Long's Peak

Long's Peak from the East.

Description 

This is the highest peak in Rocky Mountain National Park. It is one of the 54 14,000-foot peaks of Colorado. It is a prized playground for the budding hiker/mountaineer, the intermediate to advanced rock climber, the intermediate to advanced mixed/ice climber, the middle-altitude big wall aid climber; and it even sports a few high-end rock routes. Some still come to try to free some of the old aid routes here. Most adventures involve most of a day to a multi-day affair.

The peak itself consists of a variety of different subsections for which it may be more helpful to reorganize this section. There is the vertical arena of the Diamond, the Lower East Face, The Upper East Face, Chasm View Wall, the North Face/Ridge, The Southern Ridge(s), the West Face, Ship's Prow, Keyboard of the Winds, & The Palisades.

A hike up to the eastern cirque of Long's is probably one of the more scenic hikes in the Front Range.

Despite the popularity of the peak and the associated heavy travel, there is still plenty of loose rocks in here. Some have lost body parts to this. Be careful.

The weather here can be the crux. Often storms will surprise the unwary as it comes hidden by the bulk of the peak. Some have lost a few toes, some have lost more.

Getting off the peak can be an adventure in and of itself. There is the Keyhole route around the West side, the North Face scramble & rappel(s), the D7 rappels, and even Keplinger's Couloir.

Getting There 

There are many ways to access this peak. This peak lies NW of Denver by 70 miles/1.5 hrs. From Denver, take US 36 to CO Hwy 7 in Lyons, and head N at the top of the canyon or US 36 into RMNP. Likely the most common is from CO Hwy 7, aka Peak-to-Peak Hwy, and the Long's Area trailhead. This approach will be at least 5 miles. You can approach via Glacier Gorge, Storm Pass, Boulder Brook/N Long's Peak Trail/Granite Pass, & even the Wild Basin entrance.

The Classics

Featured Route For Long's Peak

Sarchasm 5.14-  CO : Alpine Rock : ... : Ship's Prow

This route is the brilliant clean arete on the right side of the Ships Prow. Direct start to the Baloney Pony (5.12c). Start Just right of the arete and grab holds and no holds for 8 bolts to an obvious jug where the first pitch of Baloney Pony meets the arete. Put in a couple of stoppers and mantle to the anchors. I would say the business is somewhere between the sixth and eighth bolt but the whole bloody thing is hard. ...[more]   Browse More Classics in CO

Photos of Long's Peak Slideshow

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West Face on the Left.	Long's Peak-Autumn. Photo by Blitzo.	Long's Peak. Photo by Blitzo.
Pika near Long's Peak. Photo by Blitzo.	Sunrise on the Diamond. Photo by L Smith	On the way to Chasm Lake
BETA PHOTO: Legendary Czech climber Petr Practel's topo of his...	Early morning light	Long's Peak as seen from the approach to Arrowhead...
Long's Peak seen at left, from Mills Lake	A look at the North Face	East face of Longs in early June
The East Face of Longs at Sunrise.	The south side of Longs as seen from the Loft.	The summit of Longs showing both the Homestretch a...
Rap ring on Cable Route (north side)	BETA PHOTO: Looking straight up the N. Chimney and Diamond. T...	Sunrise over Chasm Lake from Mill's Glacier
A nice fall day.	After an October snowstorm...fluffy, windy and co...	The Key Hole Photo: Dave Fiorucci
Conditions on 8 June 08. Looks like we'll be waiti...	Summit register.	The Keyhole.
Watching a storm over Estes from the Boulderfield....	The summit of Long's Peak.	Long's Peak from Lumpy Ridge. Photo by James Beis...
The Diamond at sunrise.	The Diamond, late September.	The boulder field.
West face of Longs from the summit of Otis, 11/08.	Chasm Lake sunrise from the bivy.	The Diamond from Glacier Basin campground. Photo: ...
Moonrise through the Keyhole.	A stream of headlamps headed up Long's.	SW side of Longs, showing the homestretch and the ...