| Mount Oklahoma Mountain/Rock |
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| Mount Oklahoma   | 
| Page Type: Mountain/Rock Location: Colorado, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 39.17920°N / 106.5071°W Elevation: 13845 ft / 4220 m | Page By: Kane, csmcgranahan Created/Edited: Oct 26, 2002 / Sep 2, 2006 Object ID: 151309 Hits: 5153 Loading... Page Score: 89.36% - 18 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
Mount Oklahoma Overview
Residing in a sea of 14,000 ft. peaks, Mt. Oklahoma (13,845 ft.) is the real deal. Only 1.8 miles west of Mt. Massive, Mt. Oklahoma rests quietly within the backbone of the Colorado Continental Divide, the Sawatch Range. This complex range stretches nearly 100 miles north and south, starting at Tennessee Pass and ending at the Marshall Pass area. The Sawatch is home to 15 fourteeners and 14 centennial thirteeners; no other Colorado mountain range contains as many peaks above 13,800 ft. When hiking this range, there are a few things you can count on, long approaches, plenty of vertical, and endless class 2 hiking.
Mt. Oklahoma is another big and bulky Sawatch mountain, similar in configuration to Colorado's highest two mountains, Mt. Elbert and Mt Massive. Staying with the typical Sawatch mountaineering theme, Mt Oklahoma has steep surrounding slopes and gentle, broad ridges leading to its large summit plateau. In contrast to its popular neighboring fourteeners, Mt. Oklahoma does not have a trail all the way to its summit; this is precisely why I love this mountain. I recommend this mountain to anyone looking for the following: solitude, a moderate challenge in route finding, and a better summit view than most forteeners in the proximity.
I will describe the standard Southeast Slopes route (class 2). This is the starting point for Mt. Massive's Southwest Slopes, beautiful Halfmoon Lake, and Mt. Oklahoma. This is the easiest route for Oklahoma but there is a more obscure route that ascends the north ridge. The route starts at the Halfmoon Creek Trailhead (10,240 ft.), and covers 8 miles round trip and around 3,700 ft. vertical gain.
Halfmoon Creek TH Starting in Leadville Colorado, continue on U.S 24 about 3.5 miles from the center of town. You will see a turn-off on your right (west) for Colorado 300 right outside of the city limits. Turn right and go .07 miles on Colorado 300 (paved). Turn left on Lake County 11 (dirt). Go 1.8 miles and turn right on another dirt road with an obvious sign for Halfmoon Campground. Go 5.6 miles on FS 110 to the Halfmoon Campground and continue on passed the Elbert Creek Campground at 6.7 miles. At 7 miles you will reach the well-marked Mt. Massive Trailhead, which is also the Colorado Trail. Continue another 2 miles until the road abruptly gets rougher, there is a turn-off to the left. Four-wheel drive vehicles can go another .5 mile on FS 110 to the actual Halfmoon Creek Trailhead. This is also the trailhead for a hike to Halfmoon Lake or an alternate route up Mt. Massive's east slopes. (Statistical info from Gerry Roach's excellent Thirteener book)
The following was updated 6-30-2005 by Aaron Johnson
Several Colorado wilderness areas now require a free user permit to be in the wilderness, or shortly will require same. The wilderness areas are Holy Cross, Maroon Bells/Snowmass, Mount Evans, and Mount Massive. Permit tags are available at trailheads and are a two part tag. The white part goes in the box provided and the card portion is to be attached to the outside of your pack. There is currently no penalty if one does not have a permit. However, large fines could be levied within a few years for non-compliance. The preferred method now for dealing with violations is education of the users.
The reason for implementation of this required permit is the Forest Service has been unable to obtain accurate data on use patterns from the voluntary sign-in system. The estimated compliance range is currently 10-30%.
The hope is to obtain better data with this new method. While some may feel this is a precursor of some kind of quota system, the opposite is actually true. Accurate information on visitor use patterns will allow the forest service to attempt to evenly distribute impacts and encourage use of alternate trailheads for the same destinations. However, given the magnitude of the state's continuing population boom, folks should not be surprised if quotas in certain areas become a necessity.
Thanks to SP member mtnhiker13 for supplying this vital update via the Colorado Mountain Club's email service.
Specific information can be viewed here.
Forecast- Mount Oklahoma Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC)
Mount Elbert Web Cam
Click image to enlarge
Click here to view a 7-day forecast for Mount Oklahoma 13,000-ft
Mountain Conditions Snow closures vary on FS 110. Early winter snow closure can be as soon as Halfmoon Campground. Complete melt-out is by mid or late June. For a check of road conditions in and around Leadville call (719) 486-1410 or (719) 486 1249.
CampingPlenty of camping in the area. Halfmoon Campground, Elbert Creek Campground are within a couple of miles of the trailhead.
Here is an excellent link for Colorado Camping Reservations. An additional reservation fee of $8.65 is charged for this service. It might be worth it.
Leadville
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Sawatch Range
