Niagara Peak rides the Continental Divide on the Hinsdale and San Juan county line, about 8.9 miles northeast of Silverton. It rarely gets climbed alone. Niagara, Jones Mountain and American Peak ring the head of Burns Gulch, a small side drainage of the upper Animas, and hikers usually string all three together in one long day above the old mining road to Eureka.
The standard loop starts at the Burns Gulch trailhead (10,790 feet), reached from Silverton on County Road 2 through Howardsville and Eureka. High clearance helps; a 4WD can continue up the gulch and save about 2 miles and 900 feet. Hikers typically tag American Peak and Jones first, then descend roughly 640 feet to the saddle and regain about 600 to Niagara's summit by its northeast ridge. The Jones to Niagara leg is about 0.9 miles one way, and the whole Class 2 circuit comes to about 9.6 miles and 4,145 feet of gain. American Basin, off the Cinnamon Pass road, offers another way in to the group.
There is no maintained trail to the summit. The rocky ridge-step above the American-Jones saddle is the trickiest part of the day, and the talus throughout is unstable, so test holds and keep spacing on the loose slopes. The exposed divide is a poor place to be when afternoon storms build. Recent trip reports show current conditions.
