Phoenix Peak is Mineral County's high point, a big tundra summit in the La Garita Mountains on the Mineral and Saguache county line, inside the La Garita Wilderness of the Rio Grande National Forest about 6.8 miles north-northwest of Creede. The name is only proposed, and the peak has also gone by Gwynedd Mountain and Creede Crest, which makes it one of the highest officially unnamed summits in Colorado. San Luis Peak is its nearest higher neighbor, a little under 5 miles away.
There is no summit trail and no published route on its peak page, but the East Willow Creek approach north of Creede is well traveled. The La Garita Stock Driveway Trail #787 climbs the drainage to timberline near 10,750 feet, and from there Class 2 grass, lichen-covered rock, rubble, and talus lead up the ridge. Phoenix alone is about 4.7 miles round trip and 3,585 feet from the four-wheel-drive trailhead; parking at the passenger-car switchback adds roughly 3 miles. Many hikers add La Garita Peak along the same ridge, a round trip of about 11.35 miles and 4,075 feet from the lower parking.
The upper ridge takes the full force of the wind. The views are worth it: glacial cirques with steep headwalls, the open meadows of Wason Park, and lakes scattered below. Elk frequent the parks below, so watch the basins at dawn and dusk, and expect wet feet at the stream crossings lower down.
