Crestones
Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle seen from the south
Highest point
Peak	Crestone Peak
Elevation	14,300 feet (4,359 m)[1]
Listing	Mountain ranges of Colorado
Coordinates	37°58′00″N 105°35′07″W / 37.9666665°N 105.5852865°W / 37.9666665; -105.5852865[2]
Geography
Crestones
Country	United States
State	Colorado
Range coordinates	37°58′01″N 105°35′07″W / 37.9668400°N 105.5853471°W / 37.9668400; -105.5853471[3]
Parent range	Sangre de Cristo Range

The Crestones are a group of four 14,000-foot (4,300 m) peaks (fourteeners) in the Sangre de Cristo Range above Crestone, central southern Colorado, comprising:

1. Crestone Peak (14,294 ft; 4,357 m )
2. Crestone Needle (14,197 ft; 4,327 m )
3. Kit Carson Mountain (14,165 ft; 4,317 m )
4. Humboldt Peak (14,064 ft; 4,287 m )

Snow is usually mostly melted by early July. Climbers can expect afternoon rain, hail, and lightning from the seasonal monsoon in late July and August.

Climbing

• Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle are rock scrambles (Class 3) with some exposure.
• Kit Carson Mountain is a walk-up (Class 2), but only if the correct route is carefully followed; it has claimed more lives than Crestone Peak or Crestone Needle. Challenger Point (14,081 ft; 4,292 m ) and Columbia Point (13,980-foot (4,261 m)) are sub-peaks of Kit Carson Mountain.
• Humboldt Peak is the easiest of the four, with a straightforward walk-up route. Sometimes Humboldt is not included in the term "The Crestones."

Broken Hand Peak, 13,573 ft (4,137 m), southeast of Crestone Needle, is included within the official name "Crestone Peaks".^[3] Mount Adams (13,931 ft; 4,246 m ) is a notable peak just to the north of the Crestones, and is quite rugged.

Note that Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle are somewhat more technical climbs than many Colorado fourteeners; caution is advised. About one person per year is killed on the Crestones; occasionally they are skilled mountaineers.^[4]

See also

• • Rocky Mountains
    • Southern Rocky Mountains
      • Sangre de Cristo Mountains
        • Sangre de Cristo Range
• Geography of Colorado
  • Mountain ranges of Colorado
    • Mountain peaks of Colorado
    • Mountain passes of Colorado
• Outline of Colorado
• Index of Colorado-related articles

References

External links

• The Crestones on TopoQuest
• U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Crestone Peaks or Crestone Group
• Well illustrated trip report of climbs of Crestone Needle and Crestone Peak via Broken Hand Pass

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Crestones.