San Luis Peak

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 10/18/2026, By: andy_schlichting
Info: (I did not summit San Luis Peak, but Organ Mountain and San Luis share the same trail for much of the ascent. Figured this would be helpful to anyone looking for San Luis)

Summited Organ Mountain via the northwest ridge on Saturday. I knew there would be snow and was thinking it would be less than the rest of the San Juans and I was right, but it was still up to a foot deep near 12,000 feet. The Stewart Creek trail was dry at the start and quickly had intermittent patches of an inch or two, nothing to even slow you down. Above 11,000 it became pretty consistent and I had to punch in a bootpack from there up to the turnoff to cross the creek at treeline. From 11k, it was mostly 6ish inches deep, but once I got out of the trees and into the willows, it was 12+ inches in most spots along the trail and starting to get annoying.

For anyone continuing on to San Luis Peak, it's certainly doable and safe right now, but it will be a sufferfest with the postholing getting deeper as I got higher.

Snowshoes would not have been worth the weight and wouldn't have helped much except for around the willows. Perhaps they could've been helpful up ahead from where I turned off for Organ Mountain. I had microspikes, but never needed them. The creek is still open in most spots, but most of the dozens of beaver ponds are either dry from the drought or frozen over.

Temp was 27 degrees when I started at 4:45 a.m. and probably around 20 on the summit, but with no wind fortunately. The 500mg Nalgene I had clipped to my belt froze pretty quickly, but the ones inside my pack stayed liquid. Winter is coming!

The trail has a lot of deadfall on it, which I do not recall from when I was in this area last year. I guess that's what you get with cuts to the forest service :(

The road is in great shape all the way to the trailhead. The creek crossing is about a foot deep and was no issue with my Crosstrek. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 10/11/2026, By: constipated_pete
Info: Nutras creek was surprisingly deep and shockingly cold. Didnt try to take my sedan over. The extra miles were fine in the morning but brutal in the afternoon.

Semi-avoidable snow from 12,800 to 13,100, unavoidable snow on the upper ridge once you cross to the west side of the upper ridge (photo 12 on). I met two hikers who did fine without traction, but I was glad to have microspikes. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 10/4/2026, By: drewskiclimbs
Info: Snow berms near the summit were knee deep in some places, but easy to walk around or through, no spikes needed. Rest of the trail is dry. Beautiful day, could hear the elk bugling lower down the valley. Moose near the West Willow Creek trailhead around 2 pm. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 9/21/2026, By: daway8
Info: Fall colors are already pretty much at peak on the drive up to the West Willow Creek trailhead - not much green left to turn and lots of golden leaves dropping to the ground - better get out by this coming weekend if you don't want to miss the show! Not a whole lot of color on the route itself but the drive to the trailhead has some nice patches. The upper 4WD TH is potentially subaruable - it was no problem at all in the 4Runner.

Surprised how many people were on this relatively remote 14er - multiple groups coming from both main trailheads. Happy to have finally wrapped up lap2 of the 58 on this tranquil peak with a friend. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 9/3/2026, By: sammidog3
Info: Nice trip up San Luis. Camped ~4 miles in. Had anticipated resupplying water in one of the 3 mapped stream crossings above 12,000' but all were dry. Maybe it's unique to this year, but suggest you take advantage of water lower down. The trail was as mellow and well designed and maintained as any we've experienced. Thanks Colorado 14ers Initiative! 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 8/12/2026, By: jjasks
Info: Wildflowers are ending, but grass is still green. The trail is in good shape. I made it to the upper parking lot next to the trailhead in my stock Subaru Outback very easily. I do have off-road tires. Started hiking on the trail at 5:15 AM and returned at 2:15 PM. The wife and I saw 4 people summiting from both North and South, then saw about 4 folks doing the Co. Trail. It was a pretty quiet day. I would also note that there are a couple of water sources on the South route that I did not see anything about. I might not have carried so much water, knowing these were sources I could tap into. They could be intermittent, but there was adequate water in them today. 1 was about 1/4 of the way in at the bottom of the hill, and the other was maybe about 1/3 of the way just after the forest. It was an underground stream, so you need to descend a little to fill up.

P.S. We discovered that a bear tried to open all 4 doors on our car; he left paw prints on each door handle and a few scratches. Thankfully, he did not enter, but I thought I would pass this along. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/23/2026, By: OkieBB
Info: Good wildflowers. The grass and willows are a bit wet from frost/dew in the morning so keep that in mind with gear. Started at 2:30AM.

It’s 3500’ and 13ish miles. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 7/3/2026, By: cptzizu
Info: Yall are cooked gpx tagged 5k elevation gain at 11.46miles. Please fix the TH elevation listing I would not have done this 14er had I known it was 5k elevation gain. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 7/3/2026, By: the_hare
Info: Came up around the south side of Organ Peak on the Colorado Trail & down standard. Only a temporary whiff of smoke on the approach but otherwise all clear. Tons of sky pilots in bloom on the upper hillsides near San Luis. CFI working on check-steps near & past treeline, thank you to the crew!

Second creek crossing is deep, seemed like at least a foot or so, but Outback crossed fine. Crazy difference in smoke driving to/from in just a day--day before only the southern Sawatch mountain valleys, northern Arkansas valley & near Monarch Pass were smoky, on the way back the northernmost SLV & whole Arkansas river valley were thick with smoke. Wetterhorn & Unc swirling with thick smoke as seen from San Luis summit as well 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 6/23/2026, By: Bsaw
Info: No spikes needed. Beautiful trail with gorgeous views and flowers in bloom. Clocked 11.76 miles and 3,451 feet of gain from the 4WD Trailhead. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 6/15/2026, By: Avs0
Info: Trail was snow free and full summer conditions. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 6/7/2026, By: prddraper
Info: Flowers in bloom, only one very small bit of snow to walk across, beautiful hike. 

Route: Northeast Ridge
Posted On: 6/7/2026, By: qkuech
Info: Climbed 6/6 in basically full summer conditions with one tiny snow crossing around mile 5.2. Great camping spots along the road approaching the trailhead. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 6/5/2026, By: avery_harris
Info: Climbed the south face and conditions were really good for early season. We had to cross some snow patches with a little post holing but nothing too bad. Completed the whole hike in trail runners and had no issues. Definitely don’t need micro-spikes or gators anymore for the season unless we get another snow. 

Route: South Ridge
Posted On: 5/31/2026, By: katarinaa452
Info: Hiked San Luis Peak via the West Willow Creek TH the morning of 5/30. Wildlife was abundant throughout the day. I observed multiple moose, a herd of elk, and several deer along the route.

The trail is largely dry from the trailhead through most of the initial sections. Conditions begin to change after joining the Continental Divide Trail and descending into the basin below treeline. Early in the morning, sections of the trail consisted of frozen mud and frozen tread. By afternoon, those same areas had softened considerably into slushy, muddy conditions.

The primary remaining snow is found between approximately 12,200 and 12,500 feet, trekking through down into the basin leading to the saddle near Pt. 13,155. Expect several snowfields across this section. Snow was firm and supportive during the morning ascent, but softened significantly on the descent. I experienced a few postholes while returning in the afternoon.

I completed the route in trail runners and never felt the need to use microspikes or an ice axe. Trekking poles were very helpful, however, especially for balance and stability while crossing the snowfields.

Above 12,500 ft., conditions are dry all the way to the summit. Weather was clear, views were outstanding, and overall travel was straightforward.