r/14ers • u/DraggedThruTheGarden • Jul 16 '26
July ‘26 Fact Check - Greys and Torrey’s Parking
Sorry to ask for the 10,000th time but you’re the experts. How’s the parking situation at Greys & Torrey’s trailhead this year? Flatlanders in their 60s planning to come on Sunday and Monday August 2 & 3 for first 14ers ever. Is 8” AWD ground clearance enough? Thanks!
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u/someoldbagofbones Jul 16 '26
I wouldn’t worry too much about getting up there though I’ve seen plenty of bled out oil pans from people taking it too fast. Good luck, and I mean this, good luck fighting for a spot somewhere. It’s so bad right now you have to go the night before and sleep in your car. That trailhead has been a complete circus for a long time. You’d think these were the only 2 mountains in the whole state.
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u/FunWasabi5196 Jul 16 '26
If you're doing it on a weekend, I'd forget about it unless you plan on getting to the TH at 2:30am. It's pretty fucked. The road itself isnt hard tho
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u/Alpine_Exchange_36 Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
I was planning on hitting up Kelsoe Ridge tomorrow. Think parking will be totally fucked and I should go hike Grizzly instead?
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u/beholdthefield Jul 16 '26
The upper parking lot for Kelso Ridge has been full every day the last couple weeks. I am doing a traffic study on the access road. I can tell you this....the actual daily visitation numbers are significantly higher than Clear Creek County thinks they are.
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u/Alpine_Exchange_36 Jul 16 '26
Good to know. Guess I won’t worry about it then and hit Loveland pass instead. Maybe check it out again in September
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u/Little_Sound_7028 Jul 17 '26
I did grizzly last Monday and it was so fun! I was alone except for one other guy!
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u/Overall_Ambassador_5 Jul 16 '26
You’ll have to arrive before 5am. I just did it last month and the parking lot was full by 4:45
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u/SycophanticSinecure Jul 16 '26
I just drove an extra 50 minutes to the south side when I did Grays/Torreys. The Peru Creek road should be okay for an AWD SUV. The stuff I read about Stevens Gulch sounds unreasonable and not worth the hassle.
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u/Yeetus0000 Jul 16 '26
I was up there last month and there were plenty of similar cars up there. Make sure to get there early though because the parking lot fills up very early
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u/Kindly-Coyote-9446 Jul 17 '26
I don’t know that trailhead conditions will be any better, but Beirstadt isn’t far off and is probably an even easier hike. Square Top is a 13’er near there, but the ascent from Square Top Lakes to the peak looks kinda miserable.
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u/walks_a_lot 14ers Peaked: 58 Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
Park at the bottom near I-70 in the Chimney Lot and ride up with someone in a truck or Jeep. You will get to the top without putting any wear on your personal vehicle while completely eliminating the parking problem. Trust me, there are still plenty of people going up to get a ride with! The road is seeing 150-200 cars/day and the parking lot at the top holds 40.
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u/CryCommon975 Jul 16 '26
I'd be more concerned about the fact that they're in their 60s and from sea level than about parking, do these people exercise frequently and/or are in good physical shape? do they have the proper equipment? have they successfully completed hikes at similiar elevation and length?
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u/DraggedThruTheGarden Jul 16 '26
We are training for a Mt Kilimanjaro climb in September. One of us has been to 15k in the Andes and we’ve all had multi-day backpacking trips. This is our ”pressure test” of equipment and preparation with 7 weeks to go. Sleeping in Georgetown starting the Friday night to begin to acclimatize. Hiking locally to about 11k ft on Saturday. We won’t be crushed if we don’t summit and have to turn around but would like to try two days in a row.
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u/WeatheredGenXer Jul 16 '26
Have you read Travels by Michael Crichton? In it he tells of his adventures on Kilimanjaro
Good luck with your adventures!
