California Peak Colorado 13er Hike Guide

July 6, 2021 The Virtual Sherpa Comments 0 Comment

California Peak is a centennial located in the Sangre de Cristo Range of Colorado. The mountain is just over 13,850ft and comes in as the 84th highest peak in Colorado. California Peak is a class 2 hike and shares 75% of the hike with the standard route up to Lily Lake which is beautiful in its own right. Once leaving Lily Lake trail conditions are awful with over 600ft of vertical gain on loose scree, dirt and rocks. Its common to descend via the MUCH easier northwest slopes route.

California Peak Quick Facts

Virtual Trail Guide: California Peak

California Peak Rating: ★★★ (3/5 Stars)

Distance: 8.4 Miles with descent via North Slopes, 10.5 Miles RT

Elevation Start: 10,689ft (Upper TH)

Highest Point: 13,849ft

Total Elevation Gain: 4,200ft

Estimated Time to Complete: 6-10 Hours RT (depending on starting point)

Difficulty: Moderate Difficulty System Explained

Class: Class 2 What does this mean?

Season: Late June – Late November – Expect snow & SEVERAL more miles outside of this period

Weather: Check the Weather Forecast

Directions to California Peak

Trailhead: Upper Huerfano Creek/Lily Lake

Getting Here: Navigate to the small (like spec on the map) town of Gardner, Colorado. Just west of the town on Colorado Highway 69, turn onto a road with signage towards Mosco Pass. Essentially, you are going to stay on this road for about 22 miles until the trailhead. But here is a breakdown of milestones:

Road stays paved for 7 miles, then turns into dirt. After 11.8 miles, stay left onto Forest Road 580. After another 5.8 miles, you will pass the entrance to the Singing River Ranch. The road narrows a bit, but is still very doable with a 2WD car. After another .9 miles, you will pass another ranch (Aspen River) and the road starts to get a bit dicey for passenger vehicles. From this point, you have about 4.3 miles until you reach the Lily Lake TH. There are sections of the road that are very tough with a 2WD car, but for the most part it is doable in most stock SUVs and does not require 4×4. Pick your lines and accept that you might bottom out. If you are heading to the Lily Lake TH with a lower clearance car, avoid early summer months when snow melt will make the road muddy and eaten out.

Fees: There is no fee to hike California Peak.

Parking: California Peak has a small free parking lot at the upper trailhead. The lot can probably fit about 10 cars with room to park more along the road. Parking is free but there are no restroom facilities. If you park further down the road its more of a pull off situation with no official “lower” trailhead.

Summary

Camping: There are spots to camp along the drive to Lily Lake TH, but just be mindful of the private land along the way. It will be clearly marked and they do not take kindly to trespassing. As you get closer to the trailhead, the selection of camping spots somewhat dwindles, but if you need to camp, it will not be hard to find a spot.

Dogs: California Peak is dog friendly so long as your dog is good on VERY loose scree and rocks. This hike stays in a wilderness area for the majority of the trail so be sure to keep your dog on a leash.

Make it a Loop: This is an out and back hike or a loop hike if you descend via the northwest slopes. If you want more hiking in the area, add on neighboring Mt Lindsey.

X Factors: Trailhead

If you have a stock 4×4 or AWD car you can ignore this section. If you do not, getting to the upper trailhead can present major challenges. Although the road to the upper trailhead is not awful if you have some clearance its borderline impassable with passenger vehicles unless you have a huge tolerance for scraping and lots of experience driving on very rough roads. There are not major boulders or rocks but rather massive deep potholes. Unfortunately these are spread out throughout the road and start right off the bat. If you are not able to make it to the upper TH, expect to add 5+ miles of hiking to this otherwise easy hike.

Hike Tip(s): Although it is possible to descend the same route you came, I would highly advise on not doing that. The preferred and recommended route to descend California Peak would be off the northwest slopes. Don’t take this route as an “easy” it still involves a bit of route finding and lots of loose dirt but its much easier than the awful rock and scree fields above Lily Lake. I would highly recommend ascending via Lily Lake though because it is stunningly beautiful.

Best Views: This hike really has great views from start to finish with my favorite right before, at and above Lily Lake. The summit views are great in all directions but are truly awesome looking north to see the Crestone group and the Great Sand Dunes National Park.

California Peak Hike Route

Up via Lily Lake, Down Northwest Slopes

Gear Needed

14er Packing List
Hiking Boots or Trail Runners

Backpack
Protection from Sun – almost entire hike is above tree line
Optional: Map of area or GPS – I use the Garmin inReach

Optional: Hiking Poles
Optional: Headlamp
Optional: Camera

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My Trip to California Peak: September 2020

After spending a beautiful night camping and the day before hiking Mt Lindsey via the Northwest Ridge and Huerfano Peak, I was ready for another centennial, California Peak. I had never been up to Lily Lake before and was blown away how beautiful it was. The views of neighboring Iron Nipple, Mt Lindsey and Huerfano Peak to the west and amazing Blanca and Ellingwood Point to the south. If all of that wasn’t cool enough, there were a variety of rushing streams and stunning waterfalls below the lake as well. Lily Lake itself was a beauty and one I would 100% revisit.

After leaving the lake, trail conditions went south very quickly. Lots of loose rock, scree and steep dirt slopes. Once on the ridge it was a quick hike on some rollers to gain California Peak. The summit was extremely windy and cold so I didn’t spend much time there. I descended via the northwest slopes which I would highly recommend.