Sunshine
Peak
Routed from OpenStreetMap · elevations USGS 3DEP
Franklin Rhoda and A.D. Wilson of the Hayden Survey made the first recorded ascent in 1874, aiming for Redcloud Peak next door but settling for Sunshine, the lower of the two summits, after weather turned them back. The climb turned dangerous near the top: an electrical storm set their hair crackling and their instruments clicking before lightning struck close by, and survey member Frederic Endlich, watching from a nearby peak, later described fearing for their lives. The party retreated moments before lightning struck the summit they had just left.
The name's origin is undocumented — no source records why "Sunshine" was chosen, in contrast to the well-attested naming stories of its neighbors. At roughly 14,001 to 14,004 feet depending on the source, Sunshine sits at the bottom of Colorado's list of ranked fourteeners, yet the ground below it drops away fast: the peak rises roughly 4,450 feet above the old mining townsite of Sherman in just over a mile.
~16 mi on CR 30 (Cinnamon Pass road) from CO 149 near Lake City; rough with a shelf road after mile 12.5 but managed by careful passenger cars in dry conditions (14ers.com redc1).
No fee or permit; BLM land on the seasonal Alpine Loop (cleared each spring; Cinnamon side open by mid-June 2026 — alpineloop.info). Shares its parking with the Grizzly Gulch TH for Handies' east side. // Handies side: No fee or permit; BLM Handies Peak Wilderness Study Area on the seasonal Alpine Loop — passes cleared each spring, Engineer Pass closed first two weeks of June 2026, Cinnamon side open by mid-June (alpineloop.info; blm.gov Alpine Loop).
Peak data: Sunshine Peak — Wikipedia