Monumental Peak

Route: Alpine Tunnel Trailhead
Posted On: 7/2/2025, By: JasonKline
Info: The peaks are in summer conditions. There's no need to cross snow/ice. My Hyundai Ioniq made it to the Alpine Tunnel Trailhead via 295 from St. Elmo using cautious and slow driving, but I'd very much advise against taking a sedan to the trailhead in the current conditions. There were at least two (probably more) places where it was pretty much impossible to avoid scraping in a sedan. Other people along the route commented that 295 was in much worse condition than in previous years. The additional section of 295 from the Alpine Tunnel Trailhead to Hancock Lake was also in bad shape. One member of our party considered driving to Hancock Lake, but decided not to after initial inspection. Even if one had a vehicle capable of the present conditions, it might be faster to walk that section than to drive. 

Route: From Hancock Peak
Posted On: 6/28/2025, By: ncxhjhgvbi
Info: About .4 miles from the lake (just after a junction with a mining road on the left) there is a rough section I decided wasn’t worth it. I have a habit of popping sidewalls of new tires! From just before the lake I turned on the Tr 1422 connector and then found a place to head straight up the northeast slope of Hancock as others have described. Some cool old trails and mining ruins to follow on the steep slope, which reminded me a bit of Mt Helen. Nothing over tippy-talus Class 2 and summer conditions to Monumental and back! 

Route: From Hancock Lake
Posted On: 6/29/2024, By: SionaRW35
Info: Summer Conditions all the way from Monumental to Hancock 

Route: East & West Ridge
Posted On: 9/11/2023, By: Kiefer
Info: Dry conditions. Ridge is surprisingly stable for all the talus, I was quite pleased with that. Summit register is in decent shape. Some damn good views up there of the Sawatch. Ran the whole ridge from hwy. 50 to Hancock Peak. Definitely recommend for a long day. Monumental is nothing harder than good class-2. 

Route: NW ridge from Van Wit
Posted On: 10/6/2022, By: desertdog
Info: Gained the main ridge from the east ridge of Van Wit. Traversed from Monumental to Hancock then down the NE slope of Hancock. The ridge is class 2. No snow on the south aspects. Very little snow on the north aspects. Coming off Hancock I did use spikes at the top due to some snow and wet grass. The 4wd road to the lake is not bad. There are lots of places to pull off if you don't want to deal with the rough sections. 

Route: Hancock-Monumental Traverse
Posted On: 10/23/2021, By: -wren-
Info: Alpine Tunnel TH - Hancock Pass - Peaks - Chalk Creek Pass. Most of this traverse was slow-going because of the 4-12 inches of unconsolidated or barely consolidated snow on the loose talus that makes up the terrain between these peaks. It can often be avoided by staying to the west side of the ridge, and often you can avoid the snow with good footing. The roads and trails leading up to both passes have some gnarly ice on them that warrant microspikes more than the ridge - either way spikes and poles are a good idea right now. Road has some mud and snow but easily passable for a car with medium clearance and AWD. 

Route: South Ridge from CDT via Boss Lake
Posted On: 10/16/2019, By: supranihilest
Info: The route up Monumental from Boss Lake, by taking the CDT to the ridge and traversing over several 12ers, is incredibly long. The road from Monarch to the start of the Boss Lake trail is obvious, and the trail to Boss Lake itself is obvious, though steep. From there follow the CDT; at one point there's a marker that says the trail is closed. I don't know why as I headed off on a route that I got from Google Maps that doesn't seem to exist, so my advice: STAY ON THE CDT! It will eventually lead you to a saddle just north of 12er Bald Mountain, and from there the route goes north over several 12ers and finally to Monumental. Most of this off-trail portion is tundra though there's plenty of talus thrown in, especially Monumental's summit push. The entire route is dry.