Timing advice for busy trailheads

[two lunches]

Can I please add Longs Peak to this thread?

I understand that you have to arrive incredibly early to get a spot in the parking lot, but if you arrive at say 5:00 a.m. on a weekend morning, you can apparently park along the road leading to the trailhead as long as you are clearly off the road, correct? Maybe 0.5 miles from the trailead if you arrive around 5:00 a.m.?

I would rather hike on a weekday, but I don't have the choice given my travel schedule and fitting in other 14'ers. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated, thanks!

Longs is a 2am start for many reasons, and none of them are related to parking. start early, it's a long day! (pun intended, but like.. seriously)

[JerJerBinks]

Can I please add Longs Peak to this thread?
Maybe 0.5 miles from the trailead if you arrive around 5:00 a.m.?

Personally I like a 5am start for Long's (weather permitting of course) If you move fast and don't take breaks, the standard keyhole route can be done in 9hrs. I'm not fast. Coming from Colorado Springs, I leave home around 230am because I'm not trying to ever sleep at Long's TH or roadside in that area. Two Saturday adventures on Long's and counting so far this season. Both 5am starts, both AMAZING! No regerts. Bring a poncho, Pancho.
And yeah, you're looking at about a .5 road walk each way if you show at 5. People are getting away with some ridiculousness with parking spots. Do your best.

[ECF55]

Longs is a 2am start for many reasons, and none of them are related to parking. start early, it's a long day! (pun intended, but like.. seriously)

+1. Longs tends to make its own weather, and those northern mountains can catch different weather from the southern Front Range mountains. The back side of Longs is also much higher consequence terrain with no real bail points and it gets super busy with Denver residents and tourists. For all of these reasons, I concur with the really early start. It’s also a big day.

I had the unfortunate experience of hitting the Keyhole by 7:30am last year (late July), but crossing through the threshold and seeing dark clouds with columns of precipitation falling from them. It was clear and sunny on the other side! We played around on the Ledges for a bit, but ultimately concluded that we couldn’t commit to the hike given the weather conditions. What a mountain, however!

[Ed_Groves]

Regarding Grays Peak, on August 8th, 2023, I arrived at the trailhead around 4:40 AM Tuesday to do Kelso Ridge and there were still approximately 25 to 33 percent of the parking spots available. If I am not mistaken, I arrived around the same time in the third week of July, 2020, for Grays and there were spots available as well. I don't know if the number of hikers for this trail has increased in the last three years, but this was my experience at those times. As we move through August and the kids start school, I would suspect this would ease the crowds slightly, especially Monday through Friday. I think a 4:00 to 4:30 AM arrival would get a spot on weekdays.

[DrLDG]

Thanks to everyone for the tips! Here’s how the week has gone so far:

Monday Mt Sherman: afternoon plenty of space at the main parking area and I can see where there’s enough for overflow/lower clearance vehicles a short way below that I wouldn’t have been especially cranky to walk from.
Tuesday Mt Sherman: Tuesday afternoon-same as Monday (decided to turn around below the saddle Mon due to weather but managed to complete Tuesday afternoon without issue despite a kind fellow’s concerns about my choices with the clouds).

Tuesday Quandary Peak: first shuttle in the morning (5 am) had just 5 other people on it with me, parking at the trailhead was about half full but completely full coming down. This trail felt CROWDED coming down with hikers doing their ascent but both shuttle drivers I talked to said it was absolutely nothing compared to a weekend.

Wednesday Mt Blue Sky: I paid for parking at Summit Lake so no problems there at dawn, and the pullout just below this area where you can theoretically park for free was empty. Weather was the bigger issue for start time and I know a lot of people I passed on my descent who traversed from Bierstadt got caught in that 11 am hailstorm that I dealt with a short way from the trailhead.

Thursday Grays/Torreys: I got to the trailhead at 4:00 am with plenty of room left for parking, quite a few people at the lower parking area already, but I can see where this one fills up quickly; 4:30-4:45 feels like the latest you should arrive during the busy summertime on a weekday.

Friday Decalibron: You can see the parking area for most of the loop so I know it never filled up completely in the morning. I’m guessing it may fill up on Saturdays and Sundays sometimes but I think as long as you arrive at a reasonable time in the morning you’ll be good, there’s room for at least 50 vehicles and I’m likely underestimating that.

Saturday (today): My knee needs a break so no reports for today’s trailheads

[joshb]

Camped at DeCaLiBron last night (Friday) - handful of other folks doing so. Started at 4am (Saturday) and it was getting pretty busy. When I finished at 11 and left, the lot was full and there was a LONG line of cars parked on the road just below TH. Might be worth camping at Kite Lake the night before to not have to deal with the hassle (not to mention, camping next to the lake offers stunning views).

[Fast Jimm]

As far as the Longs Peak Trailhead goes, it depends a lot on your speed and the Longs Peak approach trail is a veritable high-speed hiking superhighway. If you move along smartly during the approach and aren't afraid to push it a bit- plus you might not need 3 layers under a winter puff jacket- you can get up there pretty early. I once hit the keyhole in the dark and there were maybe 20-30 people sitting around waiting for daylight, all people who could have started later than they did. I had a headlamp anyway and had done it before, so I did the ledges and half the trough by headlamp. I think most fit people not on their first day in Colorado could do it under 9 hours which puts them back at their car by noon after a 3:00 AM start. This varies, of course, and is a good reason not to start with Longs as your first 14er.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that there isn't a rule that one must shuffle up the Longs approach trail like a zombie after starting at 1:00AM and then still end up waiting at the keyhole for daylight.

[SkaredShtles]

As far as the Longs Peak Trailhead goes, it depends a lot on your speed and the Longs Peak approach trail is a veritable high-speed hiking superhighway. If you move along smartly during the approach and aren't afraid to push it a bit- plus you might not need 3 layers under a winter puff jacket- you can get up there pretty early. I once hit the keyhole in the dark and there were maybe 20-30 people sitting around waiting for daylight, all people who could have started later than they did. I had a headlamp anyway and had done it before, so I did the ledges and half the trough by headlamp. I think most fit people not on their first day in Colorado could do it under 9 hours which puts them back at their car by noon after a 3:00 AM start. This varies, of course, and is a good reason not to start with Longs as your first 14er.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that there isn't a rule that one must shuffle up the Longs approach trail like a zombie after starting at 1:00AM and then still end up waiting at the keyhole for daylight.

Username checks out.

[daway8]

...I think most fit people not on their first day in Colorado could do it under 9 hours which puts them back at their car by noon after a 3:00 AM start.

Username checks out.

Lol, yep, never trust timing advice from someone named "Fast Jimm"

Sincerely,
Not-so-fast-Jimm

[Wentzl]

Fast Jimm is my new best friend. Great advice!

But seriously, get to those busy parking lots after 3:00 p.m. Lots of spaces open up around then.

Bring a headlamp, enjoy the sunset on the summit and walk down on your own time.

[Fast Jimm]

Lol, what in the holy hell?