Mt. Princeton

Route: Winter Route over Tigger
Posted On: 5/1/2025, By: BrendoRuns
Info: Parked at 2WD trailhead, but 4WD trailhead was entirely clear on my way up. Had gotten an inch by the time I descended but will melt fast. Snowed the entire ascent, probably 2 inches during my hike. Went up Tigger and descended the standard route which I Used snowshoes for. On the traverse to Princeton I switched to spikes and was much happier with that. No flotation necessary if starting early! Descended standard route and had a couple sketchy traverses along steep couloirs, happy to have my ice axe for that. Probably best to stick to Tigger detour for now. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 1/31/2025, By: JasonCrane
Info: Success in the Sawatch thwarted by deep snow conditions on Thurs, 1/30. Wednesdays southwestern US storm system brought a bunch of new snow resulting in hours of strenuous trail-breaking along CR322A above the Comm Towers. Lower 2WD TH at 8900 ft is easily accessible on CR322 from BV & restroom is in-service. Mt. Princeton Road has a lot of snow, but packed-down by snowcat tracks up to the Comm Towers making relatively easy travel for the 1st couple miles. Above the Comm Towers, 322A is full snow coverage with a mix of multi-layered slab & very soft wind-drifted snow. Topped off at ~11.5 ft near tree-line. Pace slowed to the point that a summit bid wasnt going to happen.. It was cold & blustery at times with snow plumes visible on the tops of the surrounding peaks. Highlight of the day was a post-hike brew with Will_E at Elevation in Poncha Springs!! 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 1/29/2025, By: Yikes
Info: Road is firmly packed down (snowcat) until a little above the radio towers. Trench exists up the ridge shortcut, bypassing the (not currently) dangerous avy slopes on the road switchbacks. I only went to treeline, so don't have any information on the upper mountain. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 12/30/2024, By: jacolc
Info: Used spikes only above tree line and on the way down from Tigger. Vary windy on the ridge, knocking down me few times. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 11/23/2024, By: Will_E
Info: Pretty good conditions on Princeton today, albeit rather windy from Tigger to summit. There's a good trench to the towers, I put snowshoes on at the towers, the trench thins out from there, but there were tracks to follow. Stashed snowshoes just above the road and went up and over Tigger, not difficult to rock hop and avoid most of the snow the rest of the way. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 11/20/2024, By: eastcoasthiker
Info: After a mile or so up the road, you will want snowshoes. Traction on the ridge for sure. It's almost impossible to see the start of the trail where you turn off the road and up to the ridge. Broke trail Tuesday but most of it was likely blown or snowed over. Lots of snow up there and the summer route is a definite no right now. This could have been a perfect winter hike with better weather and slightly less snow. Please post updates everyone. It's helpful. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 10/10/2024, By: johpaw14
Info: Great fall conditions, no snow. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 9/30/2024, By: Oats
Info: Parked about a quarter mile past the radio towers and hiked up the road to the trailhead. Trail is dry, no snow or ice. Lots of rock scrambling, there are cairns up to the ridge before the final push. After that you have to find your own trail to the top, pretty much straight up. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 9/25/2024, By: Javfa1958
Info: Climbed on Tuesday and the trail had one to four inches of snow depending on elevation. Morning was a great climb as snow was hard and packed on trail. Afternoon was tough given that the snow melted and made traveling hazardous. No spikes needed on the way up but I suggest tolerating them on the way down as the slush and mud in places could lead to a slip. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 8/14/2024, By: TheBuff66
Info: Hiked 8/14. Road to the radio towers is passable with a Crosstrek/Outback but I'd advise against it. It was a narrow one lane road with very limited places to pull off, and a few tricky sections. I wouldn't attempt driving it on a busy Saturday, use the lower trailhead. The route itself was pretty straightforward. RT time from the radio towers was 7.6mi in 5hrs 7min, but I also added in Tigger Peak. The hike from the radio towers to the trailhead was 1.5 miles-ish. This wasn't my favorite 14er honestly. It's the definition of class 2 the entire way, pure rock hopping, and I noticed I was spending 98% of my time looking down at my footing instead of taking in the view. Poles are helpful when you have a dirt trail, but for the rest of the time it felt easier to use your hands on the rock to keep your balance. Route finding is arguably minimal because as someone else said, you simply go up 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 8/3/2024, By: wanderlust073
Info: Smooth sailing radio towers to peak. Easier to hop between rocks than skid around on the patches of dirt trail. Saw the other comments about lack of clear trail - just aim for the big pointy bit that has no more mountain above it and you followed the right 'trail'. It all seemed fairly typical. If some kind soul wants to bring up a new register, the old one is full. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 8/14/2024, By: cjsutterer
Info: The trail was in great condition. You have to be looking for the trail offshoot to the right right after you get out of the trees on the road going up. We were talking and missed it. 2 weeks ago I got to take two of my daughters up Princeton. Not going to lie Princeton is not an easy hike. However, they both made it up on their own. My 12-year-old thought about giving up a couple of times but decided on her own to keep pushing. I even told her when we made it to 13,000, that it was really tough to get there and that she would be fine if she wanted to stop there. However, she decided on her own to keep going. I was super proud of them for being mentally tough enough to push themselves past the physical discomfort, and being a little freaked out at the heights above 13,000. All in all it was a great day! Dale and Dino, if you guys see this, it was great meeting you up top and talking. Feel free to reach out. Would love to do some adventures. By the way, I saw your rig on the way down. Bad ass ride! I have done at least 15 14ers, and this was one of the more strenuous ones. Definitely not a great beginner hike. The large rocks and steep scrambles are tough after a few hours. We are from Missouri, so that wasn't a big help either. Enjoy. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 8/1/2024, By: pmodell
Info: Lots of scrambling over large rocks. The trail now is much worse than it was in 2023. There must have been more earthquakes to shake up the rocks since last year. Route finding is more difficult. Exposure is greater since one must scramble close to the edge to get around some boulders. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 7/25/2024, By: nibbler
Info: Started at the top of the 4WD road right by the actual trailhead. Talus field was fine but route finding was tricky sometimes. Switchbacks up to the ridge were in surprisingly good shape - not too much loose rock. It's easy to get off trail on the final push to the summit as there are a number of different routes that people have created over the years. Rock is very loose near the summit. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 7/11/2024, By: Ariella6
Info: Trail dry. Summer conditions. Bring poles for last 2/3 to 1 mile. Lots of wildflowers popping.