| Report Type | Full |
| Peak(s) |
Crestone Peak - 14,299 feet Crestone Needle - 14,196 feet "Crestolita" - 13,264 feet NE Crestone 14,251 E Crestone 14,299 |
| Date Posted | 06/26/2026 |
| Date Climbed | 06/24/2026 |
| Author | Camden7 |
| Crestones + Crestolita from Cottonwood Creek |
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When I first did the 14ers, the only Great Traverse I did was Wilson-El Diente, so when Emmett was looking for a partner on the Crestones, I ran to the front of the line. And besides, I had orphaned Crestolita, so I could get a 13er out of the deal. There is plentiful information on this site about the traverse itself, so I will focus on NE Crestone and Crestolita.
Unfortunately, smoke from the fires in Utah had blown in overnight, so it would be a day of hazy views and burning lungs. We got started at 2:45 to stay ahead of thunderstorms forecasted to start up around 2.
The Cottonwood Creek Trailhead, at the painfully low elevation of 8,400 feet, is easily accessible with 2wd. It is located on private land and it opened to the public only a few years ago through an easement. There is no camping allowed at the trailhead. Please be incredibly respectful of the land-owners, and be quiet, clean, and friendly. We want it to stay open.
The Cottonwood Creek Trail is infamously hard to follow in the dark, yet despite not doing any research or bringing a gpx, we managed to keep on track. There are some fun class 2 slabs throughout the journey, and maybe even a touch of class 3 to get past the cool waterfall at 11,700 feet. If you keep a sharp eye for cairns and follow your nose you shouldn't have any problems. Make sure not to miss the left turn at 11,250 where the trail forks.
Between a tough few days coming into it, a short night of sleep, and the smoke, I felt really awful for the first half of the day, and was moving uphill at the pace of molasses. Luckily Emmett wasn't feeling super fast either, so we could at least agree on a slow pace. At 12,250 feet, the trail joins the large trail headed from Broken Hand Pass to Crestone Peak. It is 4.6 miles and 3,800 feet of vertical gain to here, with a few sections of slow hiking over boulders or through willows. With me refusing to mouth breathe due to the smoke, it took us a rather frustrating 2 hours and 45 minutes.
The Red Gully up Crestone Peak felt like a real slog. Once you enter the gully it is 1,400 feet of painfully steep class 2 with occasion moves of class 3- to gain the saddle between the east and west summits. I was absolutely dying.
After a recent survey effort from the awesome folks who have worked so hard to get accurate info to the community, it was confirmed that East Crestone is around 4 inches higher than the traditional West Summit. Luckily I had tagged it on my first lap back in 2020, but it didn't hurt to grab again. It is easy to bag both summits on fun 3rd class terrain. Staying right on the ridge crest up to the West Summit offers some fun movement.
While you are there, it is incredibly worthwhile to make the detour over to Northeast Crestone. The 14,251 foot subpeak offers one of the most impressive views in the state, and the 4th class route up it is delightful. We met another hiker, Alan (spelling?), who we took turns taking pictures of on NE Crestone, which afforded some cool shots. We had a great time chatting with him.
Despite what others have stated in various trip reports, I would say that NE is quite a bit easier than the traverse itself, and really goes mostly at 3rd except for a couple moves, none of which are exposed.
To get to it, downclimb the first 100 or so feet from the saddle into the northeast couloir. The westernmost of the two minor gullies offers the easiest climbing (3rd class), while the rib in between them is more solid (4th class). Once the terrain began to relent, we traversed east and scrambled up towards the notch between East and Northeast, trending left towards NE Crestone. When you reach the ridge crest, you have a sublime view over the east face down to the Colony Lakes. This is an intimidating place. 100 feet of absolutely stellar scrambling leads to the summit. At any point if you want more spice, you can step left onto 5th class terrain.
The summit of NE Crestone is tiny and commanding. It is one of the coolest places in Colorado.
 
After retracing our steps to the saddle between the east and west summits, we dropped down the Red Gully to 13,650 where the traverse takes off at a large cairn. The first half of the traverse is rather boring, with a line of cairns leading across class 2 terrain, with just one or two moves of 3rd class to mount the occasional rib. When you bottom out at 13,400, it looks like a long ways up to Needle. Luckily, most of it is solid and fun.
Ascending the loose gully between the Needle and the magnificent Black Gendarme holds the only loose rock of the day. Does anyone know anything about the stunning hand-crack on the south side of the Gendarme? The rubble ends at the famous chokestone, which requires a 5.2 move to surmount. This is the hardest climbing of the traverse, but there is minimal exposure. I would agree that it is 5th class, but most people will probably be more concerned on the easier but more exposed moves of the Headwall.
Solid and easy class 3 leads to the notch on the ridge, from which a comically short knife edge grants access to the upper flanks of the Needle.
From here on up, the routefinding is straightforward, the position beautiful, and the rock impeccable. We zig-zagged towards the headwall, staying on comfortable 3rd class terrain, until regaining the ridge at 14,040 feet.
The infamous headwall is truly spectacular. Sadly, the 4th class climbing is less than 100 feet tall, but it is superbly exposed, excellently positioned, and wonderfully solid. If the holds weren't so good, the steepness and exposure would surely warrant a rope. A slip is not survivable, but nor is it likely.
The descent from Needle went quickly and easily, mostly face-out class 2 with a short pitch of steeper 3rd class. It is important to find the traverse out of the gully back to the ridge, but it is thoroughly cairned. The ridge has a pretty good trail winding through and around the gendarmes, but we opted to save some effort by sticking closer to the ridge on class 3/4 terrain, adding some scrambling and skipping the up-and-downs required to avoid said scrambling.
We took a short break at Broken Hand pass, where we were harassed violently by a pack of 5 menacing marmots. Terrifying.
We had to pause our descent towards Cottonwood Lake while I was hit with a random double-nostril nose bleed that turned a patch of tundra red. Once I ran out of blood, we carried on past Cottonwood lake and started up Crestolita. We just hopped on the north-ish facing ridge that looked the most fun from below. I think we may have been one ridge west of Analemma, but it was still great class 3/4 almost the whole way. A more direct line would have held some great 5th, but we were getting tired an already 8 hours into the day, so we stepped west around the steeper sections to keep things quick. After tagging the summit, we headed down the west-southwest ridge then descended a key ledge back to the Cottonwood Creek Trail, rejoining it right at the upper waterfall near 11,700.
The trail out was much easier to follow in the daylight, and took about an hour and a half, including long stops at both waterfalls and slowing down for a bit to chat more with Alan, who we bumped into again. He is a total badass! Ironically, we still made it onto the Strava leaderboard for the walk down. I guess it doesn't get Stravad often...
 
Northeast Crestone is one of my new favorite summits in CO, and I totally recommend it to everyone. Crestolita is also a surprisingly fun peak, and worthwhile even if you aren't looking for those 583 check marks. Grateful for a fantastic day in an awesome area. The smoke was regrettable, but thats just an unfortunate reality of living in the incredible landscape that is our home. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow): 
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