Crestone Needle South Face

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 2WD Trailhead at 8,800'. To reach the 4WD Trailhead, continue 2.7 miles to parking/camp spots before a river crossing, near 9,950'. 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.

This route assumes your are using the standard South Colony Lakes Approach to start. If you choose to use the more difficult Cottonwood Lake Approach, you'll need to hike from Cottonwood Lake to Broken Hand Pass. Then you can skip the next paragraph of this route description. Climbing the Needle with an approach from Cottonwood results in 6,100' of elevation gain in about 12.5 miles roundtrip.

Near 11,650', and near Lower South Colony Lake, turn left on the trail towards Broken Hand Pass  1  2. From here, it's just under 2 miles to the summit of the Needle. The trail is defined for a while but can become hard to follow as you get higher into the rocky terrain  3. Follow the trail/cairns south up the north slopes of Broken Hand Peak before traversing west to reach loose terrain below Broken Hand Pass  4. Climb through a narrow, Class 3 section with few options  7 and hike another 200 feet to reach the pass at 12,850'.

Taken from 13er Broken Hand Peak,  6 provides a view of the remaining route up the south face. Turn right  7 and follow a defined trail toward the Needle's upper south face  8  9  10. Near 13,300', down-climb a short pitch into a notch  11, then turn left and descend approximately 75 feet to reach the east gully  12  13. STOP! The trail ends here, and it's important to look carefully at the area so you know where to return to the trail during the descent.

Once you're in the gully, turn right and climb (Class 3) approximately 300 feet  14  15 to reach a section where the center of the gully becomes deep and narrow. Above this area, the gully forms a dihedral, and the difficulty increases to Class 4  16  17. To the right of the dihedral, climb a short, steep pitch  18. This is the crux of the east gully route. After this pitch, reach a ledge where you can take a break from climbing  19. Re-enter the gully and continue climbing to reach a couple of chockstones  20  21. Climb over the stones and continue up the obvious gully  22  23. Near 13,900', the terrain opens up a bit  24. Stay on the right side, next to a wall, and follow the remaining gully to the summit ridge  25  26  27. Turn left and scramble to the summit  28  29. Descend the same way.

CROSSOVER VARIATION - Climbing the west gully:
This variation crosses to the west gully and climbs it to the summit ridge. It's more complicated than the direct route described above but provides an interesting climb. From the base of the dihedral, look for a spot to turn left and cross the gully  30  31. Next, climb a steep pitch to reach a notch to the right of an angled rock tower  32  33. The crossing of the gully and climb to the notch are the crux of this variation. Now on the rib that separates the two gullies, climb slightly higher  34 and scramble down a few feet into the west gully  35. STOP! Look carefully at this area so you know where to cross back to the east gully on your descent. The west gully is fairly straightforward and leads to the summit ridge. Climb steep, stable rock  36  37 for nearly 400 feet to the top of the gully, near 14,000'. Continuing in the same direction, scramble up a ramp  38  39 to reach the summit ridge  40. Scramble along a narrow section and turn left to reach the summit. Return the same way, or via the entire east gully, as described above.

This climb involves a careful route finding. IMPORTANT: This route enters the Sangre De Cristo Wilderness area. Designated wilderness areas have special regulations and restrictions for party size, dispersed camping, campfires, etc. Also, dog owners should read the wilderness information carefully because some wilderness areas prohibit dogs to be off-leash and/or limit how close dogs can be to lakes and streams. If you have questions about the wilderness area, please contact a U.S. Forest Service office for the National Forest(s) listed above.