Other climbers: Emily Sharpe — not yet · Shawn D Keil — not yet
La Plata Peak + PT 13,222 (Ellingwood Ridge) — Sawatch¶
At a glance — recommended day
11.1 mi · 4,888 ft gain · Class 3 · 2 peaks · ~3.25 h drive
Researched: 2026-07-22
NOAA weather link: La Plata + PT 13,222 Weather
CalTopo research map: https://caltopo.com/m/5LGGVCQ
Status in DB: La Plata Peak (14,344') is climbed; the target here is PT 13,222 — which is the summit of Ellingwood Ridge, La Plata's notorious NE ridge. Pairing them turns a familiar 14er into an exposed Class 3 ridge day.
Note: the recommended route was distilled from 43 recorded GPS tracks of real trips (14ers.com · ListsofJohn · peakbagger · Kyle's recordings) — all layered on the interactive CalTopo research map.
Ellingwood Ridge — serious, exposed Class 3 (some Class 4 if off-route)
PT 13,222 sits on Ellingwood Ridge, one of Colorado's classic hard-Class-3 scrambles: ~1.5 mi of sustained, exposed ridge with many false summits, towers, and notches. It stays Class 3 only with careful route-finding — drifting off the crest quickly finds Class 4 and worse. It's committing (hard to bail mid-ridge) and slow. Helmet; go in stable weather with time to spare. Not a day to be caught by afternoon storms high on the ridge.
Peaks covered¶
A Class 3 ridge loop from the standard La Plata trailhead: the peak most people know as an easy Class 2 walk-up, linked with the exposed Ellingwood Ridge scramble to its NE highpoint. La Plata is already climbed — PT 13,222 / Ellingwood Ridge is the unclimbed prize.
| La Plata Peak | PT 13,222 (Ellingwood Ridge) | |
|---|---|---|
| Elevation | 14,344' | 13,222' |
| Lat / Lon | 39.0295, −106.4730 | 39.0486, −106.4670 |
| Class | 2 (standard NW route) | 3 (Ellingwood Ridge; exposed) |
| CO rank | #5 | #468 |
| Status (Kyle) | ✓ climbed | ✗ unclimbed — the target |
| 14ers.com | 10005 | 10794 |
| LoJ | 6 | 581 |
| peakbagger | 5744 | 84738 |
Recommended route — La Plata + Ellingwood Ridge loop ⭐¶
The composed line is a ~11.1-mi / ~4,890-ft loop from the CO-82 trailhead that takes in both summits. Class 3 — the crux is the Ellingwood Ridge scramble.
Route sequence¶
- From the La Plata Peak TH (~10,150', CO-82), follow the standard NW route — the Lake Creek / La Plata Gulch trail and NW slopes — to the La Plata summit (14,344', Class 2).
- Descend the NE ridge onto Ellingwood Ridge, scrambling NE over the towers and notches to PT 13,222 (Ellingwood Ridge highpoint) — sustained, exposed Class 3 (see the danger box). Careful route-finding keeps it at 3.
- Drop off the ridge's north/northwest side back to the La Plata Gulch trail and out to the TH to close the loop.
Direction note in Other considerations — most parties go up Ellingwood Ridge first (fresh, and you can bail before committing), then descend La Plata's easy trail.
Getting there — La Plata Peak TH (CO-82)¶
| Drive from Boulder | ~3h 15m via Google Maps — via Leadville and CO-82 toward Independence Pass; the signed La Plata Peak trailhead is on the south side of the highway. |
| Trailhead | La Plata Peak TH, ~39.0670, −106.5050, ~10,150' — paved access, any car; large lot. |
| Land | San Isabel NF — no permits/fees; not designated wilderness. |
Gear & season¶
- Best window: July–September — the ridge needs dry rock; snow lingers in the ridge's notches and on north aspects into early summer.
- Helmet mandatory — loose blocks and party-caused rockfall are the norm on the ridge. A short confidence rope is defensible for a party not comfortable soloing exposed Class 3.
- Storms: Ellingwood Ridge is a long, committing, exposed crest — be over PT 13,222 and off the ridge before midday. Pre-dawn start.
- Cell: intermittent on the summits, dead in La Plata Gulch — carry an InReach.
Other considerations¶
- Direction — up the ridge or down it? Most parties climb Ellingwood Ridge on the way up (PT 13,222 first, then La Plata), because you're fresh for the route-finding and can bail before the committing middle if weather or the party's comfort turns; then descend La Plata's easy NW trail. The recommended loop can be run either way — the reverse (La Plata first, ridge down) is fine for a strong, fast party in good weather.
- PT 13,222 on its own? Ellingwood Ridge is essentially always done with La Plata — there's no easy independent line to PT 13,222, so this pairing is the natural (and standard) way to get it.
Trip reports & GPX (all three sources swept)¶
Sources confirmed logged in: 14ers.com ("Basin"), listsofjohn.com ("letsgocu"), peakbagger.com ("Kyle Knutson"). 40+ tracks swept across both peaks — 17 from the 14ers.com libraries, 5 from listsofjohn TRs, 20 from peakbagger ascents (deduped); many do the standard La Plata route, and the combo/Ellingwood-Ridge tracks are the beta for the recommended loop. All layered on the research map; recommended route magenta.
14ers.com — the Ellingwood Ridge route page + numerous combo trip-report tracks (the recommended loop follows one that tops both summits from the CO-82 TH).
listsofjohn.com — La Plata (peak 6) + PT 13,222 (peak 581) trip reports, including Ellingwood Ridge combo tracks.
peakbagger.com — 20 ascent tracks across the two peaks (logged in), the mega-traverse tracks excluded from the route.
Sources checked: 14ers.com · listsofjohn.com · peakbagger.com · climb13ers.com