Hike Colorado: Handies Peak From American Basin

Every year, I get together with a few of my favorite girlfriends and we laugh our way through some epic Colorado adventure, usually followed by a lot of caffeine and Tylenol because #almost40 and #thepainisreal! We’ve hiked into Maroon Bells (near Aspen) from Crested Butte and last year, we hiked the ever-popular Ice Lakes Basin and Island Lake trail outside Silverton. This year we decided to summit our first 14er! Out of 50+ 14ers in the state of Colorado, we picked Handies because it’s beginner-friendly and still packs in alpine lakes, a beautiful river, little waterfalls, stunning wildflowers, and incredible views!!

If you have a good recommendation for one of our ladies weekends, we’re all ears! Drop a comment down below with your favorite Colorado adventures!

If you’ve landed on this blog post, it must mean that you’re interested in hiking Handies Peak from American Basin, so I’ll get right to the nitty gritty and share our adventure with you. But, first things first, please understand that most everything shared is strictly my opinion. Anyone considering doing this hike should make sure that they are physically able and have no underlying medical conditions. A 14er requires a lot of exertion, so please make sure and check in with a doctor if you have any concerns.

For your convenience while scrolling through this blog, here’s a quick outline of what you’ll find…

Handies Peak General Info
American Basin Info
- Getting There
- Camping at American Basin
Finding the Trailhead to Handies Peak
My Experience Hiking Handies Peak (My First 14er)
My Best Tips and Lessons Learned
Lake City Info

Handies Peak Info

Handies Peak is the 40th highest summit in the state of Colorado, sitting at 14,048′ above sea level. There are different trails to reach the summit, but the most popular and least technical route starts in American Basin. This route is rated as a difficulty Class 1, which is the lowest on the scale, but don’t let that that information mislead you. The trail may have an “easy” rating for level of technical climbing involved, but that doesn’t mean the hike itself is “easy.” The trail is easy to follow and fairly easy to navigate, but you will be dealing with other considerable factors like elevation, exposure, and some steep grades. Also – be very mindful of the weather. You are above treeline for almost the entire duration of the hike. If you decide to take the American Basin route, you’ll be hiking somewhere between 5.5 and 7.5 miles roundtrip. The variation in distance depends on where you decide to park before starting your hike. Keep scrolling for info on “finding the trailhead.”

American Basin

American Basin is a true San Juan gem and a special place to many visitors! It’s stunning! The driving directions are straightforward and there’s lots of great signage that proves to be very helpful. It’s somewhat easy to access, but the road is pretty rough with spots that make for tight passing (although there’s plenty of pull-outs), so I opted not to drive my full-size pickup back there. Instead, I borrowed my husband’s 4-Runner (which also has additional ground clearance) and had no issues getting to/from American Basin. I would personally not take anything that wasn’t high clearance and four wheel drive when making this trek, but I saw all kinds of vehicles up there, so I guess if you’re questioning whether your vehicle can make the trek, just do a bit of research and you’ll probably get some helpful and valuable feedback from other visitors.

We started in Lake City, Colorado (a gem itself) and drove south on 149. Turn right after 2-2.5 miles at the big sign for Lake San Cristobal (County Road 30). You’ll follow CR30 for about 20 miles until you see a fork in the road and a sign that says a left turn will take you into American Basin and a right turn will take you over Cinnamon Pass. Make a left here. If you don’t have high clearance, definitely find a place here to park and check out the road ahead to see if you feel comfortable driving further. We watched a vehicle dragging it’s front bumper past our campsite. You’ll have to navigate some larger rocks and a river if you plan to drive further. Give yourself between 45 mins and an hour to reach American Basin from Lake City due to road conditions and traffic.

If you’re lucky on the drive to American Basin, you might see some mountain goats wondering around the road! These guys are so fun to see and on my trip out of the basin, I even got to see a baby and mama!

