LoJ: #415 (Pre-LiDAR #422) / 13,281' Seigal Mountain

Range › San Juan Range
Quadrangle › Handies Peak
Summit Location › Peak Route Icon N 37° 57' 25.88", W 107° 33' 49.02" (Not Field Checked)

Peak Summary

Seigal Mountain is an easy Class 1 ridge hike off the Engineer Pass Road. Whether coming from Lake City or Silverton, a 4WD with good clearance is required to reach the trailhead, however, there is an approach from the Lake City/Henson Creek side that may possibly be reached by 2WD with good clearance. We have sequenced Seigal Mountain with Engineer Mountain which lies to the NW along a connecting ridge. Lidar increased the elevation of this summit by 7 feet from 13,274 ft.

Seigal Mountain NW Ridge Route

Class 1
Peak Icon Peak Icon
Short Day // A Wee Little Climb
Climbed with Engineer Mountain
RT From Engineer - Seigal Mtns. TH: 4 mi / 1,315'
From Engineer Mountain: 1.25 mi / 685' (One-Way)
  • Trailhead
    • Engineer - Seigal Mtns. TH

      From the Town of Silverton, drive east on the main road through town to where the paved road splits one block past the courthouse and veer right onto the blue-signed County Road 2 (set odometer here) for 4.2 miles of nicely graded dirt road to Howardsville. (On Trails Illustrated map #141, this road is labeled #110. Pavement ends after 2 miles. This road is also known as "The Alpine Loop Road and BLM 4500.) From the Howardsville intersection, continue north another 4.3 miles to the old site of Eureka. The road will cross to the west side of the Animas River and continue up a steeper shelf section. The road begins to get a little more difficult and enters a more narrow section of the Animas River canyon. At about 10,740 ft., the valley begins to widen out again. In that location, another road heads off to the left for Picayne Gulch. It is possible to reach UN 13,075 and Hanson Peak by going up this way, but the lower section of this road is intensely steep, so only for lower gear ratio 4WD vehicles.

      Continue north, still on the main road, past the two possible turnoffs for Animas Forks and keep driving another two and a half miles north to where FR878 turns off to the left. This road descends from the tundra highlands back down to US550. Do not take, but continue north toward Engineer Pass. This is where the road begins to climb steeply and 4WD with good clearance becomes necessary. At the 4th switchback, park off the curve and out of the way. This is the trailhead.

      If coming from lake City on CR20 and Henson Creek, follow the directions for the American Flats TH. From that trailhead, drive the short distance to the top of Engineer Pass, round the west side of Engineer Mtn., then begin descending on CR2 toward Silverton. Park at the first switchback you come to for the same trailhead as above.


      Camping

      See either the camping information posted for Tuttle, Houghton, Hanson, and UN 13,075 for the Silverton side, or refer to the camping information for Sunshine Mtn. and UN 13,093 for the Lake City side.

    Approach Map Photos
    • From Engineer Mountain

      From our suggested trailhead, walk ENE up the 4WD track to a saddle on the ridge that connects Engineer and Seigal. For Engineer, turn left and head west along the ridge crest in general, following a 4WD track. The terrain is generally tundra, but if you walk the road, it will mostly be scree, chiprock, etc. The only difficulty to this hike is the final summit cone which is a short rock pile of rubble.

      Return as you came, back to the saddle and then continue following the ridge to Seigal Mountain if you have the time. To make both of these peaks more sporting and interesting, we would suggest hiking them from the Henson Creek West trailhead, accessed from the Lake City side. Possible Class 2 routes can be found up Palmetto Gulch, Redcloud Gulch or Hurricane Basin. A hike up Hurricane Basin could also be used to access the high point of Gravel Mtn., UN 13,708, Animas Forks Mtn. and Wood Mountain, besides Engineer and Seigal.

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    Peak Icon Route Map Photos

    Route Info Seigal Mountain NW Ridge

    Route Description

    Year Climbed: 1996

    Seigal Mountain is sequenced with Engineer Mountain. The routes to each share a common saddle. One-way mileage and elevation gain are measured from that saddle. Round-trip mileage and elevation assume completion of the sequence.

    From the trailhead parking on the switchback at 12,590 feet, hike NE up the old 4WD track to the saddle on the ridge between Engineer and Seigal. Or, if you have completed Engineer first, hike from its summit back to this saddle. From the saddle, the Seigal summit is about a mile away. Continue hiking in a general SE direction following the crest of the ridge. The ridge hike is a gentle, grassy & lush tundra ridge hike with only intermittent rock to deal with. The summit offers a nice view looking down into Hurricane Basin, which could serve as another, more sporting approach to this summit. If you have not completed UN 13,688, the high point on Gravel Mountain, you may want to scout out the ridge traverse to that summit from between Wood Mountain and soft-ranked, 13,708. For the return, go back as you came and enjoy the ridge hiking for a while longer.


    Additional BETA

    Links to other information, routes & trip reports for this peak that may be helpful.
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