Recommended Route

Matterhorn Creek Route – use of this route will help to reduce impacts to this Fourteener’s fragile alpine environments. For detailed route information including pictures, maps, and elevation profiles, click here.

Route Information and Additional Resources

This trailhead is approximately eleven miles west of Lake City, CO. The trail follows Matterhorn Creek, and if you have a four-wheel drive vehicle, you may be able to drive to a parking area near the Uncompahgre Wilderness Boundary. This route gains Wetterhorn’s southeast ridge and goes around the prominent ‘sharks tooth’. Stay on the trail from trailhead to summit and return.
The above information does not replace the need to consult additional maps and Colorado Fourteener Guidebooks for more detailed route descriptions. We suggest checking multiple resources before departing on any hike. Keep in mind that not all guidebooks list this recommended route and that each guidebook’s description or route name may vary slightly.

Peak Specific Environmental and Safety Concerns

Observe wildlife quietly and from a distance. You may encounter domestic sheep grazing. No butterfly collecting is allowed.

Concentrate travel along existing routes. Do not cut switchbacks.

Please travel in small groups. Group size should not exceed over 25 (including pack animals).