Hiking Up Twin Sisters Peaks

by David
(Pittsburgh, PA)

Last May, I hiked up Twin Sisters Peaks in Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a bit early in the season for this hike, as there were some large snowdrifts near the treeline that were a bit difficult to navigate, but otherwise the hike was only moderately difficult, and the view from the top was spectacular! The entire Estes Park valley is visible from the top. It seems that this is a pretty popular hike, as I met about 5 other people on it. There was a bit of a party atmosphere among them, particularly on the way down.

Once you get to the top, there's an option to hike up a bit further to reach the second peak, but a snowstorm was blowing in when I got to the top so I didn't stay up there too long. This is a great hike for anyone who wants to hike up a mountain, but doesn't have the time or equipment to do one of the more serious peaks such as Longs Peak.

It's a bit harder than the Deer Mountain hike, though. You can also hike up to Estes Cone from a nearby trailhead if you feel like doing two mountains in the same day. Total elevation gain is about 2400 feet, and it took me two hours to go up and an hour and a half to go down. Be sure to look for the unexpected grove of aspen trees up near the treeline.

Estes Park itself is a great place to spend some time, too!