Best Peaks to Climb in March
27 catalog summits list March in their published season window.
March is a shoulder between austral summer and the Himalayan pre-monsoon. Ojos del Salado, New Zealand, and Kilimanjaro still appear; Aconcagua has usually dropped off this catalog’s window.
Mexico’s volcanoes stay in season, and a few USA peaks with long or year-round access show up. Cotopaxi remains on the equatorial list.
Treat March as a bridge month: good for volcanoes and Southern Alps, thin for North American high-country walk-ups that want July snow-free trails.
Countries in season
Day hike (6)
- Mauna Kea — USA · 13,796 ft · High-altitude drive / hike · Year-round; summit can be cold or snowy in winter
- Haleakalā — USA · 10,023 ft · Drive / Class 1–2 hike · Year-round (summit is cold; storms year-round)
- Guadalupe Peak — USA · 8,751 ft · Class 1 hike · Oct–Apr
- Mt. Kosciuszko — Australia · 7,310 ft · Class 1 hike · Dec–Mar
- Mt. Townsend — Australia · 7,242 ft · Class 1 hike · Dec–Mar
- Table Mountain — South Africa · 3,563 ft · Class 1 hike · Nov–Mar
Strenuous hike (9)
- Ojos del Salado — Chile/Argentina · 22,615 ft · High-altitude hike · Dec–Mar
- Popocatépetl — Mexico · 17,802 ft · Restricted / volcanic · Nov–Mar
- Ras Dashen — Ethiopia · 14,901 ft · Class 2 hike · Oct–Mar
- Mauna Loa — USA · 13,679 ft · High-altitude hike · Year-round (weather dependent)
- Mount Kinabalu — Malaysia · 13,435 ft · Strenuous day / overnight · Feb–Apr
- Volcán Acatenango — Guatemala · 13,041 ft · Strenuous day / overnight · Nov–Apr
- Mount Apo — Philippines · 9,692 ft · Strenuous day / overnight · Mar–May
- Mount Roraima — Venezuela/Brazil/Guyana · 9,219 ft · Strenuous day / overnight · Dec–Mar
- Mount Taranaki — New Zealand · 8,255 ft · Strenuous day hike · Dec–Mar
Scramble (2)
- Mount Ruapehu — New Zealand · 9,156 ft · Snow / scramble · Dec–Apr
- Old Rag Mountain — USA · 3,268 ft · Class 3 scramble (permit) · Mar–Nov
Snow / glacier (4)
- Cotopaxi — Ecuador · 19,347 ft · Glacier climb · Dec–Apr
- Pico de Orizaba — Mexico · 18,491 ft · Snow / glacier climb · Nov–Mar
- Iztaccíhuatl — Mexico · 17,159 ft · Snow / glacier climb · Nov–Mar
- Volcán Villarrica — Chile · 9,383 ft · Snow climb · Nov–Mar
Alpine technical (5)
- Aoraki / Mt. Cook — New Zealand · 12,218 ft · Alpine ice / rock · Nov–Mar
- Mt. Tasman — New Zealand · 11,475 ft · Alpine ice · Nov–Mar
- Cerro Fitz Roy — Argentina · 11,171 ft · Elite big-wall · Nov–Mar
- Mt. Aspiring — New Zealand · 9,947 ft · Alpine climb · Nov–Mar
- Cerro Paine Grande — Chile · 9,462 ft · Technical rock · Nov–Mar
Expedition (1)
- Kilimanjaro — Tanzania · 19,341 ft · High-altitude trek · Jan–Mar or Jun–Oct
Permits
All peaks · All months · Permit calendar · Open the 3D atlas