Keep in mind as you’re driving out to American Basin that you’ll pass the very popular Silver Creek/Grizzly Gulch trailhead area. You’ll see bathrooms, lots of cars and tents, and even signage that says “Handies Peak” on it. You will drive past this area and continue up County Road 30 for quite a ways to reach American Basin. Handies Peak can be accessed from this area, if you wish, but does involve quite a bit more hiking. I think this route is suggested for people who are wishing to camp in one area and hike multiple peaks (Redcloud, Sunshine, and Handies) over a few days.

Camping at American Basin: Because we wanted an early(ish) start to our hike, we decided to camp at American Basin. Camping in the basin itself is very limited and we pulled into the last designated camping spot available when we arrived at about 6pm on Friday. From what I could tell, there’s about four designated camping spots with parking space for 2-3 vehicles in each spot and a fire ring. We were sleeping in our vehicles, so we didn’t set up tents, but there are signs everywhere that ask you to please stay off the fragile tundra when camping, so please be mindful of that when you set up camp.

You won’t be able to see the trailhead from this area, but keep scrolling for additional info on finding the trailhead to Handies Peak.

Side Note: The tent pictured at the top of this section is not our tent and is not sitting in the fragile tundra. It may look that way, but they are actually camped right along the road in one of the designated camping spots. The photo gives the appearance of the tent sitting in the grass because there is a hill between where I’m standing at our campground and where their tent is located.

Finding the Trailhead to Handies Peak

When you arrive at the fork in the road on CR30 and take a left into American Basin, the road gets considerably rougher almost immediately. The American Basin road dead ends at the trailhead to Handies, about one mile further up, but that mile is quite a trek for your vehicle unless you have high clearance, four wheel drive, and some experience with driving that kind of terrain. Lucky for me, one of my friends has a lot of offroad experience and a very capable Jeep and she drove us right up to the trailhead, where’s there’s a considerable amount of parking space. But, a lot of hikers just park in the lower parking area and walk the mile up to the trailhead. That is why you will see some hikers indicate the hike is 5.5 miles (if you start at the trailhead) and others indicate 7.5 miles (because they parked in the lower parking area and hiked the additional mile in and mile out).

My Experience Hiking Handies Peak (My First 14’er)

I’m a strong believer in the idea that when you are sharing your experience hiking any trail, especially any strenuous trail, you need to have some kind of context regarding personal fitness level, acclimation, and such. So, here’s my fitness bio for context: I would not consider myself completely out of shape, but I would also not consider myself physically fit. I have spent much of this summer hiking with my four-year old, which means that while we may put in hikes that are 4+ miles, we are usually going at a slow pace and checking out every interesting rock and flower. I do some exercising off and on, but am far from consistent. In hindsight, that will be something that I do better on before my next attempt at a 14er. All that said, it should be noted that I live above 7K feet elevation and travel pretty frequently to areas that are 9-12K feet in elevation.

Now that you know my general fitness bio, let’s jump in…

I felt the need to write this blog post right away because, in a lot of ways, it seemed like childbirth… the views and the photos are so beautiful that you quickly forget how painful it was to get there! Haha! But in all seriousness, this was an incredible hike and I am so happy that we decided on this one!

When you start out on the trailhead, you’ll likely find it a bit strenuous right away. It’s not the terrain that’s difficult, but more of the fact that you are starting out right at treeline, which means that you’re starting at 11,500′ elevation (give or take). For reference, we started out on the trailhead almost right at 7am on a mid-August morning.

Most of the early part of the hike is a gradual climb. Other than the altitude, there’s really nothing that we found too difficult. Breathing was definitely labored from the beginning, but the trail itself was a gradual grade, smooth terrain, and easy to follow. We were greeted with beautiful wildflowers, a lovely little river, a small waterfall, the sunshine peeking over the mountains, and even baby grouse running around!

Shortly after the above photo was taken, you reach the fork in the trail where you can drop down to Sloan Lake if you take a right (a very small detour). We took the break at the lake to apply sunscreen and grab snacks. Some people were even jumping in for a swim. Early in the morning, there’s shade in this area, but we found no shade here on our way down the mountain.

