The well maintained trail begins from the Denny Creek Trailhead and shortly after you begin you’ll ascend a series of steep switchbacks. At ~1.3 miles from the trailhead you’ll get to the Hartenstein Lake/Mt. Yale trail junction, stay right and continue along the Mount Yale Trail. Note that at ~1 mile and 2.2 miles there are creel crossings, they do have logs over them but can be difficult during runoff.

The trail alternates between steeper and more moderate stretches as well as in meadows/forests as you continue to climb. As you break treeline there has been trail work done and the trail is easy to follow and well-maintained. It’s at ~13,950 feet where the trail gets rockier. From here to the summit follow the cairns that are on the right/west side of the ridge to keep it class 2. The ridge proper does have some fun class 3 scrambling though….

Class: 2. Mount Yale is considered class 2, due to rocky areas near the summit but much of it is on a very well maintained trail.

Trailhead/Parking: The Denny Creek trailhead is open seasonally (conditions dependent) so contact the forest service for current conditions. It is also on a paved road suitable for any standard vehicle.