Sentinel Point is an appropriately-named 12,527-foot rockpile standing watch over the broad shoulder of the Pikes Peak massif. Rarely visited, especially in winter, you are almost guaranteed solitude on this high mountain snowshoeing adventure.

Beginning at the Horsethief Park trailhead off CO Route 67, the trail follows Forest Service Trail 704 on a steady climb into Horsethief Park. The trail turns north (left) at the park and skirts level ground through a scenic meadow of frozen beaver ponds, as Sentinel Point looms high above to the east.

At the edge of the meadow the real climbing begins on a well-defined cairned trail through a forested hillside, up to a boulderfield at around 11,500 feet. At the boulderfield, all signs of previous footsteps disappeared and we broke our own trail across snowy boulders and up a steep hillside to treeline - gaining nearly 800 feet in just over a half mile.

After reaching treeline, the route is fairly obvious across windswept tundra and crusted snow to the summit block. The final push is a scramble up large boulders to a rocky summit with gorgeous views of the south face of Pikes Peak and the distant snow-capped peaks of the Sangres and Sawatch.

Descend on the same route for an 8-mile round trip.