Sunlight Peak South Face

Drive to Durango and follow signs to the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. It's near McDonald's and has a large parking area nearby. Buy a ticket for the train that stops at Needleton and ride the train 2.5 hours (~30 miles) to the Needleton stop. From here, it's a 6 mile hike to reach Chicago Basin.

First, use the Chicago Basin Approach to reach Chicago Basin where dispersed camp sites can be found between 10,800' and 11,100'. From your high camp, follow the well-established trail northeast toward the end of the basin  1. Near 11,200', turn left toward Twin Lakes at a signed junction  2. This trail provides access to Windom, Sunlight, and Eolus. Ascend through remaining forest  3 until the trail becomes less defined as you navigate over and around some rocky slabs  4. Near 11,400', exit the trees to see two streams on the slope beneath Twin Lakes  5. At 11,700', cross the first stream, veer right, and follow switchbacks up steeper terrain  6. Continue to the second stream crossing, near 12,300'  7. Haul a bit higher to reach Twin Lakes at 12,500'  8.

Stay right and follow the trail east around the first lake  9. Shortly after, veer right again and ascend via switchbacks up a slope  10. After the trail swings back toward the middle of the basin and levels off, continue to a prominent cairn above 13,000'  11. Continue a bit further east to another cairn  12. At this point, cairns diverge left toward Sunlight Peak. Follow the cairns as you head east for a short distance, then turn left to cross the basin and pick up a trail ascending toward the gully between Sunlight and "Sunlight Spire"  13. Upon reaching the gully , climb toward the saddle at its top  14. Near the saddle, turn left and climb into a notch  15.

The remaining route involves Class 3 climbing and some route finding  16. From the notch, climb upward and traverse beneath cliffs  17  18, continuing up  19 until you reach a point where you may find a hole in the ridge  20. It is possible to pass through this hole to approach the summit, but doing so will require more challenging ledge climbing on the ridge's east side. Instead, stay to the left, descending slightly to reach another section of steep rock  21. Look for cairns or identify the easiest path upward and climb this section. After completing this short climb, ascend to the left to find a small chimney with a hole at its top  22  23. Climb through the hole, turn left, and continue to the summit block  24  25. The final summit pitch is highly exposed, but the rock provides good grip when dry. Choose your line and gain the summit  26  27,  28.

If you plan to climb Windom Peak after Sunlight Peak, DO NOT climb directly toward Windom's north face or summit; traverse to the west ridge saddle first. Some mobile apps show a "connector" track that goes straight up Windom’s north face, but this route is steep, loose, dangerous, and highly discouraged. Instead, when you descend to 13,500' in Sunlight's standard gully, look for cairns leading left out of the loose terrain  29. Descend south to 13,300' before traversing across  30 the basin and heading southwest to intersect the Windom route  31. From there, climb south for roughly 150 feet to reach the 13,450-foot saddle between Windom and Peak 18. Then follow the upper portions of the Windom Peak West Ridge route description. Combining Sunlight and Windom via this basin crossover totals nearly 7 miles of round-trip distance and 4,000 feet of elevation gain from a camp in Chicago Basin.

IMPORTANT: This route enters the Weminuche Wilderness area. Designated wilderness areas have special regulations and restrictions for party size, dispersed camping, campfires, etc. Also, dog owners should read the wilderness information carefully because some wilderness areas prohibit dogs to be off-leash and/or limit how close dogs can be to lakes and streams. If you have questions about the wilderness area, please contact a U.S. Forest Service office for the National Forest(s) listed above.