but I caught a ride down! 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 5/24/2026, By: Buckie06
Info: Gate is still closed even though the road is dry. The bathrooms at the summer TH are locked.

Mostly snow above Devils Playground made for a bit slow going. The trail is hard to follow at times. I didn't need my microspikes but if it was earlier in the day it may have been firmer. 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 5/16/2026, By: spen_c_boy
Info: Hiked the Northwest Slopes route of Pikes Peak the night of 5/15. Gate to the proper trail head is closed which added about a mile each way. Total of about 16.5 miles.

Started at 6:10pm
Summit at 10:10pm
Return to car at 1:50am
Car to car 7 hours & 40 minutes

The trail is free of snow till the intersection of the paved road at Devil's Playground. I'm only guessing but I believe this is around 13k feet. Snow is unavoidable, albeit not too deep thereafter. I don't think spikes are necessary. Postholed a few times, but never too deep; gaiters would have been nice though as my socks did get wet. It must be said that with snow on the trail and it being completely dark out, it made route finding a little more difficult than usual.

Think I'll stick to the normal format of getting bad sleep but starting early in the morning rather than hiking into the night. There's nothing like the moral boost of seeing the sun rise! Having nothing but cold darkness made this one much more difficult than it needed to be. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 5/3/2026, By: Skeletor24
Info: Heavy snow from the week has left snow from Barr camp up the summit. Still made it to the top with micro spike, but it definitely slowed progress. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 4/25/2026, By: Will_E
Info: Summer conditions on the Barr trail. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 4/20/2026, By: cmarhanka
Info: Barr Trail is dry to Barr Camp. Some light patchy snow occasionally for the next couple miles. Doesn't really impact the hiking until around 13,000ft where it starts to get more difficult to navigate through the snow. Fatigue also started becoming a factor. Micro spikes are not necessary, but I found them helpful at this point just to minimize the extra effort to keep from slipping. The 16 Golden Stairs section was the hardest for me and I didn't get a picture because I was too focused on getting through. Overall very doable in normal hiking boots. No snow shoes needed. 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 4/13/2026, By: Slim_Rick
Info: The gate is closed to the parking lot adding the extra 1-1.5 Miles each way.
Outside from that is basically summer conditions except for a few snowfields that you can get by easily without spikes or flotation around devils playground.

Rocks on the scramble were a bit frosted on the way up and slick (extra caution), on the way down they were wet. Some snow on the scramble but nothing crazy.

Happy Hiking! 

Route: Northwest Slopes
Posted On: 4/6/2026, By: benascends
Info: The road is closed 1 mile up the road from the crags parking lot, unsure why this is since there was no snow on the road. The snow on the trail is very scant until above 12K feet, and even then the snow in the trail is mostly avoidable. There was only one snow field that I had to walk through, and I was early so the snow was still firmly packed and easy to traverse. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 4/14/2026, By: Jonathan Deffenbaugh
Info: Microspikes optional for the upper slopes of Pikes Peak above 13K (i.e. Golden Stairs). Ascended/descended via the Incline to spice things up. Route clear through timberline and lower slopes above timberline. 13th climb up Pikes Peak, always a great workout!