San Juan Range · Colorado 13er · No. 464 of the 13ers
South Couloir from Boren Creek
Babcock Peak, 13,161'
Class 3+ couloir
The couloir is loose and often holds firm snow; the finish has Class 3 and some near Class 4 moves with short exposed spots, and finding the right gully is hard. This page is an outline, not a move-by-move guide.
DifficultyClass 3
Round trip6.8 mi
Elevation gain3,880'
TrailheadBoren Creek
Trailhead elevation9,300'
Less traffic, less margin
This describes the route on a dry summer day. Most 13ers see few people, so there may be no one along behind you. Check recent conditions the week you go, carry a map, tell someone your plan, and turn around when the day tells you to.
Babcock Peak is a three-summit peak in Durango's La Plata Mountains. The middle summit is the true high point, even though older maps put the height on the east one. It is one of the harder summits in the range.
You walk the old Boren Creek road past a waterfall to a mine near treeline, then climb a steep, loose couloir and a set of side gullies to the south slopes of the middle summit. Expect strong Class 3 with moderate exposure in short spots, rockfall danger and snow. Route finding is the hardest part.
The round trip is about 6.8 miles with 3,880 feet of gain.
Plan of the day
Start by
By 6 a.m.
Turnaround
Be in the couloir by 9:30 a.m.
Crux
The side gullies and narrow crack above the couloir.
Route-finding
Hard. Pick the right couloir from the mine, and the right side gully inside it.
Water
Boren Creek along the road. Filter it.
This week on the summit
Conditions on the summit
LoadingFetching the forecast for 13,161'…
—Summit temp now
—Sustained wind
—Gusting to
—Freezing level
Today
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Tomorrow
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Day three
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Afternoon storm risk is the line that matters. Everything else is comfort. In summer, plan to be off the ridge before the build-up starts, not as it starts. Forecast for the summit point, adjusted for its elevation · data from Open-Meteo.
From Durango, drive west on US 160. Just past the Colorado 140 junction and the La Plata River bridge, turn north on County Road 124 up La Plata Canyon. The pavement ends at 4.5 miles and the road becomes good gravel. Campgrounds come up along the way: Snowslide at 5.6 miles, Kroeger at 6.1, Miners Cabin at 6.4, and La Plata City dispersed camping at 7.5.
At 8.2 miles you reach Boren Creek and Forest Road 794. Park beside County Road 124, or a short way up Forest Road 794 where you're out of the way. Any car can get here. Forest Road 794 quickly turns very rocky and narrow with almost no turnouts, and a fallen tree higher up forces vehicles to tilt hard. Only ATVs and short 4WD vehicles should try it. A flat spot a little way up is posted no camping.
Much of La Plata Canyon is private land, so don't assume an open spot is free to camp on. Use the campgrounds.
Trail in the treesTalus and screeTundraScramblingExposed to lightning
The line is elevation, the band underneath is the ground, and the numbered dots match the steps below. Mileage and elevations are approximate.
1
Boren Creek 9,300' · 0 mi
Walk up Forest Road 794. You hear a waterfall early on, and the road climbs four sets of switchbacks.
2
Old mine 11,300' · 2.3 mi
Near treeline the road ends at a mine site with a big flat area. From here, pick out your couloir: the third one counting from the right, just left of the middle summit. It has a bend to the left, so you can't see all the way up it.
Watch for: Picking the right couloir is critical.
3
Below the couloir 11,900' · 2.7 mi
Angle up and left over flowered tundra, then rubble and a steep talus slope, to the couloir's base.
4
Couloir 12,300' · 2.95 mi
Climb loose rubble and stacked small boulders. About 300 feet up, snow may fill the couloir. Without crampons, work up the gap between snow and rock on the right side.
Watch for: Rockfall. Firm snow.
5
Side gully 12,700' · 3.15 mi
Past the bend, watch for a small side gully coming in from the east, about 200 feet below the saddle between the west and middle summits. If you reach a narrow pinch with a big chockstone and a short steep wall, you've gone too far; go back down.
Watch for: Easy to overshoot.
6
South slopes 12,900' · 3.25 mi
Climb the side gully about 50 feet, cross a rock rib, and drop a little into a larger gully. Climb steep Class 3, almost Class 4, ground and squeeze out through a narrow crack onto the south side of the middle summit.
Watch for: Class 3+.
7
Babcock Peak 13,161' · 3.4 mi
Scramble up a shallow trough, mostly Class 3, to the summit ridge east of the high point. A couple of harder moves on the ridge lead west to the top. It should be clearly higher than the other two summits.
Getting down
Reverse the route carefully to the crack and side gully. You can follow a secondary couloir on the east side down until it rejoins the main one. It is steep, loose gravel and boulders, so move one at a time below each other.
If things go wrong
Turn back at the side gully if the snow or rock looks bad; the mine site is the safe place to regroup.
3D flyover
No 3D flyover for this peak
Past the old mine the route is a trailless couloir and scramble. A flyover only works when there is a set trail to trace. Without one, the line would be a guess, and a guess could send you the wrong way on the mountain. Use the step-by-step route with a good map and GPS track instead.
See the trail on video
No video yet
We haven’t found a good video of this route that matches the way we describe it. The route strip, junctions and 3D flyover show the way in the meantime.
Other routes
Every way up Babcock Peak we list, with its class.
Babcock Peak South Couloirthis routeClass 3 6.8 mi