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Savage Peak

Northeast Ridge
Difficulty Class 2 
Start10,000 feet
Summit13,135 feet
Total Gain3,200 feet
RT Length8 miles
Last UpdatedMay 2023
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Trailhead

From Minturn, drive approx. 11 miles south on Highway 24 OR from Leadville, drive approx. 19 miles north on Highway 24. Turn west onto Homestake Road (dirt). Drive nearly 8 miles and turn right onto the Missouri Creek road. Continue 2.25 miles to reach the Fancy Lake TH on your right and turn left to reach the Missouri Lakes TH. 4WD vehicles can pass through the TH parking area and continue (easy 4WD) 0.6 mile to reach an unmarked 4WD parking area along Missouri Creek. If you drive to this point, reach the trail by crossing the creek and walking about 50 yards up a hill.

Route Description

If you're starting at the 2WD trailhead, hike approx. 0.5 mile up the Missouri Lakes trail to reach a small clearing where you can see the 4WD trailhead down to your left. If you're starting at the 4WD trailhead (photos on trailhead page), cross the creek and walk a short distance to intersect the trail. Follow the excellent, rocky trail ( 1,  2) which crosses Missouri Creek a couple of times and has wooden bridges over some of the wet areas -  3. After 2.5 miles (2 miles if you parked at the 4WD TH), cross a stream ( 4). Continue for another 0.25 mile to reach a small clearing where you can see Point 12,898' ahead -  5. There's no need to continue all the way to the lakes and your goal is to gain the northeast ridge, so this is a good place to leave the trail.

Turn left and hike south through clearings and past small ponds ( 6 and  7) until you reach open terrain near the talus slopes below the ridge -  8. Continue southeast along the base of the slope ( 9,  10,  11) to reach the crest of the NE ridge, near 11,700' -  12.

Turn right and gain the ridge to see a steep, grassy point -  13. Staying left of the rocks ( 14) will keep the difficulty at Class 2. Once you've climbed this point, the remaining ridge to the summit is obvious -  15. Walk along the ridge to reach steeper terrain at 12,400' ( 16) and even steeper above 12,600' - ( 17). At 13,000', the angle eases ( 18) near the top of the Savage couloir -  19 and  20. Continue a bit farther to reach the summit -  21.
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12 #13 #14 #15 #16 #17 #18 #19 #20 #21

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