Cottonwood Pass On The Continental Divide (Elevation 12,126 Feet)

Welcome to Cottonwood Pass! It's not just a short cut to Crested Butte and Taylor Park Reservoir ... It's a mountain wonderland. :)

Videos

Mountain Scenery

USA Pro Cycling Challenge

Driving In Snow

Tons of Snow

Nick Hughes in Colorado - 2006

Cycling Cottonwood Pass

Scenic Drive

Fierce Snowstorm (October 2006)

Drive With Brandi

Snow At Cottonwood Pass

Continental Divide Trail

Gunnison County Road 209

Crested Butte

Taylor Park Reservoir

Tincup Pass

Other Websites:

Ouray, Colorado

Color Bandit Photography

Quandary Peak

St. Elmo Ghost Town

Archives:
Pond
Taylor Dam
Parents
Fall Foliage
Phil Ladden
Sunset
Hike on Ridge
Remaining Snow (2006)
Purple Sky
Colorado Trail
Cloudy Sunset
Cascading Waterfall
Colorado Snowstorm
Hot Air Balloons
Friends
Bike
More Snow
Lisa
Snow And Snowmobilers

Crested Butte

Gunnison

Aspen

Buena Vista

Sunset Photos

Watching and photographing the sunset at Cottonwood Pass is a "must do" event for those who love the Colorado sky ... View Photos

USA Pro Cycling Challenge

The greatest professional cyclists came to Colorado for the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. They rode over Cottonwood Pass during Stage 2, with many fans cheering them on ... Pro Cycling Tour

Is Cottonwood Pass Open?

Along with his April hiking photos and videos at the pass, Steve answers the frequently asked question ... Hike Photos

Mountain Views - October 15

A drive to Cottonwood Pass from Buena Vista allows for some great photo opportunities and two videos ... Mountain Views

Mountain Scenery Videos

On Labor Day weekend, I drove to the pass from Buena Vista, Colorado and made three mountain scenery videos ... Scenery Videos

Cycling To The Pass

For those who love cycling Colorado mountain passes, Cottonwood Pass must be on the list. Vacationers Robert and Twain began in Buena Vista and biked quite well ... Cycling

Plenty Of Snow

Steve Garufi traveled to Cottonwood Pass after it opened for 2011. Never has there been this much snow in early June. If you love snow in the mountains, check this out ... Snow At The Pass

Good Hike For Beginners - CDT

The Continental Divide Trail which leads to Point ~12,600' is a great hike for beginners or those wanting to acclimate to high altitude trails. Today Luis and I hiked to the summit early in the morning ... View Photos

Snow Scenery At Cottonwood Pass

When the pass opened for the summer season of 2010, I made the scenic drive from Buena Vista, CO to Cottonwood Pass. Enjoy 13 Colorado mountain and snow scenery photos ... View Photos

Tundra Pool At Cottonwood Pass

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

Snowfall In The Mountains
My photos and video clip of driving along Cottonwood Pass Road with snowy and icy conditions in many spots. Some pretty Colorado scenery ... View Photos

Taylor River Road
Photography along scenic Taylor Park Road in Gunnison County. The trails and hikes along this valley are many ... View Photos

Brother Comes To Town
My younger brother from New York City visited for the weekend. Here's a recap of our activities including our stop at Cottonwood Pass and our rafting trip through the Royal Gorge ... View Photos

Evening At The Pass
The sunset was a dud, but it didn't stop me from taking photos of the snow and mountain scenery. It was a lovely early June evening at the divide ... View Photos

Cottonwood Pass Opens For 2009
My first visit to Cottonwood Pass on the Continental Divide includes my annual photo of myself on a massive snow bank. The road is open, but a lot of beautiful Colorado snow remains ... View Photos

Morning Walk - Snow & Mountains Photos
I walked along Chaffee County Road 306 (the pass is still closed!) and took some photos. Lots of snow remains. It's great early morning snowshoeing conditions right now ... View Photos

Journey To Snow
Once again, I drove as far as I could on Cottonwood Pass Road before snow stopped me. Captured nice photos of mountains and snow ... View Photos

Snow On The Road - May 2, 2009
As of May 2, Cottonwood Pass is closed. With snow in the forecast, I drove as far as I could on Chaffee County Road 306 until snow stopped me ... Read More

Mountain Tour - Drive To Gate
A drive from Buena Vista, CO to the east gate. Just a leisure photo tour of the mountains on a warm March day ... View Photos

Autumn Colors Around The Pass
A photo gallery of beautiful autumn foliage in the Cottonwood Pass area. I snapped a bunch of photos in late September 2008. Check them out! ... View Photos

Holywater Beaver Ponds
The Holywater Beaver Ponds are located one mile west of the Denny Creek Trailhead at the upper parking lot. Today I wandered about with my camera ... View Photos

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

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

Icy & Snowy In October
I squeezed in one final visit to Cottonwood Pass before it closes for the long winter season. It was snowy, it was icy, it was really ding-dang cold and windy ... View Photos

Welcome to Cottonwood Pass!

CottonwoodPass.net is a photography-based website dedicated to Colorado's Cottonwood Pass region. If you are an admirer of Colorado's Rocky Mountains, you are in the right place! If you vacation regularly around Buena Vista, Tincup or Taylor Park Reservoir, I hope this site inspires you.

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: Mount Yale Hike.

Cottonwood Pass 2008 Opening

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.

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.

Sunset