Quandary Parking: New Rules for 2023 Season

[GuiGirard]

Wow $55 for a day fee on the weekend. That’s almost half of what CV charges for Culebra. Based on how many hikers refuse to pay that, this should go a long way toward mitigating crowds at Quandary.

Or $7 a head with the bus with free parking in Breck. This really should be the preferred travel method.

Don't be fooled about Culebra. I have it on my bucket list and it was one potential trip plan for early in the summer. All permits for Culebra in June and July are sold out and have been for a little while now, so my next luck will be in 2024. So the stiff fee isn't so much a deterrent. I doubt a fee that's almost 3x less and per car instead of per hiker will be a deterrent. Even more so when it's reduced to $30 on weekdays.

[justiner]

Don't be fooled about Culebra. I have it on my bucket list and it was one potential trip plan for early in the summer. All permits for Culebra in June and July are sold out and have been for a little while now, so my next luck will be in 2024. So the stiff fee isn't so much a deterrent. I doubt a fee that's almost 3x less and per car instead of per hiker will be a deterrent. Even more so when it's reduced to $30 on weekdays.

There's less access to Culebra - the entire season on Culebra has about the same slots as perhaps a week (or a weekend) of parking/shuttling of Quandary.

[GuiGirard]

Don't be fooled about Culebra. I have it on my bucket list and it was one potential trip plan for early in the summer. All permits for Culebra in June and July are sold out and have been for a little while now, so my next luck will be in 2024. So the stiff fee isn't so much a deterrent. I doubt a fee that's almost 3x less and per car instead of per hiker will be a deterrent. Even more so when it's reduced to $30 on weekdays.

There's less access to Culebra - the entire season on Culebra has about the same slots as perhaps a week (or a weekend) of parking/shuttling of Quandary.

I agree, but until then, I will stick to the excellent alternatives of "bagging" centennials with even fewer other hikers around, and completely free of charge and permits. Can't go wrong this way.

[GuiGirard]

Yes, this is all on the Trailhead and Route pages.

Big whoop on lowering the shuttle charge for locals but I guess it's something. It's the FULL DAY parking permit prices that are just ridiculous. $30-$55

They lowered the shuttle bus prices for everybody actually, $15 to $7 for non-residents.
In my opinion it's not absurd to ask this much to people with cars if part of the profit is used to subsidize a shuttle bus.

If I'm not mistaken, the weekday parking fee is exactly what RMNP asks for a one-day entrance fee, which among other things, grants access to the extremely long and scenic drive from the park entrance to the Longs Peak parking lot , and there, fees are required more than just 3 months per year.

Hiking Quandary past Sep. 17 and until Jun 17 will also remain entirely free of charge.

[Matt]

What a s**t show.
I'm grateful I was put on this earth in time to both have this site available while working the CO 14er list and to finish it before all this crap started happening.

[nunns]

Wow $55 for a day fee on the weekend. That’s almost half of what CV charges for Culebra. Based on how many hikers refuse to pay that, this should go a long way toward mitigating crowds at Quandary.

Or $7 a head with the bus with free parking in Breck. This really should be the preferred travel method.

Don't be fooled about Culebra. I have it on my bucket list and it was one potential trip plan for early in the summer. All permits for Culebra in June and July are sold out and have been for a little while now, so my next luck will be in 2024. So the stiff fee isn't so much a deterrent. I doubt a fee that's almost 3x less and per car instead of per hiker will be a deterrent. Even more so when it's reduced to $30 on weekdays.

I am not taking a side on this, but the differences between Quandary and Culebra are:
Quandary is a very short & easy hike. Culebra is a little longer and marginally more difficult (there is, after all, no distinct trail to the summit).
Quandary is much more accessible from major metropolitan areas in Denver. Culebra is the most isolated 14er I have climbed so far.
My guess is that most people wait to buy their spot for Culebra until they are halfway committed to at least attempting to complete the 14ers. I doubt it is one of the first ten 14ers for almost anyone. Quandary on the other hand is probably one of the first ten 14ers that most people climb.

$55 is ridiculous to me to park, but as others have said, there are several other options. With Culebra, there really isn't another option if you want to climb the mountain ethically.

Sean Nunn

[CaptainSuburbia]

Wow $55 for a day fee on the weekend. That’s almost half of what CV charges for Culebra. Based on how many hikers refuse to pay that, this should go a long way toward mitigating crowds at Quandary.

Or $7 a head with the bus with free parking in Breck. This really should be the preferred travel method.

Don't be fooled about Culebra. I have it on my bucket list and it was one potential trip plan for early in the summer. All permits for Culebra in June and July are sold out and have been for a little while now, so my next luck will be in 2024. So the stiff fee isn't so much a deterrent. I doubt a fee that's almost 3x less and per car instead of per hiker will be a deterrent. Even more so when it's reduced to $30 on weekdays.

I am not taking a side on this, but the differences between Quandary and Culebra are:
Quandary is a very short & easy hike. Culebra is a little longer and marginally more difficult (there is, after all, no distinct trail to the summit).
Quandary is much more accessible from major metropolitan areas in Denver. Culebra is the most isolated 14er I have climbed so far.
My guess is that most people wait to buy their spot for Culebra until they are halfway committed to at least attempting to complete the 14ers. I doubt it is one of the first ten 14ers for almost anyone. Quandary on the other hand is probably one of the first ten 14ers that most people climb.

$55 is ridiculous to me to park, but as others have said, there are several other options. With Culebra, there really isn't another option if you want to climb the mountain ethically.

Sean Nunn

Culebra is only 5 miles in summer.

[speth]

Quandary is much more accessible from major metropolitan areas in Denver. Culebra is the most isolated 14er I have climbed so far.

LOL

[mtree]

The cost for parking is steep. Paying for the shuttle sucks. Waiting for the shuttle sucks more. The parking along Hwy 9 and the dirt roads was getting ridiculous. I'm sure the homeowners were dreading weekends. They had to do something. If you don't like the cost don't pay it. Hike somewhere else. We are collectively to blame for this. So there.

Quandary and Culebra fees are like apples and oranges.

[justiner]

Welp, guess you can still ride a bike up to the TH for free

[Rollie Free]

Last year we met a couple on a peak in the Blood of Christ range. The female side was a young, beautiful, and pleasant woman.
Her goal was to climb all the 14ers except Culebra, she said she simply wasn't going to pay. At that moment the 8 became a 10.

[BillMiddlebrook]

The cost for parking is steep. Paying for the shuttle sucks. Waiting for the shuttle sucks more. The parking along Hwy 9 and the dirt roads was getting ridiculous. I'm sure the homeowners were dreading weekends. They had to do something. If you don't like the cost don't pay it. Hike somewhere else. We are collectively to blame for this. So there.

Quandary and Culebra fees are like apples and oranges.

In recent years, the "we" in "We are collectively to blame for this" has expanded dramatically to include seasonal tourists who visit Summit County. Living in Breck for 20 years, I witnessed the massive expansion of summer tourism in there. It was a major objective for the ski resorts. At the same time, the county increased promotion of local hiking, especially Quandary. Local shops did it, the tourism people did it, etc. Often unprepared, these people are the ones more likely to call Search and Rescue (SAR) when post-holing on Quandary and lose a shoe. There are a lot of them.

Yes, the general CO hiking community has grown, but in the case of Quandary, seasonal tourism is a large part of the reason we now have to pay to park in summer. I've been tough on Breck and the USFS for the parking stuff and I stand by the FULL DAY parking fees being ridiculous. However, until the USFS builds a massive trailhead there (probably not going to happen any time soon), this is what we need to deal with.