Colfax County Highpoint Trip Report

Little Costilla Peak (12,584 ft)

Date: September 2, 2005
Author: Rich Wilson

We took off from US 64 about 4.5 miles east of Cimarron on Forest Road 1950. This road is not marked as such until it enters National Forest lands. The sign on the highway reads Valle Vidal. We followed the good dirt road for about 41 miles, then parked at a small turnout by Grassy Creek.

We headed up through a meadow. At the top of the meadow, the gradient steepened as we entered the trees. Various segments of use trail headed up and to the right. We made use of these paths and, as we approached the top of the ridge, the gradient lessened. Here, we encountered the fence line mentioned in previous reports. The fence is, for the most part, down but is very easy to follow. A use trail exists for most of the way on one side or the other, all the way up to timber line. At that point, we abandoned the fence and headed for the ridge to the right. An easy traverse led to two false summits and then the top. A red can register was found, placed in 2004 by Richard Carey, if I'm not mistaken.

The first 3/4 mile took us an hour due to the steep terrain. There was no one else on the mountain that day.

I figure about 8 miles round trip with 2,600 feet of gain.