LoJ: #484 (Pre-LiDAR #483) / 13,209' Mount Nebo

Range › San Juan Range
Quadrangle › Storm King Peak
Summit Location › Peak Route Icon N 37° 40' 34.50", W 107° 30' 30.37" (Not Field Checked)

Peak Summary

Mt. Nebo is a rockier Class 2 hike that utilizes a segment of the Continental Divide Trail and is located in the heart of the Weminuche Wilderness. The closest vehicle access is the Beartown/Kite Lake trailhead north of Hunchback Pass. 4WD with good clearance is required to reach this trailhead. Though this summit could be completed in a day from that trailhead, most will want to climb other nearby 13ers located all along Vallecito and Rock Creeks, turning this into a multi-day backpack trip. Climbers may want to pair this summit with UN13,110 and UN13,230. Mt. Nebo offers one of the best views of the northern part of this wilderness. Lidar added 4 feet of elevation.

Mt. Nebo SE Ridge Route

Class 2
backpacker icon + Peak Icon Peak Icon Peak Icon
Backpack + Medium Day
Climbed with UN 13232 + UN 13171 + UN 13121
RT From Bear Creek/Hunchback Pass/Kite Lake: 10.4 mi / 5,060'
RT From Nebo Creek with "Formerly UN 13110"+"Formerly UN 13230": 4.9 mi / 3,160'
From "Formerly UN 13230": 0.90 mi / 725' (One-Way)
  • Trailhead
    • Bear Creek/Hunchback Pass/Kite Lake TH

      WARNING: This trail head approach REQUIRES 4WD with good ground clearance. The drive as described below from Silverton may take up to 2.5 hours.

      From the Town of Silverton, and where the main road splits at the NE end of town, drive 4.2 miles NE up along the Animas River on blue-signed County Road 2 to Howardsville. Turn right onto FR589 up Cunningham Gulch and stay right at the turn for the "Old Mine Tour" (4.4 miles) but do take the left fork toward Stony Pass (FR737) at 5.9miles. Once on the Stony Pass Road, expect 4W conditions. The road climbs steeply to the pass. Abundant wildflowers as you approach the pass may delay you. Once across the pass, the road becomes FR520 and eventually leads to Rio Grande Reservoir, but you will not drive that far. The road eventually descends down the valley to a low water crossing of Pole Creek. There are several primitive campsites on both sides of the Pole Creek crossing. Watch out for the steep embankment climb out on the east side if the road is wet from rains. You could easily slip off the edge. After the crossing, continue south for under a mile to another fork where you'll turn right (west). Another long, low water crossing is found here across the Rio Grande River. This crossing is usually more shallow than the Pole Creek, but the closer you are to runoff season, the more difficult these crossings will be.

      It is also possible to come into this area from either Creede or Lake City over Slumgullion and Spring Pass to Rio Grande Reservoir. From state highway 149 either about 20.5 miles from Creede or 32 miles from Lake City, turn west onto FS520 and drive all the way to the reservoir on the well-signed, graded dirt road. Passenger cars can make it all the way to the "Lost Trail Campground" at the far west end of the reservoir. Beyond that point, FR520 continues west and crosses some rugged sections before connecting with the other section of FR520 coming down from Stony Pass and the low-water crossing of the Rio Grande. We have never driven in all the way on this section and from those we know who have, they have complained about one particularly difficult stretch.

      From the Rio Grande crossing, continue up what is now, the Beartown Road for a slow 4 miles (mainly because of potholes) to the former location of Beartown. (There's really nothing left to see there, but just before the road crosses Bear Creek, beyond the old townsite, there is some good camping. The road goes all the way to Kite Lake at about 12,100 ft., but the Hunchback Pass trailhead is about 1/2 mile below the lake. There's a trail sign there and some very limited parking is available. Road Notes as of 2018: About half the distance toward Beartown, the road crosses an unnamed creek and at that spot, there are some difficult mud/potholes that have really been dug out. Longer bed vehicles may have some difficulty getting through. Take it slow. Closer to Beartown, the road passes through a fence line. At that point, the road conditions will begin to deteriorate and become more rocky as it begins to gain some elevation.

