Hike Jacque Peak White River National Forest, CO

Aug 18, 2021 — Jaque Peak is a 13er set apart to the south from the others in the Gore Range, and its a lot less difficult than many of its northern neighbors. This hike basically just follows a dirt road up to Union Mountain, then heads along a nice ridgeline to gain Jacque Peak. Austin and I decided to make it a more pleasant hike by following the dirt road for its entirety on the way up, but you can cut off up to 4 miles round trip if you just ascend the ski slopes rather than the road. The slopes are overgrown, but certainly more direct. I included this other option as a purple line on my attached map, but the stats reflect doing the hike as an out-and-back using the road (orange line).

We parked at the free ot at the base of the Copper Mountain ski resort and started along the paved road until a dirt road veered off on the left. We took this up switchbacks for many miles before the views started getting good, but ti was a nice light grade and we enjoyed the morning hike. Along the way we passed all sorts of ski resort things: ski lifts, summer maintenance trucks, a rollercoaster.

Eventually we reached the top of the American Flyer Ski Lift, the point where our dirt road came to an end. We ascended via a steep mostly talus Class 2 slope just behind the lift, then followed the ridge up to Union Mountain. This is an unranked peak that I believe is used moreso as a reference point for skiiers rather than a hiking destination. A short descent off Union Mountain led southwest along a tundra-filled ridgeline to the base of Jacque Peak. We encountered some light Class 2 boulder-hopping, but otherwise it was just an easy walk with some light rolling hills. Class 2 met us at the base of Jacque Peak, and aside from one short section of steeper Class 2 to get over a small rock outcrop, the peak just requires a bunch of boulder-hopping.