Jones Mountain is the highest of a trio of thirteeners strung southwest of Handies Peak, with Niagara Peak on one side and American Peak on the other. It sits on the Hinsdale and San Juan county line, a rocky high point that many hikers collect along with its neighbors in a single day.
No maintained trail climbs the peak. The northeast ridge route starts at the Burns Gulch trailhead off the Animas River road northeast of Silverton, where a high-clearance vehicle is recommended, and the full American-Jones-Niagara circuit runs about 9.6 miles round trip with 4,150 feet of gain at Class 2 to 2+. Grassy tundra leads past a small lake near 12,520 feet, then talus climbs to the Jones and American saddle at 13,340 feet. A step in the ridge above that saddle is the hardest part, and a notch above a steep north-facing couloir needs care before the final rubble to the summit. The peak can also be reached from American Basin off the Cinnamon Pass road or from Cuba Gulch to the east.
The north side of the ridge drops off steeply and the rock is unstable, so favor the south side where the exposure eases. An ice axe is worth carrying while snow lingers in early summer. From the summit, Handies and the high peaks around American Basin fill the view, and linking American and Niagara makes for a full, satisfying ridge day.