From here, you’ll pass through a pretty easy-to-navigate scree field and start up the more intense switchbacks that will challenge your legs and your lungs equally.

After you wind your way back and forth up several switchbacks, you’ll find yourself at the base of the false summit, with sweeping views of the gorgeous Rocky Mountains in both directions!

At this point, you’ll also have a pretty amazing view of Sloan Lake! Can you see how the trail leads up the lake from the right and then exits the lake area on the left? That’s the trail you will be following when hiking up the mountain.

Up next, you’ll start the trek up the false summit and then a bit further to the actual Handies Peak summit. Not many actual switchbacks beyond this point… it feels more like you’re a mountain goat hiking straight up the peak!

As a side note, you’ll see a pretty cool wood sign at the top during your ascent and you’ll likely be thinking that it says something really neat, like “Handies Peak” and the elevation, but it just says “Stay on the Trail.” We seriously were so excited to take a picture with it, so I’m saving you the same disappointment. Ha!

It’s a strenuous climb, especially towards the end, but the views that you are rewarded with are worth every drop of sweat and every difficult step!

In general, I found this hike quite challenging, but I never felt that it was impossible, even at my less-than-ideal fitness level. Breathing was my biggest challenge, but, at times, I felt slightly lightheaded and even a bit nauseated due to the altitude. In those moments, I paused for a moment and allowed my body to rest and adjust and then went a bit further. We were very exposed during the entire hike, so I paid a lot of attention to my water intake and applied sunblock more than once. We were blessed with beautiful weather, which meant we didn’t need to feel rushed up the mountain to beat any storms, but at the same time, it also made the climb surprisingly hot. I usually expect much cooler weather at 12K plus altitude, but it was an unusually hot day, so I was glad that I brought lots of water. To give you an idea, I drank more water hiking these 5 miles than I consumed on our previous 12+ mile hike and I never once felt the urge to use the restroom. My body needed all of it! My quads probably felt the most tired, but that’s not surprising considering the climb. I added lots of tips and my lessons learned in the next section, so keep scrolling for more info….

