Mt. Massive

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 7/3/2026, By: BillMiddlebrook
Info: All hiking routes and trailheads for Mt. Massive are closed. Additionally, this includes the trailhead for the standard route (NE Ridge) on Mt. Elbert because the Halfmoon Creek road is closed due to the fire. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 6/30/2026, By: aholle88
Info: All routes for Mount Massive and Elbert are closed. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 6/15/2026, By: PilotDoggo
Info: Highest I've stood on solid ground to date! Great hike with a running buddy of mine, decided on SW Slopes since shorter & prettier basin. From TH to junction between Massive summit & Halfmoon lakes, trail had zero mud & was well maintained, aside from 3 fallen trees (2 of which had notable scurry-around side paths). From junction up to summit, trail was steep but very easy to follow. ZERO traction needed at all; NO snow whatsoever!! Just be smart and do not attempt to get to TH unless you have VERY high clearance vehicle... had to park the Pathfinder like .4 from the TH since there was one super sketchy boulder/pothole section. I'd recommend just parking .6 to .7 miles below TH, since that avoids any real trouble. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 6/9/2026, By: edgeofmountain
Info: Only a few patches of snow. Microspikes were not needed. Ideal conditions! 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 6/8/2026, By: OilyOrca
Info: Camped below upper trailhead and hiked to summit. There were some small patches of snow near the summit that could be easily traversed or circumvented. Conditions overall were good- hikeable in trail runners with no difficulty. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 6/6/2026, By: JustLuke
Info: Pretty much the same as the prior report. One 30ft is snow crossing prior to making the ride. There are 3 10-20ft snow crossings once on the ridge, these were slightly tricky to navigate with a dog, but should be easy enough for a human. No spikes worn. Trail is in great shape, basically summer conditions. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 6/1/2026, By: 20CM25
Info: There's not a lot of snow on the hike. There's one section before you get to the ridge, otherwise everything else was on the ridge. There are a few sections where microspikes would be beneficial, but I did fine without them and it would've been more annoying to slip them on and off. Existing footprints on compacted snow helped. Slid down on my butt a few yards on the way down on one of the steeper sections because my foot was sliding. Snow sections were probably no longer than 30-40 yards long. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 6/1/2026, By: KHay
Info: Beautiful day. Made it .5 miles to the upper trailhead in my Outback. Not sure I’d go father and without a spotter I opted to park and walk. Trail was dry up to the ridge with small snow patches on parts of the summit ridge. No need for spikes or tools if you are there later in the day. I was there around noon and it was soft. Trail was mostly empty and I had the peak to myself. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 5/31/2026, By: Connor1
Info: Trail was dry all the way up to 14300 ft. Then some unavoidable patches of snow on the summit ridge to the summit. I brought micro spikes and an axe, but never needed to use them. All of the snow crossings have boot packed trails through them which made for easy crossing. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 5/24/2026, By: mtoensing
Info: Crowded back there in half moon road area. The road to get to half moon trailhead was worse than I expected. Just rough and bumpy for a few miles. Totally Subaru-able, but doubt you are getting a sedan back there. I parked my truck about a mile before as there was an open spot and I wanted to start walking. The rougher spots on the road where the hill gets steep looked tough! Not worth it in my stock truck and happy to have walked it.

Trail is excellent! Snow free until the upper part and it’s melting quick. More snow when you join the east slopes route on the ridge but it’s minimal and some can be avoided. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 5/23/2026, By: jakeandorbake
Info: as expected, massive standard route is in good shape

well, a few things to note:
- spikes, or poles with good baskets, arguably want past the saddle
- we went quick and early so all our snow was hard enough for stable kick-steps, plus good troughs from days prior. sloppy on way down. slower parties would want to consider this melt rate may affect ascent conditions
- all snow below 13500 either avoidable or inconsequential, unless late+muddied
- windy but otherwise really pleasant 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 5/16/2026, By: korybesaw
Info: Both standard trial and Southwest trail are snow free minus 1-2 areas. A couple of small snow fields that are easy to get around, even on summit ridge snow early was stable enough to go on with no spikes. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 4/25/2026, By: lukethepuke
Info: Trail was clear and dry except for a few brief snow patches above the treeline on the way up, and a few along the ridge line near the summit. Microspikes were nice to have but not absolutely necessary. Definitely don’t need snowshoes. Take an ice axe for some fun glissading on the way down. 

Route: Southwest Slopes
Posted On: 4/21/2026, By: nodoubt99
Info: Southwest slopes were dry nearly the whole way up until 13,000 feet where I found very firm snow that I didn't believe microspikes were enough for. Maneuvered around it and got to the East Slopes where it had patchy snow but nothing microspikes or snow shoes were needed for. 

Route: East Slopes
Posted On: 4/19/2026, By: Lukekoch
Info: Dry or frozen trail up to treeline. Treeline and up had snow but could avoid in some spots. No floatation needed. Spikes where handy but could have done it without.