Crestone Peak is a 14,296.8-foot summit in Colorado’s Sangre de Cristo Range and the highest of the Crestones, ranking second in the range after Blanca Peak and seventh in both Colorado and the Rocky Mountains of North America. Towering about 7,000 feet above the San Luis Valley, it forms a close cluster with nearby major summits including Crestone Needle and Kit Carson Peak. A 2021 survey suggested a slightly higher point may lie east of the recognized summit. Known as one of Colorado’s more serious fourteeners, it demands long approaches, substantial elevation gain, and travel through hazardous rockfall terrain and severe alpine conditions, with accidents often caused by falls and summer lightning.