Father Dyer Peak

East Ridge

Difficulty Easy Class 3

TrailheadSpruce/Crystal Creeks

Start11,000 feet

Summit13,642 feet

Total Gain2,700 ft

RT Length6 mi

AuthorBillMiddlebrook

Last UpdatedMay 2023

Trailhead

From the south end of Breckenridge, drive 2 miles south on Colorado 9. Turn right on Spruce Creek Road. Stay right up a hill before turning left at an intersection. Continue another mile to reach the obvious 2WD trailhead at 10,400'. To continue to the upper, 4WD Spruce Creek trailhead, pass through the gate and drive nearly 2 miles to reach the end of the road, near 11,100'. If you're headed to the Crystal Creek area, leave the lower trailhead, and after 0.2 mile turn right and follow a steep, narrow, 4WD road that goes all the way to Lower Crystal Lake, at 12,000'.

Route

No 4wd: If you don't have a 4wd vehicle, park at the main trailhead and start walking up the Spruce Creek road. After only 0.1 mile, turn right onto the Crystal Creek road and walk 1.3 miles to reach a junction with the Wheeler trail, near 11,400'.

4wd: If you have 4wd and want to park higher, drive approx. 1.1 miles up the Spruce Creek road to reach a junction with the "Aqueduct" road. Turn right and park at the gate near on the south end of the Aqueduct road (11,000') -

. Coordinates for this location are 39.42953 North, -106.06895 West. Pass the gate and walk 50 yards to find the Wheeler trail leading off the road to the left -

. Take the Wheeler trail north into the forest and continue for 0.7 mile to intersect the Crystal Creek road, near 11,400' -

. Note: If you can't find the Wheeler Trail entrance on the Aqueduct road, walk north up the Aqueduct road for 0.7 mile, turn left on the Crystal Creek road and continue to the trail/road junction at 11,400'.

Follow the Crystal Creek 4wd road west (

) for nearly 1 mile to reach Lower Crystal Creek Lake at 12,000' where you'll get an excellent view of the remaining route -

and

. Continue south on the road for another 0.25 mile, leave the road (

), and hike directly over to the base of the east ridge -

.

Hike 400' up the ridge (

) to reach a flat spot with an excellent view of the remaining route -

and

. While some easy Class 3 terrain is ahead, most of the remaining ridge is Class 2. Continue to a notch and ascend a steep section (

) to reach some light-colored rocks, near 13,000' -

. Continue along the ridge crest (

and

) to reach the top of the east ridge -

and

. Turn left and continue to the summit -

and

Notes

If you start at the lower trailhead and follow the "No 4wd" directions above, the round-trip distance is 7.0 miles.

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