Cottonwood Pass, Colorado: Photos, Hikes & Information (Altitude 12,126 Feet On Continental Divide)

Welcome To Cottonwood Pass! Please visit the Discussion Forum with any comments or questions. Also: About This Site, Make a Submission, Webmaster's Myspace

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Fierce Snowstorm At The Divide
Cottonwood Pass is still open, but probably not for long. Enjoy these photos of a fierce and intense snowstorm at the divide ... View Photos

Snowy Drive With Brandi

Brandi and I made the drive to Cottonwood Pass while a snowstorm hit much of the Continental Divide ... View Photos

Winter Arrives At Cottonwood Pass

I made a late afternoon visit to Cottonwood Pass and captured more photos of the snowy Rocky Mountain scenery ... View Photos

Sunset - September 13, 2006

Tonight's sunset at Cottonwood Pass was short but very powerful with bright shades of pink, purple and orange ... View Photos

Autumn Colors At Timberline

Autumn is beginning to show some colors above timberline at Cottonwood Pass ... View Photos

July 20 - Cottonwood Pass Photos

A picture collection from a visit to Cottonwood Pass on July 20. The switchbacks on the Gunnison County side make for ... View Photos

Kansans Visit Cottonwood Pass

Brandi and her family from Kansas were visiting the area and reaching Cottonwood Pass was on the agenda ... View Pictures

Very Overcast Afternoon

Very dark clouds hovered over Cottonwood Pass and much of the Sawatch Range this afternoon ... View Pictures

Hanging Out With A Cigar

Steve smoked a top quality cigar a friend sent him, and it was only fitting that he smoked it at Cottonwood Pass ... View Pictures

Remaining Snow In The Forest

If you are visiting the Cottonwood Pass area from a warmer climate region, there is still some remaining snow to enjoy! ... View Pictures

Afternoon Drive To Summit

I needed to get out of cabin and took a relaxed drive to the Cottonwood Pass summit for some reflection ... View Pictures

Continental Divide Trail

The Continental Divide Trail heads south at Cottonwood Pass and offer great views all around ... View Pictures

West Side Of
Cottonwood Pass Road

With Cottonwood Pass Road now open, it was so nice to meander on the Gunnison County side ... View Pictures

Photos Of Crested Butte

Crested Butte is a well planned ski town with a great historic district and mountain views ... View Pictures

Colorado Scenery At Its Best

Past the Cottonwood Pass Road gate, I thought I would bike as far up as I could. There was still way too much snow ... View Pictures

Taylor Park Reservoir

Taylor Lake is a popular destination for campers, boaters and fishing enthusiasts ... View Pictures

Winter Hike: Denny Creek Trail

An usual warm spell in February provided the opportunity to hike a mile into the Denny Creek Trail, which eventually leads to the Mt. Yale summit ... View Pictures

Crested Butte

Gunnison

Aspen

Buena Vista

A Walk Along Timberline
Ambitious morning hiking plans turned into a relaxed wandering around timberline in Colorado's high country. Enjoy the photos! ... View Photos

Four Sunsets In June

The Pass Opens For 2008
Cottonwood Pass opened today, making the drive from Buena Vista to places like Crested Butte, Taylor Park Reservoir and various Gunnison County points much shorter and scenic ... View Photos

Snow Scenes and Hazy Sunset

The contrast of white snow and pink clouds from a late October sunset at the divide was pretty ... View Photos

Hike To Ptarmigan Lake

Ptarmigan Lake is lake above timberline with grand views of Jones Mountain, Turner Peak and Mt. Yale. Its trailhead is on Chaffee County Road 306 ... View Photos

Nearby 13er Turner Peak

I created a tribute page with photos of Turner Peak, a Colorado "13er" near the pass ... Read More

The Anti-Freeze Barf Incident

Derek, Anna and Steve visited the pass last night and some interesting things happened ... View Photos

Unnamed Point, 12,792 Feet

Today I hiked to the second unnamed peak (12,792 feet) south of Cottonwood Pass, simply by walking along the divide ... View Photos

Wandering Around The Pass

A Friday morning wandering on the Gunnison County side of the pass makes for some nice photos ... View Photos

