Mount of the Holy Cross

White River National Forest, CO Elk Mountains

Trip stats

Distance
12.4 mi
Net Gain
5,800 ft
Time
6-8 hrs
YDS Rating
Class 2
Route
Out/Back
Peaks
1

Ratings out of 10

Effort
7.1/10
Personality
5/10
Beauty
8/10
Solitude
4.4/10
What do these mean? →

Peaks on this hike

Summits listed in route order

  1. Mount of the Holy Cross
    14,005′ elevation · 2,111′ prominence

Route map + Trailhead

Trailhead Coordinates

39.500423, -106.433076

The directions link below drops a pin on the trailhead coordinates and lets Google Maps pick the route. If the drive has rough roads or access issues that GPS nav might get wrong, I cover that in my trip report.

Get directions (opens Google Maps in a new tab)

Trip report

Sep 4, 2016 — Starting from the Half Moon Trailhead, accessible by any car, the Half Moon Trail leads up through pretty forest for a while before reaching Half Moon Pass. From here the trail descends roughly 1000 vertical feet and while it's great for the view of Mount of the Holy Cross, coming back this way required regaining the lost elevation back to Half Moon Pass. The trail crosses over East Cross creek and then continues up easy Class 2 talus using the north ridge of Mount of the Holy Cross, before some minor scrambling to gain the summit. We probably should have turned around because we started to get hailed on, but the rainbow that followed that we saw from the summit was incredible.

A few years later I repeated Mount of the Holy Cross via Halo Ridge, a more adventurous and longer route compared to this standard one that might be worth checking out.

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Photos

28 photos

  1. Starting along the Half Moon Trail.
  2. Heading up to Half Moon Pass.
  4. Heading down Half Moon Pass, the trail skirting the slopes.
  6. Mt. of the Holy Cross visible ahead.
  7. Another shot of Mt of the Holy Cross as we descend from Half Moon Pass.
  8. Crossing East Cross Creek, ready to start ascending Mt. of the Holy Cross' north ridge.
  11. Looking back the way we came.
  12. Mt. of the Holy Cross peeking out.
  13. Another view down the north slopes of Mt. of the Holy Cross. Half Moon Pass in the center.
  14. Continuing up Class 2 stuff along the ridge.
  16. Another shot looking back down the ridge.
  17. Mt. of the Holy Cross ahead, the Bowl of Tears visible on the left.
  18. A view back along the ridge.
  19. Some Class 2 below the summit.
  20. Another shot along the ridge, just off-trail, East Cross Creek below.
  21. The ridge wraps around to the west side of Mt. of the Holy Cross. This is a shot to the west on the way up the Class 2 as the clouds rolled in.
  22. View south toward Holy Cross Ridge. Maybe another day!
  23. Continuing up the Class 2 to the summit.
  24. Mount of the Holy Cross summit shot, view north.
  26. Mt. of the Holy Cross, view south.

Photo 1 of 1

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Hire or refer me as a web developer, or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I'm not sponsored, so it's funded by yours truly. It also takes a ton of work to edit photos and write these reports. I really appreciate it!

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