Bulwark Ridge Trail to Signal Mountain - 11.85 Miles Round-Trip

Signal Mountain is located in the Comanche Peak Wilderness Area, just outside the northeastern-most corner of Rocky Mountain National Park.

Trail Map | Photo Gallery

It stands over the Pennock Creek drainage with panoramas that include Mt Meeker (13,911'), Longs Peak (14,259'), South Signal Mountain (11,248') and various summits in the Stormy Peaks Range, Mummy Range, Never Summer Range and Comanche Peak Wilderness.

This challenging trail sees light traffic and is often passable by mid June. Visitors will enjoy varied terrain and lengthy stretches of open tundra en route to the summit.

Note: Though the Bulwark Trail and Signal Mountain are located in the Comanche Peak Wilderness, it's grouped here within Rocky Mountain National Park because it begins at the Dunraven Trailhead, which also accesses many destinations in the NE section of the Park:

The Bulwark Ridge Trail begins at the north end of the Dunraven Trailhead. Follow the service road .35 miles to Trails End Ranch and signs pointing right to continue the trail. Here it begins a steep, twisting climb up a fire-scarred hillside with good views of the valley below.

Fire-induced erosion has gullied out this challenging segment, leaving it susceptible to washouts and mud. The trail levels through a small meadow (.8 miles : 8,465') and enters an unaffected tract of pine, aspen and glades with good viewing lanes for wildlife.

The trail moves quickly to the Miller Fork - Indian Trail junction and veers left into a thicker forest (1.3 miles : 8,717'). It rises gradually up Bulwark Ridge through uniform columns of lodgepole, becoming rocky and appreciably steeper as you progress (2.0 miles : 9,020').

Spruce and fir mark the transition from montane to subalpine ecosystems on this rapid climb (2.5 miles : 9,424'), an attractive composite of verdant ground cover, rocky outcrops and small clearings from blown-down trees.

The trail climbs steeply with brief, flat intervals on the upper ridge between 3.5 and 4.5 miles. It crests in a thinning and shrinking forest atop Bulwark Ridge with navigationally useful views of the Signal Mountains (4.5 miles : 10,839').

It glides gently downhill and bends north up the east flank of South Signal Mountain, the path now intermittently faint and obscured by lingering snow. Large cairns provide guidance, but vigilance and a good topo map are still essential through treeline.

Note pockets of limber pine here, a species well-adapted to high elevations and extreme conditions. The trail edges up the east flank of South Signal Mountain and breaks treeline along a wide saddle between South Signal Mountain and Signal Mountain (5.5 miles : 10,990').

Views are big, and the path is now intuitively followed through open tundra to either summit.

The trail keeps north and climbs the saddle to Signal Mountain's east ridge. The main trail continues north and drops, but to reach the summit you'll break left (west) on this ridge for .1 miles to a rock wind shelter that officially marks Signal Mountain (5.92 miles : 11,262').

The summit area is long, flat and easily explored. Look down Signal Mountain's open north and west slopes for elk, moose, bighorn sheep and mountain goat. Consider summiting South Signal Mountain on the return, a relatively short, easily navigated excursion off the main trail. The Bulwark Ridge Trail continues north from Signal Mountain 5.8 miles to its terminus on Pingree Park Road.