Going out the door? Discover this material with the just-released Outdoors+ app, available to subscribers on iOS devices today! Download the application. One of the most sought-after climbing objectives in Colorado is to summit fourteen thousand-foot peaks, or “fourteeners,” as hikers call them. Every year, hundreds of people go into the wilderness to summit the 58 peaks dotting the state. These people come from all over the globe. But according to a study by the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative, tourism to the fourteeners is actually declining for the first time in a long time.
Visitation has started to say no for the first time in years since 2020, when the state’s most popular fourteeners saw a sharp increase in visitors. There was a 27% decrease in the state’s fourteeners from 2021 to 2022 alone. Although it would have been easy to attribute that reduction to the peculiarities of the first pandemic—mountaineering, as one of the few remaining means of recreation, exploded throughout the country—the numbers fell by a further 8% in 2022, and the reasons for the shift are complex.
Quandary Peak
Customer administration seems to be the main cause of the usage drop. Quandary Peak, one of the most approachable and novice-friendly fourteeners in the entry range, has long been at the center of the debate around hiker management on Colorado fourteeners. Located in Summit County, the mountain receives year-round tourists who often overcrowd the parking lot and overflow into the surrounding area, creating strain on the area. Officers implemented severe visiting limitations and parking fees in 2021 in an effort to combat the issue. Those who chose to park on the peak’s trailhead during the week had to pay a $25 fee. Weekend rates increased the fee to $50, although the height is still reachable by shuttle for $15 for visitors and $5 for residents.
Backpacker was told by Colorado Fourteener Initiative event and communications coordinator Brian Sargeant that these limitations were necessary due to congestion.
Especially on weekends
Sargeant said, “That parking zone, especially on weekends, would refill tremendously early in the morning, after which cars would start parking all along the county street.” ” They have been parking on the shoulder of Interstate 9 and in front of people’s houses, which has caused damage. Additionally, there would be unlawful car parking on both sides of the street, giving local sheriffs and rescue vehicles points.
In 2020, the peak recorded 49,000 visitors in a single year. Though partly due to the new regulations, CFI projects that Quandary will receive only 22,000 visitors in 2022, cutting its high level in half and forcing it to give up its long-standing title as the state’s hottest fourteener to Mt. Bierstadt. In 2023, Quandary Peak will be the first public fourteener in the state to charge for parking and provide a visitor shuttle service. (Culebra Peak, in southern Colorado, is privately owned; hikers must pay an admission fee of $150 per person.)
Grays and Torreys
Similarly, Grays and Torreys had the biggest drop in hiker traffic in 2022, with a 14% decrease in use since 2021, when police began enforcing a new regulation that forbade hikers from parking next to the nearby Stevens Gulch Highway. This basically meant that hikers could not reach the height unless they wanted to extend around 7 kilometers to their route due to the overcrowding of parking spaces at the trailhead.
Not all of the fourteeners where land managers have enforced strict policies about dangerous parking are Grays and Torreys. Another reachable summit, Mount Bierstadt, saw a similar level of use, prompting authorities to impose limitations next to nearby Guanella Go.
“Six years ago, you would have seen cars parked on the freeway shoulder or campers right off the road in areas that weren’t designated for that purpose,” Sargeant said. Thus, the county started enforcing no more street parking and no more tenting. There are really two designated spots where parking is available.
Quandary, Greys and Torreys, and Mount Bierstadt
The fact that Quandary, Greys and Torreys, and Mount Bierstadt are often referred to as “simple” fourteeners is one of the several factors causing this congestion. They often draw much fewer experienced hikers, which might explain why SAR personnel perform a greater range of rescues on these summits. Furthermore, despite a decline in the use of these mountains over the last several years, SAR personnel report a steady number of rescue operations.
Colorado fourteeners are frequent for a variety of very distinct reasons. Mountaineering is popular in Colorado and the states that surround it. According to a 2023 survey by the Outdoor Business Association, the Mountain West has an above-average rate of outdoor involvement, with 57.3% of respondents saying they engage in outdoor recreation. The wilderness regions nearest to towns seem to be affected the most by Denver’s and its metro area’s continued development.
Several reasons for the spike in exercise
One of the several reasons for the spike in exercise over the preceding ten years is undoubtedly accessibility. The director of online placement at Outdoors, James Dziezynski, author of Finest Summit Hikes in Colorado, Finest Summit Hikes Denver to Vail, and many other peak-focused guidebooks, states that these Entrance Vary fourteeners are “now more accessible than ever.” This may also be the reason why the boom and bust of the last several years has only affected a handful of the state’s more accessible high peaks.
“Maybe because more casual hikers only want to decide on a certain problem stage, but the toughest 14ers—the 8-to-10 [mountain] group that’s thought to be probably the most difficult—appear to remain fairly regular in visitors,” the expert said. He claims that hikers’ awareness of these “simpler” fourteeners hasn’t necessarily translated into readiness, however.
Less experienced hikers and climbers
“Less experienced hikers and climbers now have some very distinguished voices, thanks to the rise of influencers and the benefits of social media video promotion,” claims Dziezynski. This usually gives rise to the illusion that these mountains are safe. Even the more accessible mountains need a level of reverence that isn’t often given to them. I see this in the attire choices made by novice hikers, their ignorance of temperature cycles, and their feeding of animals.
Although land managers have not implemented parking limitations on any new fourteeners in 2023, this does not mean that entrance sites for hikers are no longer available. Landowner John Reiber closed the Decalibron Loop in March, providing hikers with access to the summits of Mounts Lincoln and Democrat. This decision was made in response to the failure of a state bill that would have limited landowners’ legal liability for accidents that hikers and other recreationalists sustained while on their property. CFI, which supported the bill, said at the time that it would look for workable alternatives to restore access; none have shown up as of yet.