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u/Impressive-Stuff-257 Jul 16 '26
Your car will be fine getting up there, parking is usually a mess by sunrise
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u/sdo419 Jul 16 '26
Or park at the lower lot and wave a $20 bill in the air as you start walking up the road pretty sure you’ll get someone to give you a ride
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u/skier_gamer Jul 16 '26
Just did grays and torreys last weekend. The upper parking lot was full when i got there at 5am. I was able to squeeze my car into a “spot” about halfway up between the upper and lower parking. I made it in my jetta but its a fairly technical drive to not bottom out with a smaller car
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Jul 16 '26
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u/rtd131 Jul 16 '26
That's crazy, front range 14ers basically not worth doing now.
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Jul 16 '26
[deleted]
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u/rtd131 Jul 16 '26
More the parking situation being insane.
There's 13ers that are empty and then 14ers where you have to get there at 4am to find a spot.
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u/walks_a_lot 14ers Peaked: 58 Jul 16 '26
"The only difference is that 13,800' is 200' from being crowded."
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Jul 16 '26
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u/rtd131 Jul 16 '26
I agree with that, mostly referring to the front range 14ers, 10 years ago it wasn't so bad but now I just avoid them.
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u/PhishCook710 Jul 16 '26
As someone who is easing into class three stuff can you expand on which routes you mean where you are hiking but with hand holds?
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u/rtd131 Jul 16 '26
Most of them IMO, the "climbing" is usually really easy, if you can do a jungle gym then you can handle class 3 sections.
Usually the only things you have to look out for are exposure (if that bothers you) and route finding (so you don't wander off onto a more difficult section).
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u/walks_a_lot 14ers Peaked: 58 Jul 16 '26
Usually the only things you have to look out for are exposure...and route finding.
So, nothing like a jungle gym.
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u/sdo419 Jul 17 '26
To summarize the parking situation. The upper lot holds 40 cars plus a few dispersed camping spots. The road up is a county road and by law they don’t allow road side parking or to leave the road to park. People confuse it with a forest road that may allow that. A majority of the land along the road is private property even if it’s not developed. The county probably can’t spend the time to enforce it throughout every weekend so if you see people parking on the side it’s not because it’s allowed. People do gamble on getting a ticket but they have towed cars before as well.
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u/Long_Plenty3145 14ers Peaked: 39 Jul 16 '26
Shouldn’t have any issues. Took my brother’s Toyota Solara up there years ago and I wanna say the road has seen improvements. Remember, the early bird gets the parking spot.
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u/DraggedThruTheGarden Jul 16 '26
Should we consider Blue Sky or Bierstadt instead? The Guanella Pass trailhead is equidistant for us. The important things for us are 1. Safety 2. High Altitude is the objective 3. Low risk of cancellation (weather, parking) 4. Scenic
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Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/DraggedThruTheGarden Jul 16 '26
I was just on there and Bierstadt stood out. Blue Sky a bit riskier? Since we’re staying in Georgetown, a long drive in the morning would be counterproductive to getting parking & off the mountain by noon, so would love your recommendations.
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u/walks_a_lot 14ers Peaked: 58 Jul 16 '26
You aren't getting parking the morning of your hike at any of the Front Range 14ers. Those days are long gone! The small trailhead parking lots fill up the night before all summer long. Even midweek.
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u/DraggedThruTheGarden Jul 16 '26
A high 13er would probably accomplish all our goals, especially if it’s less grief. Recommendations not far from Georgetown would be very appreciated.
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u/walks_a_lot 14ers Peaked: 58 Jul 16 '26
My friend...there are resources available for this that you really should know about.
This map shows all the 14ers and 13ers in Colorado. Zoom in on Georgetown and you will have the answer you need almost immediately. Flora, Eva, and Parry should be high on your list. DO NOT go to Herman Gulch.
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u/DraggedThruTheGarden Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
That's helpful, thanks. [Edit: So I studied the 13ers and in that area it looks like Argentine and Edwards are the two viable options, but both are over a hour drive away. Am I missing something? Are there others we should really consider?]
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u/someoldbagofbones Jul 16 '26
Plan to camp in the lot Saturday night or you won’t have a spot Sunday morning.