Crestone Peak

Route: Cottonwood Creek Approach
Posted On: 11/9/2026, By: cdwscout
Info: Got to about 11.5k from CC approach, hit a frozen stream couldn't find a good way across without breaking through ice. 3-4" of snow in the trees, but easily manageable. Will probably melt if it warms much. 

Route: Cottonwood Creek Approach
Posted On: 10/2/2026, By: bonnie
Info: On 2026-09-27 (Sunday just before last storm):
Red Gully was wet and apparently icy early, thawed by late morning. Didn't need spikes to summit Peak, but bailed off attempting East even with spikes. I don't believe anyone attempted the traverse Saturday or Sunday

For anything more recent, check Custer County SAR's socials from 2026-10-02: peaks are now blanketed 

Route: South Colony Approach
Posted On: 9/5/2026, By: drewskiclimbs
Info: Completed the traverse (Peak to Needle) -- one critical detail I wish were added to the 14ers "Traverse" route description would be the photo from Kim Jones Thomas' "Rescue Patterns in the Crestones" article (attached here). When descending the Needle without having the knowledge of the ascent, it is very easy to miss a key turn (a short class 3 climb) and keep descending the gully, which cliffs out. According to Thomas this is where >40% of rescues take place -- I made this mistake and thankfully realized it due to the GPX before getting too low. If someone could petition Bill Middlebooks to add this photo to the end of the Traverse description, I think it could be really helpful.

Full Article: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/1f6b78256d604dc5a7d285d659252189 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 8/23/2026, By: notidealbutfine
Info: Started at 2:45AM from the Cottonwood Creek TH. Trail is easy to follow for the first 3 miles to the waterfall and, even though I've been up Cottonwood more than a dozen times, I significantly lost the trail up both steep "headwall" sections. There are plenty of cairns, but it can be tricky in the dark especially with no gpx. The original plan was to hit Milwaukee, Pico and 13020, but I wasn't paying attention hiking in the dark and went way past the turnoff, so I pivoted to Crestone Peak. Red Gulley has a marginal amount of water coming down, so certainly nothing to fret about. From the top of the gulley, I hit East, West, then Northeast Crestone. East to West took me 7 minutes (class 3), and West to Northeast took me about 16 minutes (5.easy?), so certainly worth hitting all three once you're on top. There's a bolt (jutting out about 4 inches long) and hanger at the top of Northeast Crestone that I noticed for the first time despite being my second time up there. Is this an anchor for the North Buttress? Why only a single bolt? And why the heck is it so long and unkempt? Why would you belay out 5.easy? I'm so confused. Is there another technical route that tops out NE Crestone? About a dozen hikers on the mountain today. Nice and easy descent; the final 3 miles make for a nice run down to the car. 13.79 miles / 6,270' gain / 8 hours, 37 minutes 

Route: Cottonwood Creek Approach
Posted On: 8/14/2026, By: BillMiddlebrook
Info: Cottonwood approach and then standard Red Gully on Crestone Peak. Very dry on the entire approach, but the scenic waterfalls are still running. Also, there is just a tiny amount of water running in the lower Red Gully on Crestone. Completely avoidable. 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 7/30/2026, By: Mt_DAN
Info: From Cottonwood Creek TH. Trail is in good shape. Use 14ers map in the app to stay on course. Groups today were summiting in 5 to 6 hours. Plan on 6 miles TH to summit. 

Route: Cottonwood Creek
Posted On: 7/19/2026, By: abeclinger
Info: I carried a heavy pack (30lbs or so) to a nice campsite above the waterfall crux but a little below the lake (a shelf above the grassy open patch). Backpacking is my jam, this was hard. It took nearly 4 hours to go 4.5 miles to camp.

For the waterfall I took the path shown in red, the terrain is more typical to what’s been encountered to this point (giant steps). I thought the waterfall was too slimy with my big pack.

You can see a large gash and it’s marked. This route seemed obvious after getting there, just required a back track. Willows are low and manageable.

More info and pics in the last trip report linked here, just building on this really.

https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/peakstatus_peak.php?peakparm=10007

Also, if you ever go to Cottonwood Creek, drive all the way to end of the road and… take a deep breath! 

Route: Cottonwood Creek
Posted On: 7/11/2026, By: Arthur Shagisultanov
Info: Not much to add to the last conditions report, apart from some tips for the approach.