      As the road begins climbing more steeply toward Kite Lake and the Hunchback trailhead, after crossing Bear Creek, it becomes quite a bit more rocky in that stretch as well. For a long section, the road is deeply entrenched in the middle because of runoff and the trench tends to fill with loose rocks. If you have driven in here to do the Ute Ridge group of summits, camp in the vicinity of where the road crosses Bear Creek just past the old Beartown site. See coordinates below. From that creek crossing, it's not quite .3 mile to the trailhead for Ute Ridge, which is a jeep track that turns off to the left and drops down to cross another lesser fork of Bear Creek. Park somewhere along this track if heading for Ute Ridge. On the Caltopo map, this trail is called the "Bear Town Trail" and designated FR869. On trails Illustrated Map #140, it does not appear to have a designation. Coordinates for this road & trailhead are: N 37° 42' 54.53" W 107° 30' 35.00". You can find a good camp spot here as well. You can also find some additional camp spots within a few hundred yards of the Hunchback Pass trailhead. One of those spots goes off to the south to an old mining area.


      Camping

      You can find some very limited camping spots in the immediate vicinity of the Hunchback trailhead. There's one particularly good spot back down the road a fairly short distance on the south side. There's also some good camping back toward the Beartown site. See coordinates provided.


      Campsite Locations

      Beartown Campsite › N 37° 43' 05.02", W 107° 30' 35.47"
    Approach Map Photos
    • From Bear Creek/Hunchback Pass/Kite Lake TH via Nebo Creek & "Formerly UN 13230":

      • Hunchback Pass to Nebo Creek  Moderate | RT: 5.5 mi / 1,900’

        This "approach" is part of a sequence of approaches that utilize the Vallecito Trail beginning near Kite Lake and above the "Beartown" site. The trailhead is located at: N37° 42' 44.57" W 107° 31' 04.97". Use the "Beartown/Kite Lake/Hunchback trailhead information for instructions on how to drive to the TH.

        The trailhead is actually within the Rio Grande National Forest. The TH number is #813 on both the San Juan and older Rio Grande National Forest maps and is a part of the "Continental Divide Trail" at this location and segment. Once the trail crosses Hunchback Pass, it crosses over into San Juan National Forest and becomes #529, continuing south all the way to Vallecito Reservoir. If using Trails Illustrated #140, they identify this as the Continental Divide Trail and use the #813. Walk south from the TH and follow the easy gradient through open terrain with some willows to Hunchback Pass. The trail first sweeps SE, then makes a gradual turn SW, then west to the open, tundra-covered pass with about 900 feet of gain over just under a mile. Coordinates for the pass are: N 37° 42' 16.62" W 107° 31' 12.37". Hunchback Mountain is west along the divide and can be easily climbed by those interested in bagging all the 13ers. You can drop your pack, stroll to the summit and return in under an hour.

        From Hunchback Pass, continue south heading straight down an unnamed fork of Vallecito Creek (or could perhaps be considered an unnamed fork of Nebo Creek.) The trail cuts trough plenty of willows in this section and stays on the west side of the drainage until a little before the trees. Because of the numerous willows, plan on getting pants & boots drenched if it has rained recently. Also, as a general point, the Vallecito Trail is utilized regularly by pack horse groups so you can expect to see and experience some of the typical trail damage done by horses. The trail then turns to the SE and comes to an intersection. A newer trail (#813) that does not show on the 1964 USGS map heads east up Nebo Creek, crosses the Continental Divide and goes to West Ute Lake. That is the continuation of the Continental Divide Trail. The Vallecito Trail continues south and west from this intersection. Near the trail intersection, there is a very large and good campsite on a prominent knoll above Nebo Creek on the NW side. The campsite makes a good base camp for 13ers off the CD trail including Mt. Nebo, UN13,110, UN13,230, and UN13,169, all of which can be done in a single day from the campsite. See "Camping info" for more details.


        Route shown is an approximation. Not intended for use as a GPX track.

        Camping

        The Nebo Campsite sits near the intersection of the Vallecito Trail and the Continental Divide Trail. This camp site is not to be confused with another located about a mile farther down the trail where Nebo Creek is actually crossed. The elevation is appx. 11,400 ft. Coordinates are below. These coordinates have been field checked. The campsite is right off the main trail. Because of the beetle kill damage to the old growth trees here, the original camp area has seen some ground vegetation moving back in. There is still one, good, main tent site with fire ring as of 2018, a smaller but usable tent site just off to the NW from the fire ring and 50 yards south, there is a potential camp site located on the grassy knoll. Water may be obtained from Nebo Creek which will lie east of and downhill from the campsite.


