Estes Cone Trail Run Guide | Rocky Mountain National Park
5 Video Views·Nov 18, 2025
The Estes Cone via the Lily Lake Trailhead is the lesser-known but far superior route to summit this iconic peak. This 6.5-mile round trip hike climbs about 1,600 feet and tops out at 11,006 feet, offering wide-open views of Longs Peak and the Continental Divide. The final push includes easy, beginner-friendly bouldering to the summit. This trail is often quieter than the popular Longs Peak trail, giving you a peaceful experience in the heart of Rocky Mountain National Park.
Kevin here with the Mountain Boys YouTube channel. Today I'm your trail running guide
to the Estes Cone here in Rocky Mountain National Park. Let's get to work. Estes Cone has
two heavily trafficked routes. The first is from the Longs Peak trailhead and the second is the
route we're doing today from Lily Lake. I prefer the Lily Lake route. It's about a mile longer
and six to seven hundred feet more climbing and you just will see almost no humans on this route
even in peak summer. It's like last night's windstorm claimed another victim. Point it away
from the slash pile. Point it downhill. Hopefully away she goes. Oh onward and upward.
Always just throw your slash downhill. Three miles. We stop the tree climbing and we start
the real ascent to the cone which is a right turn at the Lily Lake sign. This here says
0.7 miles. I think it's a little less than that. It's time to start climbing. All right let's get
to work. The final 1k push to the cone I think is one of the best places to begin your career as a
scrambler. There's really no dangerous spots and it's just technical enough and steep enough
to use your hands sometimes your knees to climb. The closer we get to the summit the harder it is
to follow anything you'd call trail. It's where the cairns are your best bet here.
Follow my advice to the left.
We've reached the rock slab of the cone. We're going to follow right up here to the right
through this cut so we don't have to be roped up and we can keep our bouldering as safe as possible.
Welcome to the summit of the Estes Cone. 11,000 feet. One of my favorite views of Longs.
Just you get right up here on top look in all directions. So beautiful and
we've been out here for about an hour and a half and I haven't seen another human.
It is worth knowing that this is a spot I won't summit if it's super windy. It's probably 20 mile
an hour gusts today which I'm pretty comfortable with but if it's much more than that I don't
bother with the summit. I stop down at the rock wall. All right soak in that view.
Time to send it back to the trailhead.
When you get to this intersection don't forget it's on the left back to the trailhead.
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