Casco Peak is the 69th highest peak in Colorado and a must for anyone working on climbing the state's top 100 highest. It is part of the spectacular Sawatch Range which is known for its many 14,000 ft peaks. Casco is right across a basin from the highest peak in the state, Mt. Elbert and because it is surrounded by popular Fourteeners it is not climbed frequently. You can enjoy a beautiful day of solitude in climbing this mountain, it has a very remote feel. Casco is often coupled with a climb of Frasco Benchmark (13876 ft) and French Mountain (13940). French Mountain is a ranked peak but Frasco Benchmark is not considered an official peak. Nevertheless the ridge hike from Casco to Frasco Benchmark and then on to French Mountain is a classic Colorado ridge hike. While you enjoy a peaceful snack on the summit see if you can spot the myriads on top of Elbert!

Getting There

The book by Gerry and Jennifer Roach titled Colorado's Thirteeners from Hikes to Climbs has excellent driving and route descriptions. I highly recommend this book if you plan on doing much in Colorado. The driving directions are for climbing the northeast slopes route on Casco.
From Leadville drive a couple miles southwest on US 24. Turn west (right) onto Colorado 300 and reset your mileage meter. (you can also come from Buena Vista and then turn left onto 300). From the turn go 0.7 miles west to a left turn onto Lake County 11 (gravel road). Take a right turn in 1.8 miles onto a gravel road toward Halfmoon Creek (sign). Pass Halfmoon Creek and Elbert Creek campgrounds. You will also go by the Mt. Massive overflow(!) and main parking lots (glad you aren't climbing Massive?). Get to a forest service road junction at mile 9. Roach says it is FS110-FS1103A, but it was marked slightly differently in summer 2002. From this point you need a 4WD vehicle. You can park here and walk up the road if you don't have 4WD, its an extra mile but seems like more. The drive up the road to the trailhead for Casco is pretty rough but can be done in a high clearance 4WD vehicle without any special modifications or equipment. At the above junction turn left then do an easy ford across a Halfmoon Creek (maybe not so easy in spring runoff-watch out!). Follow the road as it switchbacks up a hill, lots of rocks in the road here. After about a mile the road crosses another creek at about 10,800 ft. Most people park at this point, there are a couple of pullouts that can fit maybe 3-4 cars total. If you were gutsy you could ford the creek. I think a 4WD drive club built a ford because it didn't look too bad. But after the creek there is a gnarly maybe 300 ft section you have to ascend. If you make it up that, you can drive all the way into the basin that is surrounded by French, Frasco, and Casco on one side and Mt. Elbert on the other as the road is quite good after that. But then there wouldn't be much of a hike!
See the northeast slopes route I posted for actual climbing directions.

Red Tape

No permits, no red tape that I know of.

When To Climb

This peak is a really nice summer hike. The flowers in the basin are beautiful. This hike would be fine in the fall until the road gets snowed in. According to Roach the winter closure varies from the start of the Halfmoon Creek road, only 1.8 miles from US 24 to the Halfmoon Creek campground 5.6 miles from US 24. This would be a long haul in the winter. If anyone knows when the road typically melts out please post it here.

Camping

There is camping at the Halfmoon Campground and the Elbert Creek campgrounds. This would be fee camping and it gets really crowded in the summer, so you might want to call ahead. There are also places along the road that you can find to use free of charge. Look for pulloffs that don't have a car in them. There are also some free camping spots if you want to drive past the FS110-FS1103A junction at mile 9, probably about a mile or two continuing up the road.
San Isabel National Forest
1920 Valley Drive
Pueblo, CO 81008
(719) 545-8737

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