Mount Sanitas

Nick, Alexa, Nate, and Mark on the summit of Mount Sanitas

 Overview

Mount Sanitas is a great area to go hiking, and running that appears to be within the city limits of Boulder. There are many trails that compromise the Mount Sanitas park area, with the main entrance being on the south side. I will caution you that this is a heavily trafficked area, where parking may be difficult to find and the amount of people on the trail may seem like a conga line at times. I hope you enjoy this trip report and find it helpful in planning your next adventure in the hills.

Directions/Trailhead Information

Mount Sanitas Trailhead is located at—latitude 40.020177°, longitude -105.297693°. This is a City of Boulder Open Space & Mountain Park, where more information such as additional trails and park regulations can be found at—Mount Sanitas Trailhead. There are many directions to come from to arrivBroadway and Mapleton Avenue intersection in Boulder. Head west on Mapleton Avenue for about 3.1 miles arriving at the trailhead on the south side of the road. There is a small parking lot with that will accommodate a little over a dozen vehicles. This area has high traffic and we were unable to park in the main parking lot, so we found road parking to the west. Keep this in mind if you follow my GPX track, as it does not start from the main trailhead, but from where we parked.

e at this trailhead, so it may be best to use a GPS application on your phone and inserting “Mt Sanitas Trailhead” as your destination. For general directions, make your way to the

The Climb

Today’s objective was to ascend Mount Sanitas with my father Mark, my brother Nate, and my daughter Alexa. This would be a particular hard objective with Alexa on my back, adding almost 30 pounds. We took off from our car parked on the street a few blocks from the main trailhead. We connected to the Mount Sanitas Trail which doesn’t mess around, the rock stairs were going to give me a workout I’m quite certain I was not ready for. My rough estimation has this trail gaining 1,000+ feet in about a mile to reach the summit.

Nick and Alexa on the summit of Mount Sanitas

From the summit there is a nice view of the Boulder and beyond. It took us about an hour to reach the summit. For the hike down, we chose to complete the loop down the East Ridge Trail and onto the Sanitas Valley Trail back to the car. This is a steep hike down into the valley, but not as bad as the ascent on the Mount Sanitas Trail. The East Ridge Trail was not as evident in certain places as other side routes have morphed the landscape, so be sure that you stay on the actual trail. Once you make it down to the Sanitas Valley Trail it’s a simple hike out an old access road.

Parting Notes

This is a great place to hike and get a heart beater of a workout in. Parking is a serious issue, and that alone will probably keep me from coming back here again, but you never know I may bring the family at some point. It was a trudge at times getting up the rock steps, but it felt like an accomplishment to reach the summit with Alexa. The trail is heavily used and is in good enough shape to use trail runners, though there are a lot of rocks and roots to step on and over, so depending on preference boots may be nice to have. Until next time, cheers!

GPS Track

Date: October 26, 2018

Trailhead Elevation: 5,500 feet

Mount Sanitas: 6,821 feet

Total Elevation Gain: 1,260 feet

Class: 1

Distance: 3.6 miles

Moving Time: 1 hr 57 min

Stopped Time: 0 hr 20 min

Climbing Partner: Alexa, Nate, Mark

GAIA GPS Link: Mount Sanitas (2018-10-26)

City of Boulder Trail Map Link: Mount Sanitas