Jupiter Mountain rises above the east side of Chicago Basin in the Needle Mountains, deep in the Weminuche Wilderness about 28 miles northeast of Durango. It is a satellite of Windom Peak, and its summit is the westernmost of a small cluster of rocky towers. Most visitors to the basin come for the fourteeners, so Jupiter tends to be the quieter extra day, with a fine look back at Mount Eolus, Sunlight Peak and Windom.
Getting there is the real work. Most parties ride the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad to Needleton and hike the Needle Creek trail roughly 6 miles and 3,000 feet up to camps near 11,000 feet in Chicago Basin; the alternative is a multi-day backpack from Vallecito Reservoir. From camp, the southwest slopes route follows the Columbine Pass trail, then a faint climber's path east-northeast over steep grass and tundra to a rock band and a short scramble among blocks at the top. It is Class 2+, about 5 miles round trip and 2,830 feet of gain from the basin (around 17 miles and 5,630 feet from Needleton).
The basin is usually snow-free from late June to mid-September, and July afternoons bring the monsoon thunderstorms that turn many parties around. Campfires are banned in the Needle Creek drainage. The resident mountain goats crave salt, so urinate on rock well away from camp and keep gear stowed.
