Bull Hill

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 5/16/2026, By: mjlucarelli
Info: Summer Conditions. Leave the snowshoes and spikes at home. All snow on the route is avoidable. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 5/2/2026, By: Maddyleane
Info: Below treeline, there was a dusting of snow that was melted by the time we were descending. Above treeline there were a few patches that should be gone in a few days. Almost summer conditions, beautiful blue bird day. 

Route: east face
Posted On: 4/15/2026, By: SchralpTheGnar
Info: Bull hill via black cloud gulch, we got lost on the approach and had to traverse across some nasty scree to get back in the basin. Arduous trail breaking on the upper 1000 feet. Skied continuous snow from summit to about 11,500 feet staying to the north side of the gully, then bushwhacking back to the trail. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 3/21/2026, By: happyallyy
Info: Great conditions for a successful summit today. Including a few photos below. Snow above treeline is completely avoidable - there is spotty snow below treeline. Conditions reminded me of what you’d typically experience in mid June. Didn’t use spikes, poles were helpful for the postholing on the way down. 

Route: SE Bowl
Posted On: 3/14/2026, By: arthurspiderman
Info: Skied Bull Hill with John today! Really exceeded expectations and was able to ski all the way from the summit to 10,700’ without taking skis off once! The snow up top was generally firm but consistent enough to edge well. Closer to treeline, we found great corn! And in the forest, there were nice pockets of powder.

There was some serious woomphing near and above treeline. Play it safe even with the low risk CAIC claims.

Overall, it was a pretty easy ascent and the ski down was great even in this low snow year! I highly recommend getting a ski decent of this while the snow is still intact. The storm tonight should refresh it but it won’t last too many days with the heat next week. Next weekend still maybe be good. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 2/14/2026, By: Outbounder
Info: A lot of powder fell Friday night. There seemed to be at least a foot in places. We trenched a path to the summit, but snowshoes would still be helpful. The beginning has some icy spots. We did spot one small avalanche (not on the route). 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 2/6/2026, By: adamorsubtractem
Info: Excellent time to hike Bull Hill before the weather rolls in.

There are some brief, ~20’ sections of ice in the first mile of the hike, some avoidable, others not.

Snow deeper than ankle deep was pretty rare, and mostly avoidable. There were some brief knee-deep sections. section from 11.8k-12.2k (near the first cabin) was probably the worst. I chose to go direct instead of following the snow-logged trail.

The ridge was almost entirely dry, what snow was there was easily avoidable. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 11/5/2025, By: LizWeiss
Info: No snow on the trail/road to tree line and very little snow above tree line which was all avoidable. Nearly summer conditions minus the wind! 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 7/4/2025, By: brian4328937
Info: Two very eroded spots on the Echo Canyon trail. Someone has attached some rope to grab to make those 20 foot sections easier. A few downed trees to duck under as well. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 5/24/2025, By: sarahmariekirk
Info: 99% snow free with only a few snow drifts remaining up high, but they are easily circumnavigated. No snowshoes or spikes. Could have worn trail runners today! Some sections of washed out trail down low that someone has added a few ropes to help across; looks like erosion. Nothing really of consequence, just be careful. 

Route: Echo Canyon
Posted On: 8/4/2024, By: NittanyLion14er
Info: Summer conditions (duh). Just posting to alert potential hikers that the flies on the summit are relentless. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 6/15/2024, By: Danger_D
Info: Basically summer conditions with only a single easy snow drift around treeline and a few muddy spots. The creek is raging though at the crossing .25 miles from the trailhead. You can probably wade it, but there is a big log across the stream about 40-50 yards downstream.

The ridge to Elbert is 90% melted out. I planned on hiking some easy snow but broke through the crust and sank to well above my waist. Keep to the rocks!

No issues caused by the twin lakes fire 

Route: East slopes
Posted On: 4/21/2024, By: kyrawhitworth
Info: Started at blackcloud at 6:15am and the snow line was at 10,500ft so we booted up to there where we put skins on. Snow was firm down low but softened quickly by the time we entered the basin. Great slopes for skinning as the grade up high is just right to be steep but not lose any traction. Snow was still supportive up high around 11:15am when we summitted. Waved to a group of two we saw on Elbert. Dropped in for some thankfully awesome soft skiing making for a quick descent. What a great day! 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 1/31/2024, By: Will_E
Info: Nice day up on Bull Hill, there was a ski track the first 1/3 of a mile from Hwy. 82 (I parked about a qtr mile west of the trail start), from there I snowshoed to the start of the ridge crest, through treeline I was in and out of snowshoes a few times, snow was great in the morning, not bad in the afternoon. Made good time on Bull, so went across the ridge to Elbert so I could earn some more beer tonight. The ridge from Bull to Elbert has some fun sections, enjoyed that. 

Route: 
Posted On: 10/8/2023, By: donovanrice
Info: Snow free traverse. Some snow at summit. If you parked at Halfmoon Creek TH, looks like you could theoretically descend from the final saddle before Bull Hill (from Casco).