Sunshine Peak
Sunshine Peak rises to 4,269 m in Colorado. Uncompahgre Peak stands 4,365 m to the north, 10 miles off. The nearest named place is Redcloud Peak, a peak 1.3 miles away. Alpine Loop passes 1.2 miles off.
The story
Sunshine Peak is a fourteen thousand foot mountain peak in the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the San Juan Mountains in Hinsdale County approximately 9 miles (14 km) south west of Lake City, and about 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Redcloud Peak. It rises on the north side of the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River. Sunshine Peak has the distinction of being the lowest of Colorado's 53 fourteeners. It is also not particularly independent from its higher neighbor Redcloud Peak, with a topographic prominence of 481 feet (147 m) (the minimum standard for an independent fourteener is 300 feet (91 m)). However it has more and steeper local relief than many of the other fourteeners. For example, it rises 4,450 feet (1,356 m) above the townsite of Sherman to the south in only 1.2 miles (1.9 km).
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q7641544, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Elevation
- 4269 m
How to reach it
- 1.2 mi off the Alpine Loop
- 8.5 mi off the Silver Thread Colorado Scenic and Historic Byway, National
- 13.0 mi off the San Juan Skyway, National
Overlooks nearby
- Sunnyside Mill Ruins Viewpoint · 8 mi
- Oh Point (Odom Point) · 10 mi
- Windy Point Observation Site · 11 mi
- Arrastra Gulch · 13 mi
Named places within 25 miles
- Redcloud Peak: 1.3 mi
- Mark Mountain: 2.2 mi
- Whitecross Mountain: 3.7 mi
- Handies Peak: 4.4 mi
- Half Peak: 4.6 mi
- Golconda Compressor / Blacksmith House: 7.1 mi
- Golconda Boarding House: 7.1 mi
- Animas Forks: 7.9 mi
- Duncan House: 8.0 mi
- Frisco Mill: 8.5 mi
- Beer Garden: 8.7 mi
- Dynamite Shack: 8.8 mi
- Pumphouse Park: 9.1 mi
- Mother Cline Slide: 13.0 mi
- Deep South: 14.5 mi
- Treasure Falls: 7.5 mi
- Argenta Falls: 8.5 mi
- Crooke Falls: 8.8 mi
- Bear Creek Falls: 13.9 mi
- Cascade Falls: 14.9 mi
- Sherman: 1.4 mi
- Argentum: 2.8 mi
- Tellurium: 4.0 mi
- Whitecross: 4.0 mi
- Capitol City: 6.2 mi
- Memorial Park: 9.3 mi
- Memorial Park Terrace: 9.3 mi
- Town Park: 9.4 mi
- Hinsdale County Veteran Memorial Park: 9.5 mi
- Ironton Park: 13.5 mi
- Capitol City: 6.3 mi
- Henson: 7.3 mi
- Animas Forks: 7.7 mi
- Eureka: 8.2 mi
- Ironton: 13.9 mi
- Russ Brown Gallery: 9.4 mi
- historic mine cart: 15.1 mi
- historic hanging mine car: 15.1 mi
- historic mine cart: 15.1 mi
- historic mineshaft winch: 15.1 mi
- Lake City Museum: 9.3 mi
- Telluride Historical Museum: 21.0 mi
- Ridgway Railroad Museum: 23.9 mi
- Cebolla Day Use Area: 19.7 mi
- Orvis Hot Spring: 22.3 mi
- Tenmile Springs: 24.7 mi
Other summits around it
The highest named summits within 12.0 miles of Sunshine Peak. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uncompahgre Peak | N 349° | 4,365 m | 10.5 mi |
| Handies Peak | W 261° | 4,284.8 m | 4.4 mi |
| Redcloud Peak | N 9° | 4,280 m | 1.3 mi |
| Wetterhorn Peak | NNW 334° | 4,274 m | 10.6 mi |
| Mark Mountain | NE 41° | 4,217.8 m | 2.2 mi |
| Jones Mountain | WSW 252° | 4,215 m | 5.8 mi |
| Half Peak | SSW 209° | 4,209 m | 4.6 mi |
| Niagara Peak | WSW 249° | 4,202 m | 6.3 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:14 | 18:47 | 19:22 |
| June solstice | 05:48 | 19:57 | 20:36 |
| September equinox | 06:58 | 18:34 | 19:08 |
| December solstice | 07:23 | 16:13 | 16:54 |
Local time (America/Denver).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: Jun–Sep.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 17 | 23 | 32 | 39 | 49 | 57 | 62 | 60 | 53 | 44 | 31 | 19 |
| Precip in | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 2.4 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 1.0 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Lake City, 9 mi away.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikidata- USGS Geographic Names Information System feature 204748 — Sunshine Peak, Hinsdale County, Colorado.
OpenStreetMap element node/358945047
Day trips start here
- Southwestern Colorado · 20 mi
Take the scenic way to Sunshine Peak.
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