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A few years ago I remember seeing and reading about an alternative route up Crestone Peak on the other side of Broken Hand Pass. Essentially hiking directly to the lake from the west instead of up and over BHP. I recall it was on private property and maybe a youth camp or religious camp or something? Does anyone know the name of the trailhead and/or the name/contact info of the property owner?

Looking for a change of scenery (not that South Colony isn't beautiful) for our Crestrone climb this summer. Maybe theyll have mercy on a couple of flat landers. =] We've been on that road too many times in recent years!

Cheers,
Jonathan

The Cottonwood Creek drainage is that. It's more demanding, but also more scenic, more wilderness and all-around a better hike IMO.

There are several links in this thread. The TH is on a religious retreat property but is open with limited parking last I heard.

http://www.14ers.com/forum/viewtopic.ph ... wood+creek" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I just hiked the Cottonwood Creek trail to go climb Crestone Peak. The trail does originate on private property, but the owners allow access for now. If you're adventurous and fit, I highly recommend this route. Here's some beta:

-This trail does not maintained, so it can fade in and out, but as long as you follow the general route you'll be OK. There are a lot of downed trees.

-The forest itself is really neat: uncharacteristically wet for Colorado; more like Oregon or Middle Earth.

-After three miles, you'll have to scramble across steep, polished rocks, aka boilerplates. This would suck when wet from rain.

-At about four miles from the TH, you need to veer sharp left and up hill (you'll see a cliff that looks like a face, aim left of the face). A separate faint trail heads straight up the valley toward Cottonwood Pass.

-The faint trail can be hard to follow in the willows, but its doable.

-I did this as a day hike and I recommend it that way. A heavy pack would make all of the aforementioned challenges much worse (plus you can sleep in a bed and eat dinner at Crestone Brewing Company). Bring your wilderness skills and conditioning A game.

-Finally, bring plenty of bug repellent.

It is a challenging trail and probably longer than going from South Colony. And it's currently massively full of mosquitoes (lots of it is...a swamp). Camping at cottonwood lake is cool.