Redcloud Peak

Route: from sunshine
Posted On: 2/9/2026, By: Alpine_Iris
Info: some snow getting from sunshine to the saddle. one small section of postholing. all snow avoidable from saddle to redcloud. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 10/7/2025, By: untalented
Info: Didn’t have/need microspikes but was glad to have trekking poles.
Steep ridgeline section from 13,400 to 13,800 is slippery- definitely the crux of the entire route (even to Sunshine).
Snow coming up to the top of my boots in some sections. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 9/24/2025, By: V1per41
Info: Scattered snow patches starting at 13k'. Was mostly melted to 13.5k' on my way back down. No traction needed. There was some deeper spots (Maybe 2") on the traverse to Sunshine when the trail dipped to the north side of the ridge. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 9/13/2025, By: mikeb85
Info: Lots of swirling winds, got hit with sleet and high winds with a storm that came in unexpected at 9am. Weather was particularly hard to read that day. once we got off the peak wind was not nearly as bad. Passed by some ice on the rocks along side the trail near summit and between rocks on the peak but there was no snow or ice where you walk. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/29/2025, By: spen_c_boy
Info: Hiked and summited both Redcloud & Sunshine on the 21st of August. Trail is beautiful, lots of flowers. Road to get there was easily done in my Subaru Outback.

*** The porcupine was at it again while I was there. I slept in my tent not too far from my car, and heard my camping neighbors wake up around 11pm to spook off the porcupine who was ostensibly there to chew at their car(s). I quickly hopped in my car and drove about a quarter mile down the road and spent the rest of the night in my car. Started driving back to the TH at around 4:30 and saw the porcupine confidently crossing the road as if he knew his duties of terrorizing camp were done for the night. *** *** Adding to that, there was a pretty big bear only a few minutes into the hike in the morning. I turned around to gather a group of hikers to approach together. The bear was only about 40ish feet off the trail and didn't want to budge while we made a lot of noise at it. ***

On another note, Redcloud was much steeper than I expected towards the top. Between 13,000' and 14,000' was pretty dang vertical - nothing TOO dangerous but it caught me by surprise.

The trip to Sunshine from the top of Redcloud isn't too arduous, but did take me a little over an hour, and I was trying to go fast. Consider the time it takes to get there and back if you want to do both peaks. I was concerned with how many people I saw still ascending while afternoon storms were rolling in... 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/11/2025, By: sam_wade76
Info: Trail is in full summer conditions. Never had to put on traction of any sort. Got to the TH Friday the 4th, stayed overnight in the parking lot. BEWARE - the porcupine everyone is talking about at the Silver Creek TH is real and fearless (see Silver Creek/Grizzly Gulch parking lot TH for horror stories). Our camping neighbor was visited by him around 2:00AM and had to throw rocks into his wheel well to get him out of the car.

Wildflowers all the way up to the Peak starting about 1.8 miles in. More columbines than I've ever seen before. Summited both Redcloud and Sunshine and my main advice is make sure you have the capacity for both peaks. For a slower person the traverse between the two can take roughly 45 min - 1 hour each way. Shoutout to all the badass trailrunners that I know did it faster.

Road up to TH is rough but made it in a 2016 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk with good tires with stock lift. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 6/29/2025, By: Bonesaw
Info: A couple snowfields in the basin to contend with, they are small and packed down. The trail seems to have eroded away somewhat as you gain the ridge. There’s a sign pointing you to climber’s right however it fades away and you need to slog up the loose rock and dirt to gain the trail again 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 6/18/2025, By: pcsongei
Info: Summited Redcloud and Sunshine this morning from Grizzly Gulch. Trail is in great shape overall. The upper basin still has some decent sized snowfields but they are either avoidable or solid enough to walk across early in the day. They were still pretty solid on my descent around 10am. The ridge to Sunshine is also mostly clear, a few snow patches that can be avoided by going above them. Great day out there, was the only person on either summit and only saw 4 other hikers on my way down 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 6/12/2025, By: Matthew Holliman
Info: A couple of short mandatory snow patches to cross in the basin, icy but postholing even early today. Rest of trail and NE Ridge is clear. Traverse to Sunshine has a few short crossings, but well established bootpack. Carried snowshoes but didn't use them as they'd have done nothing, and the snow sections were too short to bother anyway. Crampons not really necessary since you can follow the existing postholes. Fantastic views.

Road to TH in good condition, 4mi paved, 8mi excellent dirt, 4mi a bit rougher but no need for 4WD 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 6/6/2025, By: tbonesaredelicious
Info: See my condition report for sunshine, pictures attached there 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 6/1/2025, By: Youngan
Info: No snow on the lower trail, and only a few small snow crossing until reaching the north facing basin before the saddle. The basin was mostly full of snow, unfortunately the 5:45 AM start was not early enough to avoid postholing. After the basin any snow crossings are minimal and shallow to the Redcloud summit. More postholing after the saddle between Redcloud and Sunshine on the way up to Sunshine Peak. The final bit on sunshine has snow, but it’s somewhat avoidable and shallow. As expected, significantly more postholing on the way out as the temperature increased. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 6/1/2025, By: butlerer
Info: Holy post-holing! It was a beautiful day, a great hike to Redcloud and Sunshine and back to Redcloud, but holy post-holing.

We left the TH at 415, and the snow on the way up was okay--punched through in a couple of spots but not bad. By the time we got to the saddle between Redcloud and Sunshine, and even more so in unavoidable snow on the descent from Redcloud between~13,000' and 12,000', the snow was diabolical--it was a combination of super soft and wet that would occasionally suck your boots in and trap them 3-4' below the surface in an icy vice-grip that would only relent after repeated pole stabbing and chanting the right combination of expletives.

Post-holing aside, it was a nearly perfect day. Road to Silver Creek/Grizzly Gulch TH was dry and clear for a Crosstrek to navigate. Only 5 or 6 cars overnight at the TH--and a curious racoon looking for handouts (didn't find any with us). The trail was clear of snow until about 11,600', and the creek is flowing abundantly. Plenty of places below 11,600' to filter water. Lots of evidence of avalanches on nearby peaks that looked to be much steeper than anything on Redcloud or Sunshine. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 5/25/2025, By: AlessiaAscent
Info: Great conditions for a May hike on Redcloud! Road is completely dry to trailhead, although a little rougher early season than I remember. My subaru outback handled it without issues, but probably a little rougher than standard 2WD. We were only ones at the trailhead, super beautiful. Trail dry to about 12k, then some intermittent snow patches until hitting the basin below the ridge at 13,000. Basin is still completely snow covered - no traction or floatation needed on the way up, sun didn't hit basin till about 7:30am. There's a big cornice between the false summit and the Redcloud summit, but it's easy to stay on dry trail to the right. On the way back down, we postholed in the basin but it was a relatively short-term issue. Snow is melting fast! San Juans are so beautiful right now. 

Route: West Gully
Posted On: 5/17/2025, By: Jcinco
Info: Great ski conditions. I skied the lookers right gully which extended higher than the other options. Skiable from summit all the way to Silver Creek at 11.2k. Very little wallowing except the part near Silver Creek. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 10/15/2024, By: ColoNativeGal
Info: Completed on Sunday. Summer conditions and shoulder-season conditions - meaning light ice around stream crossings early in the morning (no traction needed), and layer season. Hot/cold, icy winds, etc. Had some flurries late in the afternoon. This will probably change if the area gets anything out of the storm system coming in this weekend. Road to TH in good condition, clearance is helpful; you could get a subaru up if you pick your lines well.