Mount Garfield

Book Cliffs BLM, CO Grand Mesa + The Flat Tops

Trip stats

Distance
3.9 mi
Net Gain
1,900 ft
Time
2-4 hrs
YDS Rating
Class 2
Route
Out/Back
Peaks
1

Ratings out of 10

Effort
2.3/10
Personality
5/10
Beauty
5/10
Solitude
0.8/10
What do these mean? →

Peaks on this hike

Summits listed in route order

  1. Mount Garfield
    6,765′ elevation · 445′ prominence

Route map + Trailhead

Trailhead Coordinates

39.118540, -108.388500

The directions link below drops a pin on the trailhead coordinates and lets Google Maps pick the route. If the drive has rough roads or access issues that GPS nav might get wrong, I cover that in my trip report.

Get directions (opens Google Maps in a new tab)

Trip report

Sep 3, 2017 — Mount Garfield is the name of the promontory outside of Palisade, Colorado that is visible from Interstate 70. A trail leads to the high point, which overlooks the area. The trailhead is very popular. I started along the hard-packed trail leading up one of the fingers of the eroding mesa. The trail was relatively steep and had some light boulder-hopping obstacles. After the initial ascent the trail traversed along a sandy bench, heading west. The elevation gain became less of a push since the route more slowly ascended to the rim above. The trail side-hilled along the steep and eroded face and then upp to the rim. Once on the rim, the trail led calmly to the summit of Mount Garfield. There are really nice views of the cliffs that extend north from the summit.

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Photos

20 photos

  1. Starting from the trailhead. You can see Mount Garfield's summit rim up there.
  2. Ascending a finger of the eroded mesa.
  3. View back toward the trailhead.
  4. Ascending the steeper section of the hike.
  5. View back again toward Palisade, CO.
  6. The trail stays steep for a bit.
  7. And then it reaches a bench where the trail mellows out a bit.
  8. More ascending to another flat bench.
  9. View back before the second flat bench.
  11. Second flat bench. The final ascent to the summit leads below those cliffs in the center and up to the summit (left).
  12. View back along the flat bench.
  13. The trail side-hills below the cliffs.
  14. View back at what I thought was the most interesting part of the hike.
  15. Past the side-hilling, a final ascent to the rim.
  16. Approaching Mount Garfield.
  17. View back just below the summit as I hike along the rim.
  18. Mount Garfield ahead.
  19. View north toward the cool cliffs.
  20. Mount Garfield.

Photo 1 of 1

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Hire or refer me as a web developer, or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I'm not sponsored, so it's funded by yours truly. It also takes a ton of work to edit photos and write these reports. I really appreciate it!

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