My Best Tips and Lessons Learned

Water: This may sound like an obvious one, but I was actually surprised at the amount of water that I consumed on this hike! Between the exertion, the heat, the exposure, and the altitude, I was glad that I carried more than I initially thought I would need!
Tylenol: Assuming you have no allergy to Tylenol, I would highly recommend that you have some available post-hike. Even after drinking sufficient amounts of water on the hike, my head was pounding from the heat, exertion and altitude and it was a long 45-minute drive back to Lake City to buy some!
Early Start: Every mile of this hike is exposed and above treeline. Usually I recommend an early start anyways in order to beat the afternoon storms that frequent the San Juans, but in this case, I also recommend an early start due to the sun exposure. We started at the trailhead at 7am and several hikers started earlier than us. Some even started before daybreak and wore headlamps.
Oxygen: I’ve never used those little bottles of oxygen that you can pick up at most grocery stores (or pharmacies), but my friend uses them often. She says that they help a ton. She mentioned a couple of times on this hike that she forgot hers and it would have been very helpful, so I thought it might be a good tip to add here.
Signage: Wowee! How did we forget a sign? We did! Luckily, there are several people that will loan you theirs, but we also forgot our 3×5 Colorado Flag in the vehicle at the trailhead. So, if you want some well-deserved epic pictures after that long hike, make yourself a note to not forget your sign or flag!
Take Breaks: Definitely listen to your body on this hike. Towards the end, when I could see the summit, I just wanted to power through it, but my body was telling me to slow down. It was a battle between my body and my brain, but I listened to my body. Don’t let anyone push you up the mountain, even yourself. Everyone will experience different effects due to the altitude. Listen to what your body is telling you to do.
Prepare Physically: Nothing like “winging it” on a 14er. That’s what we did and yes, we made it, but in hindsight, we should have trained and prepared physically. This is especially important for those of you that may not live at high altitude. Make sure you allow your bodies time to adjust to altitude. Do some research, listen to your body, visit with a doctor, and prepare physically. A 14er is pretty strenuous and the whole experience is better if you prepare.
Really Good Hiking Shoes: While we were heading back to the trailhead, we chatted a bit about our hiking shoes. We both invested in a good pair of Merrell’s before this hike. A good pair of hiking shoes is worth every penny. 1) We needed good grip on several parts of this hike, especially towards the summit. 2) You need something that won’t blister you after that much incline/decline and hiking in general. 3) You need something comfortable because miserable feet on a hard, long hike are no good!
Hiking Poles: We almost always forget our hiking poles, but I am so grateful we didn’t forget them on this hike! The incline/decline grade alone is a great reason to have them, but the descent down the actual summit is a bit slippery and the poles made all the difference in the world on this part of the hike!
Potty Before You Get There: The scariest thought to me while on this hike was not whether or not I could make it…. it was where I would go if I needed to potty! Again, every mile of this hike is above tree-line and exposed. The trail was pretty busy the entire way. There were very few places on the trail that we could potty in privacy if we really needed to go! Luckily, we dodged the bullet here and never had to go, but it’s worth mentioning that a little stop before you get the trailhead might be worth it!
Dogs: We didn’t bring our fur-babies, but there were lots of dogs on this trail. I would say that if your four-legged pal is physically able to do the hike and you want to bring him/her along, you should! We saw dogs on-leash and off-leash, jumping in the lake, hiking the trail, and having an overall great time! One note of caution, after the scree field, we came across one lab with bleeding toes, so just be mindful of their needs and condition on the hike as well.
Camping? Early Arrival: As mentioned earlier, camping spots are limited at American Basin, so if you wish to camp there before the hike, arrive early to secure one.
Camping? More Blankets: Don’t be fooled by the heat of the day…pack lots of blankets for overnight camping at American Basin. Since you’re sitting at tree-line, the temperatures dip really low at night and it can be quite chilly if you’re underprepared.
Camping? Bring Wood: There’s basically no source of firewood at American Basin, so I recommend that you haul your own in. I picked up some at a gas station and just threw it in the back. We used a designated fire ring at American Basin.
Camping? Potty Time: Because you’re pretty much at tree-line, if you plan to camp at American Basin, have a potty plan. There aren’t many trees or large enough bushes for privacy up there. We usually haul in a potty tent (pop-up changing room that you can buy on Amazon like this one) and a 5-gallon bucket with a trash bag and cat litter (for easy disposal when you get to town). That will give you privacy when you need to go!

Lake City Info

I couldn’t end this blog without adding a little blurb about Lake City, one of my absolute favorite Colorado towns!

I think of Lake City as a sort of a “Little Texas” because every time we visit, we seem to bump into a lot of very friendly Texans in this small town. We love Lake City! It’s got small town charm and warm and friendly people. There’s no chain restaurants or big box grocery stores. Not even a stop light. Everything about it has a small-town feel and the businesses are all mom & pop owned.

Most people who visit Lake City are there for all the outdoor activities that this small town offers! There’s 4×4 mountain exploring, insanely beautiful camping spots, amazing hikes, gorgeous waterfalls, and more! Lake San Cristobal offers kayaking, boating, fishing, and camping! Moose sightings are pretty common in this area too! It’s the ideal vacation for any outdoor enthusiast.

For my travel into Lake City, I drove over Slumgullion Pass and dropped into Lake City. The wildflowers were in full bloom near the summit and the view of the lake from the San Cristobal overlook (at the bottom of the pass near Lake City) was just beautiful! We usually see moose on this route, but no luck today.

Want to know more about Lake City? Click here.

As a side note, if you’re spending time in Lake City, I highly suggest that you hit up Whitmore Falls! I hiked this waterfall with my little boy a few weeks back and it was just beautiful! The bottom right photo is from the viewing point, but a little scramble down some rocks from there will lead you right to the base of the waterfall! Want to see more of our favorite SW Colorado waterfalls, click here!