Mt. Bierstadt

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/15/2026, By: caesarsalad
Info: Trail is completely dry to ~12.7k. From there to the saddle, the trail has a thin trickle of water running down it. Saddle to the summit has a few patches of snow that are well packed down if you want to go over them, or easily avoided if you don’t (see photo for an example). Regardless, no traction or flotation of any kind needed. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/12/2026, By: kkuhl40
Info: 3rd time up bierstadt today, took my girlfriend up for her first 14er. Great hike, but I can tell the trail has seen better days. Not bad at all, but there is some restoration areas and parts that have appeared to degrade since I’ve last done it. Trail did have some ice on it for the last 1.5ish miles but is easy to go around. Great day overall. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/11/2026, By: theolubke
Info: Snow is melting fast. In the late afternoon, there was a steady stream flowing down the trail for a few hundred feet below the saddle. With overnight freezes and morning sun rising on the other side of the mountain, this area will be icy in mornings for several days.

Marmot at the summit was way too interested in our food. It's probably not readers of this site, but please do not feed wild animals! 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/10/2026, By: repjap22
Info: Snow and ice still present and melting by noon making trails slushy/muddy. Brutal wind today. 30-50 MPH made for a long day and a short time at the summit. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/7/2026, By: evanspond
Info: Snow and icy patches for the last 3/4 mile, microspikes needed 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/6/2026, By: mpetruccelli
Info: Tons of snow roughly halfway up. Microspikes needed. Go early because slush starts and becomes muddy and slippery. Saw multiple people slip and fall due to the conditions. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/7/2026, By: Kileyraffaeli
Info: Some ice and snow above 12,500. Used spikes last 2 miles on the ascent and the descent. Saw a few people without spikes and they were slipping around. Otherwise, really great conditions. Some mud here and there but nothing crazy. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 6/5/2026, By: BillMiddlebrook
Info: Microspikes and/or poles are still recommended on the last 1,200 feet of the hike, due to remaining snow and ice. Today, a lot of hikers without microspikes were avoiding portions of the upper trail and walking on the dry tundra. The final pitch has some snow as well. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 5/31/2026, By: SteffenLikesFrogs
Info: Arrived at the trailhead around 4:40am. Trail was dry and completely free of snow until about 13,000' give or take, and it was firm and we didnt posthole on the way up or down.

Microspikes and trekking poles were absolutely necessary for us to successfully summit, but others were doing it without.

Once we got back down the mountain the lower trail sections got muddy, but could be avoided and wasn't deep. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 5/26/2026, By: JaylenKorth
Info: Slightly muddy near the creek at the beginning of trail, but you can mostly step around it. Snow starts shortly above the shoulder to the summit, and microspikes were definitely helpful. Weather overall was great, but postholing was a slight problem on the descent. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 5/26/2026, By: afcolorado14
Info: We got the the trailhead at 5:45 and it was about half full. A lot of people were on the mountain but still not as many as there are during the summer. About half way up the ridge the mountain was covered in snow but it was hardpacked so wasn’t much of an issue. We brought microspikes and never used them, but some people were. A lot of the rocks higher up were covered in ice (if they weren’t covered in snow) so that was also a bit difficult, especially coming down. Weather was great, almost no wind the whole way. We didn’t do sawtooth but it looked almost completely clear of snow so we probably could’ve. On our way down the trail started getting muddy around 9 am, but it was never too much of an issue. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 5/24/2026, By: 40+project
Info: There is some mud later in the day, around 10 AM today. Microspikes are recommended for the top half of the hike for the hard-packed snow. The weather is great, but arrive early to secure a parking space. Mountain goats spotted. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 5/24/2026, By: masonzastrow
Info: Willows are totally clear of snow, finding the route through them is very easy right now. Snow is avoidable until 12.5k, intermittent for a couple hundred feet, then pretty well packed down above that. Class 2 section is easier than normal with the snow. Very muddy in the willows on the descent, almost soupy in a couple spots. Don't wear your white shoes! I found spikes helpful but plenty of people went without. Main lot was about half full at 6:15, but that might be lower than normal with BoulderBoulder tomorrow. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 5/15/2026, By: HikesInGeologicTime
Info: Still some snow on the upper part of the mountain (mostly above 13k or so), but the juice did not look worth the squeeze for a ski, so I went with trail runners. Snow was firm enough along the most beaten-in path (which did not always follow the actual trail…more on that to come) and where it stuck to the ridgeline on the final boulder hop to the summit that I appreciated spikes - déjà vu from my April visit! - though plenty made do without, including a few (unsurprising) first timers to fourteeners.

Major kudos to the group of three who followed my plunge stepping/posthole path to avoid trampling tundra where the trail gets lost under the existing patches of snow. Presumably, hopefully, the most concentrated mass of prints taking a more direct line was entirely on snow before the heat wave of the last few days took its toll. As a CFI volunteer, I feel it’s my duty to encourage anyone going up in the next couple weeks to download the GPX for the route, no matter how obvious it should be or how well you think you know it already, because while there is a way to stay off the tundra if you lose the trail for now, it ain’t gonna last.

Mud was mostly a pleasantly surprising non-issue both on ascent at 7 a.m. and on descent in the early afternoon (~1). Still, I would not be surprised if this one was in basic, if not full, summer conditions by early June, so unless you’re THISCLOSE to finishing your calendar grid and just need May and June (and now only June!), I’d recommend waiting for it to be a little drier. It’s already summit sign season, apparently, so the realistic chances of having a nice, quiet, uninterrupted summit lunch all by yourself are done for the next few months anyway. 

Route: West Slopes
Posted On: 5/11/2026, By: Arthur Shagisultanov
Info: Trail conditions same as 5/10. One person attempted the traverse to Blue Sky but quickly turned around because of snow on the descent from Bierstadt. No other tracks visible on the traverse. Plenty of parking all morning on a Monday. Beautiful day!