LoJ: #394 (Pre-LiDAR #409) / 13,308' UN 13308 Formerly UN 13300 & UN 13,285
N 37° 57' 11.90", W 106° 56' 34.41"
(Not Field Checked)
UN 13166 [Formerly UN 13155]
San Luis Peak
Peak Summary
Note: While the San Luis quad shows an elevation of 13,285 ft., on sites estimates have concluded that there is a higher summit on the NE rocky section and that the survey map is missing a contour. LoJ has gone ahead and listed the elevation as 13,308 ft. per Lidar evaluation. G&M in the Third Edition still has the elevation as 13,285, hence, a lower ranking. Gerry Roach shows this as PT 13,300 A on his list.
While there is some dispute as to the actual elevation of this summit, it is still a 13er that cannot be argued. We rate it an easy Class 2 ascent from the West Willow Creek TH which is accessible to 4WD or higher clearance vehicles, unless you park back at the Equity Mine, (where passenger type vehicles can drive to) which will add about 2.5 miles round-trip to your hiking day.
UN 13,308 NW Ridge Route
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West Willow CK - San Luis Pass - Creede TH
From the town of Creede and CO149, where the highway crosses the main stream in town, (Willow Creek) turn north and follow the Main St. north through the heart of town. Locate the Rio Grande Field Service Office on the right hand side of the street and measure from there. Continue north through town and begin the steep climb up the narrow canyon on a graded, gravel road. Beyond the town, this road becomes CR503. From the end of the pavement, we measured 6.7 miles to the Equity Mine, which is where the 2WD road terminates, or 7.2 from the Rio Grande Field Office. When the road forks at 1.2 miles, stay left to continue on CR503. At 5.0 miles, CR504 turns off to the left. Remain on CR503 to reach the parking area just outside the Equity Mine.
For those with 4WD and good clearance, FR503 continues north, veering off the County Road just shortly before the Equity Mine parking. The road climbs rather steeply at first, then progresses up valley and then drops back down some to cross West Willow Creek to the east side in about .6 mile from the turnoff just before the Equity Mine. The road continues north through open terrain and at 1.25 mile from the Equity Mine turnoff, it drops to the creek and crosses back over to the west bank. In 2019, we found the road blocked by the Forest Service at this crossing because of some serious road degradation further up and so we had to start walking from here, however, the local district office indicated this closure was expected to be temporary. If the road is open, drive another .6 mile to a place where the road turns sharply uphill. There is some limited parking here for just a few vehicles. Most stock SUV's should be able to drive to this point. The trail for San Luis Pass and the trail that splits off for San Luis Peak, over six miles away, heads north from this point. This makes a good location to begin hikes for the various 13ers located around this drainage, on either side. There is not any good camping at this site though. If your vehicle can make it, continue on up the short stretch of steep gain on the road and there is a large, flatter, open area where it's possible to camp, but no trees close by. Overall, the road to the trailhead and coordinates provided was not all that bad in 2019.
Camping
There are very limited, good camping opportunities along the West Willow Creek Road. A section of the road passes through privately owned land prior to reaching the Equity Mine. This property is fenced. Where FR504 turns off, there may be some camping possibility there, but you're right on the private property boundary from what we could tell. The best campsite we saw was 6.2 miles from the Field Office, or about one mile before reaching the Equity Mine. On the 4WD section of road, there were no primitive sites and only a couple spots that were level enough to provide a reasonable "car-camp" for the night. One was just after the first creek crossing, the other is just before the second creek crossing.
Click thumbnail to view full-size photo + captionRoute Description
Year Climbed: 2010From the West Willow Creek TH, walk up the trail that leads to San Luis Pass. It starts out on the west side of the creek and after a short distance, crosses over to the east side to join what the survey map calls “The Creede Pack Trail.” Instead of following this trail farther north, turn off onto another track that heads northeast up the tundra and grass covered slope. It crosses a pass at 12,300 ft. and joins the “Skyline Trail” on the other side which is now part of the Colorado Trail. The trail becomes obscure in the willows near the top, but the other trail can be easily spotted. Well before getting as high as that pass though, we turned east and dropped into the gully a little, then crossed back uphill, worked our way easily through some more willows and then began following an open tundra-covered slope all the way up to the false summit that lies northwest of UN 13,308. This summit shows as 13,080 ft. or more. Obtaining it was an easy walk-up. From here, there is no problem in walking over and up to the main summit. Follow the ridge southeast which drops less than 200 feet. Along this ridge, the north facing side drops away precipitously on gargantuan slabs of sheered rock. You may want to pause and attempt some photos of the impressive sight. Then, continue on to the huge, flat summit of UN 13,308.
There is some confusion regarding this summit. The survey maps provides an elevation of 13,285 ft. The revised G&M also list it as being this elevation and rank it as #409. However, on Gerry Roach’s site, http://www.climb.mountains.com/Project_Island_files/CO_13ers.shtml the peak is considered to be Pt.13,300 A with a new ranking of #395 and on Lists of John the peak is listed as 13,300 ft. with a ranking of #395. Why the discrepancy? Well all one has to do is climb the peak and you’ll see. As the flat summit gives way to the connecting northeast ridge, there are some rocky outcrops that are evidently higher than the flat summit area. All one has to do is stand on the highest rocky outcrop and the problem becomes very evident. The survey map is incorrectly drawn. As noted on Lists of John, the rocky northeast end is 15 – 20ft. higher. So Kirk & Roach have determined to grant a higher ranking to this otherwise, undistinguished peak. To make sure we had indeed climbed this little 13er, we ventured out along the rocky crest and stood upon what we deemed to be the highest point. We walked across the entire, flat summit area to get there passing through tundra meadows full of Old-Man-on-the-Mountain with their sunny faces turned toward the east sun. Now, Lidar has added an additional 8 feet in elevation making this summit, 13,308 ft.
Additional BETA
Links to other information, routes & trip reports for this peak that may be helpful. -