Roadside Cascading Waterfall

My time at Cottonwood Pass seemed mundane, but that changed when I discovered a roadside cascading waterfall ... View Photos

The Gladstone Mine

The Gladstone Mine was one of the few mines inside the east canyon leading to Cottonwood Pass ... View Photos

First Visit To The Pass In 2007

Cottonwood Pass is still officially closed, but I made it to the top on the Buena Vista side quite easily in my Honda ... View Photos

More Colorado Snowfall

Shannon and Steve drive to the pass to get away for awhile and they enjoy a typical Colorado snowstorm up there ... View Photos

More Snow - March 29, 2007

There has been snowfall for three consecutive days and enjoy some decent Colorado snow photos from today's drive ... View Photos

Snow And Snowmobilers

After two full days of snowfall, the snowmobilers seemed to really enjoy playing at Cottonwood Pass ... View Photos

The Sunset - October 12, 2006

Enjoy a beautiful photo of the sunset at Cottonwood Pass taken on October 12 ... View Photo

Windy Colorado Snowstorm

Wind and snowfall were happening in typical Colorado fashion at the Continental Divide this morning ... View Photos

Scenic Drive To Cottonwood Pass

Lisa bought me lunch for my birthday and we eventually drove up to Cottonwood Pass to smoke cigars ... View Photos

British & Out-Of-State Friends

With friends in town from out of state and Great Britian, a visit to Cottonwood Pass was definitely in order ... View Photos

Cottonwood Pass Road Signs

Steve in Buena Vista offers a creative photo collection of road signs along Cottonwood Pass Road ... View Photos

Tundra Pool At Cottonwood Pass

Paul in Colorado Springs submitted four great photos of the tundra pool at the divide ... View Photos

Fresh Snowfall On July 5?!

My drive to Cottonwood Pass this evening was met with the surprise of seeing fresh snowfall ... View Photo

Scenic Hike On Colorado Trail

The Colorado Trail is a popular and scenic hike in the Cottonwood Pass area ... Read More

Purple Sky at Cottonwood Pass

Paul in Colorado Springs submitted this stunning shot of a purple sky at Cottonwood Pass. This is a great one! ... Read More

Hot Air Balloons In Buena Vista

The Balloona Vista Hot Air Balloon Festival happened last week in Buena Vista ... View Pictures

Hike Along North Ridge

Steve hikes along a ridge north of Cottonwood Pass and has great photos as usual ... View Pictures

Mt. Yale Hike - Nearby 14er

In July, Steve and Megan hiked to the summit of Mt. Yale via the standard route from the Denny Creek Trail. To view all photos, click here: Mt. Yale Hike.

Cottonwood Pass Is Open
June 12, 2008

Click the image above to see photos of the snowy mountain scenery near the divide at Cottonwood Pass, or just click here: Cottonwood Pass, Colorado. (June 12, 2008)

Shannon and Steve on May 30, 2008

Shannon Tucker and I ventured as far as we could on Chaffee County Road 306 to see the snow conditions for ourselves. We did not get very far! Just over two miles past the closing gate, a lot of snow remains. You can see our photos here.

Sunset At Cottonwood Pass Featured

The sunset on August 11, 2007 was featured on Sunset Pictures, a site dedicated to sunset photography around the world. To see a larger version of this photo, click the image above or click here.

Welcome to the Cottonwood Pass Community Web Site!
CottonwoodPass.net is a photography-based and (hopefully) fun web site that provides information about Colorado's Cottonwood Pass region. If you are an admirer of the wonderful scenic beauty of Cottonwood Pass, you are in the right place! Be sure to visit the Discussion Forum to say "hi".

You are also welcome to submit your pictures, stories and trip reports from the Cottonwood Pass region to this web site. Visit the Submission Page for more details.

Steve's First Visit To The Pass

Steve, the webmaster, first visited the pass in September 2003 at the height of the autumn colors showing in the mountains. Using a now obsolete Mavica digital camera with 900 kilobytes per photo, he captured some very pretty shots. You can view those photos here: Cottonwood Pass First Visit.

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