Colorado 14ers that need a reservation, and how to get one.
Most fourteeners just need an alarm. A few sit behind a permit, a parking booking or a timed-entry gate.
Photo: Lorie Shaull · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Most 14ersNo reservation
Need a bookingBlue Sky, Quandary, Pikes, the Bells
SeasonLate May to October
14ers we can help with
Permits and basecamp campgrounds, with rules from the 2026 season. Each card opens a watch: pick your dates, and you get an email when something opens. Setting a watch is free.
Longs Peak
RMNP timed entry
Alpine start
Timed entry covers the Longs Peak area, but outside the Bear Lake corridor it only applies from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Most climbers are on the trail hours before that. The hard part is sleeping close: Longs Peak Campground is first-come, so Olive Ridge, a short drive south on Highway 7, is the reservable option.
Private cars are kept off Maroon Creek Road during the day all summer. Per the Forest Service, a site at Silver Bell or Silver Queen needs no separate Maroon Lake parking booking, and the Four Pass zone covers Crater Lake for an overnight approach.
No reservation to hike. The trailhead lot fills before dawn on summer weekends, so Guanella Pass Campground, a few minutes down the pass road, is the easy start.
No reservation to hike. Lakeview Campground is a few miles from the South Mount Elbert trailhead, and La Plata’s trailhead is about 9 miles west of White Star on Highway 82.
These book outside Recreation.gov. Here’s how each one worked last season; check the official site before you go.
Quandary Peak
Summit County
Mid-June to mid-September
Book 2 weeks out
In season you need a parking reservation or a shuttle ticket. Parking opens two weeks ahead and weekend days go fast. The shuttle from Breckenridge is cheaper and free for Summit County residents. Outside the season the lot is free and first-come.
Parking at the lake is only for arrivals before 8 a.m. or after 5 p.m.; in between, it’s the shuttle from Aspen Highlands. In 2025 a share of parking was held back and released 72 hours before each date, so a sold-out day isn’t final.
Driving past mile 7 needs a timed-entry reservation plus admission; the shuttle from mile 7 doesn’t. Reservations can be rescheduled but not refunded. Hiking up from Manitou needs no reservation.
The only 14er entirely on private land. The ranch sells a limited number of climbing slots, mostly on weekends.
Every other 14er
No reservation, just an early start. On summer weekends the popular trailheads (Grays and Torreys, Sherman, the Kite Lake peaks) fill before sunrise. Be on the trail early and off the summit before afternoon storms.
Each card lists campgrounds we already watch that sit close to a standard-route trailhead. They aren’t always the nearest campground: some closer ones are first-come and can’t be reserved at all. Season dates and prices change every year; the official sites linked above are the source.
Common questions
Which Colorado 14ers need a reservation?
Most need nothing but an early start. The exceptions: Longs Peak sits inside Rocky Mountain National Park's timed-entry system during daytime hours; driving Mount Blue Sky and the Pikes Peak Highway needs a timed-entry reservation; Quandary Peak needs a parking reservation or a shuttle ticket in summer; Maroon Peak, North Maroon and Pyramid need a parking or shuttle reservation to reach Maroon Lake; overnights at Capitol Lake and Snowmass Lake need a wilderness permit; Culebra Peak is on a private ranch that sells access; and most people reach the Chicago Basin peaks by train.
Do I need a timed-entry permit to climb Longs Peak?
Only if you enter during the hours the requirement applies. Rocky Mountain National Park's timed entry covers the Longs Peak area, but outside the Bear Lake corridor it applies from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Most Longs climbers start in the middle of the night, long before the window opens.
Can Campsite Ranger watch Quandary Peak parking?
Not today. Quandary parking is booked on Summit County's own site, not Recreation.gov, and we only watch systems we can check politely. The Breckenridge shuttle is the cheaper way up anyway, and outside the reservation season the lot is free and first-come.
