Little Giant Peak

Route: Little Giant Basin
Posted On: 7/2/2026, By: JasonKline
Info: Unlike the incident last summer where the road to Little Giant was closed, it was quite open today. Summer conditions. Mercifully, the 550 road closure north of Ouray due to the Gold Mountain fire also ended on July 1 (although it appears that the closure was at least partially reinstated after I drove through there on July 2). The Silverton area was still smoke-free from the recent fires. 

Route: North couloir ski
Posted On: 5/19/2026, By: SnowAlien
Info: Were able to drive to about 11,500 ft just below the Big Giant mine until the icy patch blocked the road. Hiked in trailrunners on mostly dry trail until about 12,800 feet, then switched to boots/crampons and booted up the north facing couloir till the saddle east of the summit. No meaningful snow above 13,200 feet, maybe different in a better snow year.
Reversed the east ridge and skied the couloir (some avalanche debris in the middle) back to the Big Giant mine (great corn in the basin). Found skiable gully down to 11,500 feet but the snow below 12,000 was of poor (trapdoor) quality. 

Route: Little Giant Basin
Posted On: 8/15/2025, By: JasonKline
Info: About a mile after leaving CR 2, CR 52 is closed to all traffic (vehicle or foot). Aside from a sign stating that it's unsafe to proceed further, there's also large machinery blocking the road. 

Route: from Little Giant Basin
Posted On: 7/2/2024, By: d_baker
Info: Out of Silverton, we drove on CR 2 (along the Animas as one drives to Eureka/Cinnamon Pass) for a couple few miles.
Some maps say CR 21 and others say CR 52, but either way, the turnoff is (on S side) across road from the Mayflower Gold Mill.
CR 52 is the road that will go toward Little Giant Basin. L. turns along the road will take you to the start point. I used gaia to track our progress.
After the last left hand turn at a junction with CR 52, it gets pretty narrow and would suck to meet another vehicle. We parked at a pullout at a switchback, big enough for a few cars easy, at about 10,900' and car-camped there.
To that point, the road is rough 2wd (I never went into 4wd going up in my 4runner). After that point, the road actually improves and is wider as we found out the next morning when we hiked up the road.

Also on gaia, I discovered the route is part of the Hard Rock 100, and there's a cairn on the left hand side of road prior to Gold Lake. Trail can be seen all along the slope to the saddle and is in good condition.
One short snow crossing in a gully.

Pretty much a trail all the way to summit, although steeper and looser on S face as the summit is approached but easy.
Great views from this summit, and well worth it!
We backtracked to saddle, and then went over to King Solomon Mtn.
Backtracked from that summit as well, back to saddle and trail back down to the road. From summit of King Solomon, one could go down the steep tundra and reconnect with the trail.

Saw my first blond bear in the morning below the road, prior to mine ruins, in a meadow feeding. 

Route: Big Giant Mine
Posted On: 9/6/2022, By: IHikeLikeAGirl
Info: Hardrock Trail that leaves the road is just before the lake and is not obvious, watch for a cairn on the left.
Trail is good, but micro spikes would have helped in spots. Exactly where to ascend to the ridge to Little Giant is a guessing game...I wasted a lot of time trying to find the best way. Loose class 2+ was the best I could find. Not bad (maybe 80 ft?) 

Route: Via little Giant basin
Posted On: 6/8/2021, By: Sbenfield
Info: Hiked along with King Solomon Mtn. Basically summer conditions for both. Some may feel comfortable with micro spikes in 1 or 2 spots. There is a trail up to the saddle before the lake which is tough to spot. 

Route: From County Rd 4
Posted On: 7/12/2019, By: jeffmpls
Info: You'll need to cross Cunningham Creek, which as of today is still flowing strong. I didn't bring Tevas, so I went with my hiking shoes. I figured it was like tru-hiking where your shoes are constantly wet.

The trail is hardly noticeable from the road, but once your on it, it's quite good and easy to follow. It's 95% snow free until you reach the ridge, and then there are a few small fields to cross before reaching the summit.

The best place to cross the stream is near the small parking area north of the debris field.