South Colony Lakes Trailhead

Location

RangeSangre de Cristo

Elevation9,950'

Lat/Lon37.97611, -105.50651

14ersHumboldt Peak, Crestone Needle, Crestone Peak

Road Difficulty

4 Moderate 4WD, good clearance

Easy 2WD dirt to the lowest trailhead. 4WD (high-clearance required) dirt to the upper trailhead.

Driving Directions

Take Colorado 69 south from Westcliffe. Drive 4.5 miles and turn right on Colfax Lane. Drive 5.5 miles to the end of Colfax. Turn right and drive 1 mile on a dirt road to a junction. Continue straight up the 120 Road for 0.3 mile to the Lower 2WD Trailhead at 8,800'. To reach the Upper 4WD Trailhead, continue 2.7 miles to parking/camp spots before a river crossing, near 9,950'. Note that in 2009, the South Colony Lakes road was permanently closed at this point (with a gate), and the official trailhead was established here. The trail begins next to the trailhead kiosk located in the main parking area.

On-Site Info

Parking~20 vehicles at the lower, 2WD trailhead. No parking along the first 1+ miles of the 4WD road due to private property. Some pull-offs before the upper trailhead. Upper, 4WD trailhead has room for ~25 vehicles.

CampingNo camping at the 2WD trailhead. Not much camping along the 4WD road but there are a few spots. Some established camp sites near the 4WD trailhead.

Restrooms?No

Fees?No

Photos

Winter Access

Usually closed near the lower TH at the bottom of the road.

Trailhead added by BillMiddlebrook

Status Updates
Map


10/21/2013 Posted On: 10/23/2013 By: Eagle Eye Info: On this date and 10/7 drove a 4x4 xterra to the permanent gate closure/South Colony TH. Sections of deep, pooled water, mud & snow exist and as mentioned in below posts one section in particular has been presenting difficulty. There are plenty of places to park, right below this one spot.
10/6/2013 Posted On: 10/7/2013 By: telemarkdude Info: Clear all the way to 4x4 trailhead
9/8/2013 Posted On: 9/9/2013 By: Jtjohnso24 Info: We didn't have much trouble in a Subaru Forrester. There's one bad spot that required special attention, but there were a few cars parked just below it if you can't make it. Good luck!
8/30/2013 Posted On: 9/2/2013 By: EKassan Info: Drove an Xterra to road closure- rocky but relatively easy- only one or two spots required close attention.
8/3/2013 Posted On: 8/5/2013 By: buckeyejes Info: The 4WD road is rough in spots, but doable (I completed in a Honda Pilot). The worst section was approximately 1 mile until the new trailhead. I do not recommend this in a passenger car.			2
7/22/2013 Posted On: 7/23/2013 By: zsmith Info: Three spots have become torn out and difficult to pass in the last two miles before you reach the upper 4wd trailhead. The first spot you will encounter is the worst. Going up it is tricky but passable in a truck-based SUV or pickup (XTerra, Jeep, pickup, etc). It is definitely not passable in passenger car. It would take considerable skill and a some luck to get up in a car-based CUV (Rav4, CRV, Pilot, etc). Going down is even more difficult because there are large (read oil pan penetrating) rocks to straddle and it‘s difficult to judge how deep the holes are on the back side of the rocks in the tire tracks. You will have to inch down to avoid hitting your underside on the downward bounce. The section was a handful even in an XTerra OR.			5
7/13/2013 Posted On: 7/15/2013 By: transplant_hiker Info: 4 wheel drive road is in good shape. Was able to drive my F-150 to the trail head with no problems. I even saw an old Rav 4 up there (even though I would have been uncomfortable taking it up there, I am sure that person is a much better driver than I am!)
6/22/2013 Posted On: 6/23/2013 By: bradmacgregor Info: There was no snow on the 4x4 road. There were many tents seen along the way. There was a lot of fire smoke on the way to the trail head, but I couldn‘t smell much there, and the smoke decreased visibility of the peaks a little.
5/19/2013 Posted On: 5/19/2013 By: bergsteigen Info: All clear to 4WD trailhead, no snow.			2
5/3/2013 Posted On: 5/3/2013 By: Carl Info: As of 5/3/13 you can drive within .8 miles of the upper trail head. With chains or a little more melting you could get within .4 miles of the TH. Snow is nearly continuous above the upper TH.			1
4/27/2013 Posted On: 4/28/2013 By: jmanner Info: I drove up on Friday 04/26/2013 to climb Humboldt from the East ridge on 4/27; in an 4v4 Xterra. I was able to make it within ~.15 mile of the national forest, before the snow became impassible. Its melting quick, but it could still be a week or more before you could drive up to the upper rainbow trailhead. I have photos but they are to big. PM me if you‘d like to see them.
4/14/2013 Posted On: 4/14/2013 By: Monte Meals Info: Similar to LordHelmut‘s report from last week (4/7/2013) I drove to the same turn around in a 4wd pick-up today (stopped by snow drifts.) Easy hiking from there up to the summer road closure with only minimal post holing. Only minimal melting in this east facing, shady valley.
4/7/2013 Posted On: 4/8/2013 By: lordhelmut Info: Road impassable to new upper summer TH. Got a 4runner to around 1 mile past lower TH. Took sled to wilderness boundary, just shy of old upper TH. Sled up was interesting. Bare spots were unavoidable at times, but short. Jerry rigged a bridge of boulders and snow a little past the new TH at a short creek crossing, which allowed the sled adventure to continue. Downed tree 50 yards past creek crossing, which was lift-able to get the sled under.
10/14/2012 Posted On: 10/15/2012 By: Neil Info: After the storm on 10/12 and 10/13, the South Colony Lakes road is totally clear of snow to the Rainbow Trail TH. Since the South Colony Lakes TH is just a short distance beyond, I can‘t imagine any snow whatsoever on the road. We didn‘t hit snow on Humboldt‘s East Ridge until almost 11,000 ft.
10/11/2012 Posted On: 10/12/2012 By: Alpineair Info: Road and trail were ice and snow free to summit of Humbolt Peak. Beautiful conditions.

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