Directions

From the town of Buena Vista, turn west from US285 onto CR306, also known as the Cottonwood Pass Road. Drive 7.7 miles on pavement to an intersection and turn left (south) onto CR344 for Cottonwood Lake. Drive 3.6 miles on graded, gravel road to the east end of the lake where there's a picnic ground. West of the lake, thee's a forest service campground. See details below. From the east end of the lake and the turn off for the picnic area, drive west another 3.35 miles on graded gravel to the Hope Gulch TH. The turnoff can be easy to miss. Continue another .95 mile for the Green Timer Gulch TH, again on the south side of the road. The road drops steeply down and leads to an attractive, at-large camp area. Higher clearance vehicle may be desirable to access this area. A foot-bridge across South Cottonwood Creek begins the trail.

For Jonesy Gulch, drive another .9 mile to where the road crosses the creek coming out of Jonesy Gulch. Park in the vicinity. There is no official trail here. This trailhead accesses Gladstone Ridge to the north of CR344, so you will be hiking north into the dense aspen trees. If using GPS, you may want to "mark" your vehicle.


Camping

The Cottonwood Lake CG sits a little beyond the west end of Cottonwood Lake and is forest service maintained. There are 28 sites. Water and vault toilets are available. As with most such campgrounds, they tend to fill completely on summer weekends. This is a first come, first serve campground.

Beyond the campground, (west) there are several at-large, primitive sites including at the trailheads for Hope Gulch and Green Timber as well. Additional sites may be found farther west up the road. Be aware there are private property parcels along this road. There's a good primitive site about a half-mile west past Jonesy Gulch at coordinates provided below.


Campsite Locations

Cottonwood Lake CG › N 38° 46' 58.22", W 106° 17' 24.75"
Elevation 9585 ft.
Primitive Site › N 38° 46' 33.63", W 106° 18' 25.87"
Elevation 9690 ft.
Primitive site 2 › N 38° 45' 36.30", W 106° 21' 20.55"
Elevation 10590 ft.
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