We found a few possible routes through/around the crux waterfall: red line approximately follows small ledges on climber's left, green (the standard route) climbs steep slabs left of the falls, blue crosses the creek and climbs a large step right of the falls, purple shows possible routes on the other side of the falls (thought the bushwhack there looks awful). If you choose to bushwhack to the other side, we saw what might be a trail turn off around 37.95257, -105.58527 (climb down and right immediately after the large flat slab).

IMO, if you have a lighter pack, the red line is best on the approach and blue on the descent. If you have bulky or heavy packs, a short rope may be helpful for lowering your pack. 

Route: Cottonwood Creek
Posted On: 7/6/2026, By: vcarletto
Info: Started at the Cottonwood Creek TH — 2WD is fine, and there’s room for about 8–10 cars. The trail is solid and well‑defined for roughly the first 3 miles, ending near the pancake rocks. From there, cairns are consistently placed and easy to follow.

You’ll pass a campsite on the right, then wind through a set of switchbacks to a rockfield. Push through a short section of willows and you’ll reach a small waterfall. Just before it, there’s a narrow Class 3 squeeze — totally manageable, but large packs can snag in the tight rock slot.

Above that, follow cairns into a wide grassy opening, then another stretch of willows. The trail leads you into a second open area where the Red Gully comes into view. From there, it’s the classic never‑ending climb: steady Class 3, loose pockets of scree, and a long grind to the top.

The approach along Cottonwood Creek is gorgeous — constant water features and a great mix of terrain. I’d strongly recommend GPS breadcrumbs (I ran two) since the descent has a few spots where it’s easy to drift off‑trail. 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 6/28/2026, By: Nosimplehighway
Info: The route is at full summer conditions, but with enough residual melt from a few snow patches that there is at least a trickle to a small stream of running water is available up the first half of the red gully. On Saturday, June 27, there were a wide variety of weather conditions experienced from a clear calm morning up to Broken Hand Pass, then overcast conditions, low clouds and wind on the other side of BHP, with clouds clearing but wind intensifying as the morning wore on. In comparison to other recent 13ers I have done after the winter's drought, there are still ample places to refill water along the route including during the lower reaches of the red gully. Summited both the traditional peak and Northeast Crestone, the latter of which was especially windprone. Also, I would encourage people to do the Crestone routes without their dogs - though some dogs may make it most of the way to the top - and indeed I saw one halfway up the red gully - the final reaches to the summit are not going to be easy for most four-legged companions. Otherwise, a gorgeous but windy day to summit Crestone Peak 

Route: Crestones Traverse
Posted On: 6/25/2026, By: wmagnuson7
Info: Completely summer conditions, no snow whatsoever on any portion of the hike. Enjoy! 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 6/20/2026, By: smurray798
Info: There isn't much snow left in the Red Gully, and all of it is easily avoidable. There is water available all along Cottonwood Creek, but don't count on it flowing through the Red Gully for much longer.
We did the approach from the West along Cottonwood Creek, which is not as well maintained as the South Colony approach on the East side. The Western aproach has many sections on steep and slick banks, through thick bushes, along cairned slabs, over some blowdown, and even up several class III climbs in the forest. But, it's shorter if you can't park at the 4WD lot along South Colony Creek, and you don't have to go over Broken Hand Pass. 

Route: South Face
Posted On: 6/10/2026, By: josephnephi
Info: Just a few snow fields left in the red gully that are avoidable. Made ~10 steps on snow the whole day. Came up Cottonwood side. 

Route: Crestones Traverse
Posted On: 5/31/2026, By: kushrocks
Info: There was a lot more snow on Crestone Peak today than on either the Crestone Traverse or the descent of Crestone Needle.

I wore microspikes up Broken Hand Pass and on Crestone Peak, but I didn't need them for the traverse itself. Early on the traverse there was one somewhat tricky downclimb across a snow covered slope, but after that most of the remaining snow could be avoided. The crux wall was, as always, exposed, but all of the snow there could be bypassed. Sorry I suck at taking pictures.

Great running into Andrew, Andrea, and their friend out there today! 

Route: Crestones Traverse
Posted On: 3/26/2026, By: SeanWhelan
Info: Did the Crestones traverse yesterday (3/25), good mostly dry conditions, 2 miles of snowshoeing on the approach and descent. I shouldn’t have stashed my snowshoes because I ended up wallowing in snow up to my chest in the red gully up to Crestone Peak. Going up broken hand pass was full of snow, but a good glissade on the way down. Wore trail runners then LS aequilibriums, microspikes and ice axe were handy in a few spots. 21 miles, 15 hrs. No one else up there.