        Campsite Locations

        Nebo Campsite N 37° 41' 10.9", W 107° 31' 14.7"
        11,400 appx. elevation

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      • UN13,121 South Ridge  Class 2 / 2.0 mi / 1,660’ One-Way

        The route for this summit begins from our suggested campsite near the junction of the Vallecito trail #529 and the Continental Divide Trail #813, south of Hunchback Pass. UN13,121 is the first summit in a four-summit day. It is sequenced with UN13,232; Mt. Nebo and UN13,171.

        From that campsite and the nearby trail junction, walk east up along Nebo Creek on the Continental Divide Trail. Just past the last trees, some avalanche debris and snow in 2005 obscured the trail for a while. The trail heads uphill to the east for a while above the trees and through the willow-clogged valley with UN13,121 in full view, then swings SE into a great, tundra basin, climbing on a few switchbacks. There's a scenic tarn below the pass on the west side. From that tarn, you may want to begin veering north toward the south ridge of UN13,121 instead of going all the way to the pass on the trail. In July, there will be abundant wildflowers and some especially nice columbine nestled in between lichen-covered rocks heading up this way.

        Once on the south ridge of the peak walk north toward the summit. The journey to this first summit will be over mostly tundra with some broken rock (rubble) interspersed. Enjoy the fairly easy hiking.

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      • UN13,232 NW Ridge  Class 2 / 1.1 mi / 775’ One-Way

        UN13,232 is sequenced with UN13,121 to the north. Mileage and elevation gain estimates are measured from the UN13,121 summit. From UN13,121 walk south back down the ridge to the connecting saddle between it and UN13,232. You will cross the Continental Divide Trail at the saddle. Begin ascending first, a NNE/SSW running ridge of UN13,232 on mostly broken rock. Earlier in the season some snow along the ridge may help avoid some of the rock. Nearing the top of this section of ridge, you may want to veer over into a steep couloir to reach the flatter section of the NW ridge. This flatter section offers a reprieve from the rubble, at least briefly. Proceed SE along the ridge crest for the most part, but always on the south side. As the ridge steepens, on the north side there will be precipitous cliffs, while the south side will be mainly rock rubble that will become increasingly large as you more slowly approach the summit. Time from UN13,121 should be an hour or less. From this summit, decide if you want to continue to Mt. Nebo and choose the best the course to do so. Since Nebo is the highest 13er in this group, it would make little sense to leave it hanging.

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    Peak Icon Route Map Photos

    Route Info Mt. Nebo SE Ridge

    Route Description

    Year Climbed: 2005

    Mt. Nebo is sequenced with UN13,110 and UN13,230, in that order. Elevation gain and mileage are measured from the summit of UN13,230. There are two routes you can take from UN13,230 over to Nebo. One would be to hike back down the NW ridge of UN13,230 back to the flatter section of ridge, then follow the connecting ridge west over to Nebo. At first, you may see some cliffs that appear to harbor some problems for this traverse. It turns out they do not offer any serious obstruction. Once down to the saddle, it's a rocky, rubbly walk to the summit. The mileage this way is shorter, about.75 mile and the elevation gain is less, coming in at about 500 feet.

    Our route took us down off the summit of UN13,230 by walking south and SW off the summit, on mostly all tedious, medium-sized rubble. Swing west as you descend to the outlet of the unnamed lake that lies between Mt. Nebo and UN13,230. Cross the outlet and then begin re-ascending the broad, SE ridge of Nebo. Nice tundra initially will give way to small chiprock from something that appears shale-like. This will making footing a little loose and you may be slipping back on some steps. Time from UN13,230 will be about 1 hour.

    Mt. Nebo offers an striking view of both the Vallecito drainage and the Rock Creek drainage as well and all the peaks surrounding them. You can see north all the way to Hunchback Pass or virtually all the way down to Vallecito Reservoir. You can see almost all the Needle Mountains and Grenadier summits. From this summit, you can call it a day and head back to camp and get back at a reasonable hour. But if you wish to "clean out" the 13ers in this locale, then one more lies to the south, which we added to our day - UN13,169.


    Additional BETA

    Links to other information, routes & trip reports for this peak that may be helpful.
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