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Warning: while most of this route passes through public state and county land, it may pass through a few unmarked private parcels with ambiguous boundaries. Proceed at your own risk.
March 14, 2026
Nestled between CO-72 and Eldorado Canyon on the easternmost side of the Front Range foothills are a cluster of eight unassuming peaks which are rarely done compared to nearby peaks just north of Eldorado Canyon. These peaks linked fairly well into a circular traverse, and I easily mapped it one random day and threw it into my repository of random maps of routes that I would consider doing in the future when everything happened to line up right. A year later that day came, basically delivered on a silver platter. I had hoped to scramble some of the Flatirons above Boulder, but due to high winds, Boulder County had closed all public county open space land (including the Flatirons) for "public safety." Looking just south of the Flatirons, Jefferson County had no such closure so naturally I dusted off this map and decided to do it, as >90% of it lay in Jefferson County.
Peaks climbed
| Peak | Elevation | Topographic Prominence | Summit Coordinates (lat/lon) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jacks Peak | 8,813 ft | 361 ft | 39.89817, -105.32196 |
| Crescent Mountain | 8,946 ft | 954 ft | 39.89129, -105.31432 |
| Whynot | 8,446 ft | 239 ft | 39.89485, -105.29842 |
| Coal Creek Peak | 8,484 ft | 491 ft | 39.88832, -105.29138 |
| Plutonium Peak | 7,966 ft | 232 ft | 39.90342, -105.29037 |
| Eldorado Mountain | 8,341 ft | 645 ft | 39.91282, -105.29265 |
| South Draw Peak | 7,608 ft | 280 ft | 39.92334, -105.31009 |
| Scar Top Peak | 8,780 ft | 677 ft | 39.90963, -105.32681 |
Total Stats
12.5 miles
6,800 ft gain/loss
This route was not very long and I didn't expect it to take an entire day, so I got a leisurely 9am start, parking in the overflow lot for the Chapel of the Hills off CO-72. An initially decent trail, likely maintained by the church, headed up from the east side of the lot and switchbacked uphill northeast for about a mile before fizzling out. From there some easy forested terrain brought me to the summit of Jacks Peak which contained decent views in most directions.
summit views from Jacks Peak
Another quick section of easy forested ridge travel brought me to the northern summit of Crescent Mountain, the one marked "8945" on the USGS topo. Recent lidar data indicated that the southern summit was slightly higher, so I spent an additional 5 minutes rock hopping over to it. One report had indicated this crossing to have "tons of deadfall and crazy bushwhacking" but I didn't seem to find any of that. The terrain was all pretty open with minimal brush.
I reversed back north, contouring around the north summit before veering east along the connecting ridge to Whynot. This was an unimpressive peak with a large flat summit and OK views, most of which was blocked by trees.
summit of Whynot
More easy terrain continued as I made my way over to Coal Creek Peak. Due to snow, I decided to stay on the snow-free rocky fin of Coal Creek Peak's north ridge for the last few hundred feet, doing some fun but unnecessary class 3 scrambling. The wind was starting to pick up here, but it was nothing unmanageable.
Reversing my way down to the lowpoint between Coal Creek Peak and Whynot, I took a quick food break before descending northeast down the main northeast drainage between both peaks. This drainage contained some moderate bushwhaking which was quickly over when I intersected a dirt road which was followed north for about half a mile to the saddle between Whynot and Plutonium Peak. From there it was a short jaunt to Plutonium which was probably my favorite peak of the day. A fun class 3 scramble led up its cool red summit block with some interesting side angle views of the distant Flatirons.
summit of Plutonium Peak
Back at the saddle, I continued up the dirt road for about 1.5 miles to the summit of Eldorado Mountain, which was crowned with a telecom installation. To the south of this installation was a 20 ft summit block which marked the highpoint. On the southeast side of this block was an overlap with a bunch of knobs sticking out. I scrambled up and down this, rating it around class 5.4. There was a class 4 slab on the east side that others have used, but the knobs felt more secure for me.
Eldorado Mountain summit block
southeast side of summit block
view from summit block
A 1,500 ft descent into South Draw via Eldorado's northwest ridge awaited me. I initially stayed directly on the ridge but was quickly forced off west by several large rock fins. I descended a talus gully paralleling the ridge for about 1,000 ft of elevation, then contoured back onto the ridge lower down where the fins went away.
Arriving in South Draw, I was happy to see and hear the gentle lapping of water in a creek. I had purposefully ran out of water back on Eldorado Peak knowing this creek was a reliable water source, but was still surprised to see it flowing so low in March. I stopped to filter some water near a really nice looking swimming hole which I would've enjoyed had it been 10 degrees warmer. It was amazingly delicious cold mountain creek water, a sharp contrast to the stale tasting city water I was drinking previously.
swimming hole in South Draw
Back on my feet, I ascended 800 ft of steep terrain to the summit of South Draw Peak. This peak contained an awesome view of the entire Redgarden Wall in Eldorado Canyon. If it wasn't so windy, I would've been climbing on that wall that day.
looking back at my descent route from Eldorado Mountain
looking towards Scar Top
Heading southwest along the ridge, I eventually connected with a faint ATV road which quickly connected with a well defined dirt road which brought me to the northeast side of Scar Top Mountain. A steep-ish 1,200 ft ascent through mostly open terrain brought me to its summit.
Despite its cool name, Scar Top had pitiful views which were mostly blocked by trees. There was a register on top that I found pretty amusing.
view of Eldorado Mountain from Scar Top
From Scar Top I descended south, being careful to avoid some cabins to the west. After crossing a drainage, I ascended 600 ft up to Jacks Peak's west shoulder before re-joining the church trail I had been on several hours earlier. A leisurely and relaxing walk down the 1 mile trail brought me back to the car with several hours of daylight to spare. It had been just another pleasant day in the mountains.
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