San Isabel National Forest
Mt. Belford

Mt. Belford is one of Colorado's famous 14ers, and most folks climb it and Mt. Oxford together. Being fourteeners in the Sawatch Range (Collegiate Peaks Wilderness), this is a busy area year round, but most especially on weekends and holidays.

Elevations:

• Trail beginning: 9,640'
• High Point: 14,197'
• Trail ending: 14,197'

Access: The Missouri Gulch Trailhead is the closest to Mt. Belford. To get there, go 14.9 miles north of the stop light in Buena Vista or go 19.3 miles south of the West Sixth and US 24 intersection in Leadville. Once there, turn off US 24 and go west on Chaffee County 390 for 7.7 miles to Vicksburg. The trailhead is on the south side of the road in downtown metropolitan Vicksburg (just joking - Vicksburg is what's left of a turn-of-the-century mining camp).

Notes: From the trailhead you'll immediately cross a footbridge over Clear Creek and then begin a series of steep switchbacks leading up into Missouri Gulch. Just past the top of the last switchback you'll come to a multi-log bridge across the creek and then head up the valley above treeline. As you clear the trees, you'll be able to see the Colorado Fourteener Initiative trail ahead of you going up Belford's northwest shoulder. Keep on with the Missouri Gulch Trail to about 11,660' but just before the trail crosses the creek again to the west side, the trail up Belford will head off to the southeast. Several switchbacks later you'll be well up on Belford's shoulder at 14,000'. From there it's southeast up a gentle ridge to the summit.

USGS Maps: Winfield, Mt. Harvard