There is a cairn and large branch on the summit. Due to its position well east of the Culebra Range and on the edge of the eastern plains of Colorado, West Spanish Peak enjoys great local vertical relief in almost all directions. At the summit is a large rock cairn with the usual PVC tube and "sign-in" sheet inside. The West Spanish Peak is best reached by way of CO Hwy 12, which connects south and west through the town of La Veta, Colorado. West Spanish Peak is the larger of the two sitting at 13,625 ft. West Spanish Peak Trail starts at Cordova Pass, which lies at 11,243 ft.The first mile and a half of this trail are a dream. All content is original and described from Trekking Colorado’s personal experiences. Use your own best judgement and have fun. The prominent 13,631-foot peak is located in the Spanish Peaks Wilderness of San Isabel National Forest, 9.1 miles south of the Town of La Veta, Colorado, United States, on the drainage divide between Huerfano and Las Animas counties. West Spanish Peak (13,625′) and East Spanish Peak (12,684′) have world class geological features that made the two peaks a National Natural Landmark in 1976 and designated as a Wilderness Area in 2000. If climbers stay to the left and close to the ridge, the climbing is much easier. East Peak is a nearly circular stock about 5.5 miles long by 3 miles wide while West Peak is a stock about 2.75 miles long by 1.75 miles wide. Though not a fourteener, West Spanish Peak is the twelfth most topographically prominent peak in the state. CategoriesDifficult Hikes, Rocky Mountains, Sangre de Cristo Range, Trip ReportsTagsWest Spanish Peak. The peaks rise 6,000 ft from the edge of the eastern plains, and were used as a navigation aid for centuries for people heading west. The prominent 13,631-foot (4,155 m) peak is located in the Spanish Peaks Wilderness of San Isabel National Forest, 9.1 miles (14.7 km) south (bearing 175°) of the Town of La Veta, Colorado, United States, on the drainage divide between Huerfano and Las Animas counties. West Spanish Peak is an erosional remnant of a predominately quartz syenite igneous stock which formed 24.59 +/-0.13 million years ago. The trail is fairly level as it meanders through forests and meadows for about 2 miles (3.2 km) to treeline. It is the focus of over 500 radiating dikes.[4]. The Spanish Peaks are two large igneous stocks which form an eastern outlier of the Culebra Range, a subrange of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Thunderstorm and lightning activity can be high in July, August and September. Mostly flat, the trail rolls through the forest with frequent views. Best time to climb: early June through late October. The elevation of West Spanish Peak includes an adjustment of +1.469 m (+4.82 ft) from, easternmost 4000 meter (13,123 ft) mountain peak, List of mountain peaks of the United States, Iron Mountain (Costilla/Huerfano Counties), The 124 highest major summits of greater North America, Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area, http://coloradogeologicalsurvey.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/34.pdf, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=West_Spanish_Peak&oldid=819686948, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 10 January 2018, at 19:20. Learn how your comment data is processed. West Spanish Peak (13,625′) and East Spanish Peak (12,684′) have world class geological features that made the two peaks a National Natural Landmark in 1976 and designated as a Wilderness Area in 2000. The summit of West Spanish Peak is the highest point in Las Animas County, Colorado. West Spanish Peak is the easternmost 4000 meter (13,123 ft) mountain peak in the United States. ! Sunset shot of some Bighorn sheep ewes with the West Spanish Peak in the background. While the Spanish Peaks are categorized as belonging to the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range, the are not geologically part of a chain of mountains, having been formed independently by different processes.