Summit 2026 – Crestone Peak - Cottonwood Creek TH

All participants and leaders are REQUIRED to sign the State of Colorado's liability waiver. Please click here to fill out the waiver

Route/Trail Name: Cottonwood Lake Approach to standard route

Cottonwood Creek Trailhead

https://maps.app.goo.gl/9jWcQQGsWdvz4cub6

Alltrails has a good description of the trail and gpx. This will put us right at the base of Crestone Peak and avoids going up and over broken hand pass which is a bonus. It also provides beautiful and serene camping. 

14ers.com https://www.14ers.com/peaks/10007/crestone-peak?t=map

Weather: 

https://www.mountain-forecast.com/peaks/Crestone-Peak/forecasts/4357

https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=37.966972&lon=-105.585304

Difficulty: Difficult

Milage: 11.2 

Elevation Gain: 5,793'

Duration: Friday evening to Saturday afternoon

Start Time: Summit hike 5am Saturday No. of Participants: 6-8

Route Notes: We plan to backpack in about a mile to camp near the creek Friday evening. We will start hiking at 5am Sat Aug 1 with a likely summit time of 8 or 8.30. We will travel together and take regular snack and water breaks as a group. The class 3 Red Gulley and summit block will require helmets and careful climbing, with attention to avoid dislodging loose rocks. We will celebrate on the traditional Crestone Peak summit for about 20-30 minutes. Then we will scramble down and back up about .2 miles to enjoy and celebrate the high point summit of East Crestone Peak as well. We will descend via the same route back to our camp, pack up and return to the trailhead, likely by early to midafternoon.

We hope to plan/ host an after party, possibly in Colorado City or Pueblo for other summit teams in this area.

We will meet at the Cottonwood Creek Trailhead at 3pm Friday afternoon.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/9jWcQQGsWdvz4cub6

We will hike in about 1-2 miles and choose a camp spot and set up camp. 

Let me know if you'd like to arrange carpooling from the Colorado Springs area.