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9,000–12,000 ft · CO🚗 Directions
Chaffee County high-country. Connects Front Range to Western Slope microclimates. Strong king bolete habitat. Later season than lower elevations.
Updated Jul 13, 4:02 AM MT
**Cottonwood Pass Tier A—July 13** You're in a genuine fruiting window at 9–12k, but it's narrow and drying fast. Soil temps have finally stabilized above threshold and moisture sustained across the last week—enough to trigger Kings, Snowbanks, True Morels, and a deep roster of Amanitaceae and boletes. The problem: precipitation has been anemic (0.2–0.21" in 14 days at high elevation), and with zero SWE and complete melt, air humidity is already tanking the soil moisture advantage you have. This isn't a multi-day event. Kings and Snowbanks are your priority targets—both are dialed in and will fruit hard today through tomorrow if humidity holds. Indigos and Panther Caps are viable but weather-dependent; they're more desiccation-prone than the boletes. Skip Reishi entirely (soil still marginal), and move fast on the edibles before the window collapses. Hot tip: Focus on north-facing slopes and drainage seeps below 10.5k where soil moisture persists longest—that's where your fruiting bodies will concentrate as the pass dries.
Generated by Claude (Anthropic) from the structured weather, soil, and phenology data on this page. The LLM can misread edge cases — treat this as a starting hypothesis, not a guarantee. Always verify conditions on the ground before committing to a long drive.
Precip 7d
Log your find on iNaturalist to help the community and get expert ID assistance. Photos, location, and habitat notes all help with identification.
28 sites
Lakeside camp on the east side of the pass. Good bolete country above.
Pike-San Isabel National Forests
Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Fore
56 sites
Large campground along Cottonwood Creek. Popular staging area.
Pike-San Isabel National Forests
Pike-San Isabel National Forests
Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Fore
Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Fore
⚠ Road Access Notice
Always verify road access is public before following GPS directions to mountain areas. Many forest roads are seasonal, gated, or require 4WD. Dispersed camping follows USFS/BLM rules (typically 14-day limit). Check ranger district offices for current road and campground conditions.
0.20"
PRISM 4km · thru 07-11
Precip 14d
Observed precipitation from PRISM 4km gridded analysis, sampled at the region centroid through 2026-07-11. Used when no SNOTEL/SCAN station is mapped to this region.0.21"
PRISM 4km · thru 07-11
Soil Temp
52°F
SWE
Snow Water Equivalent — how much water is in the snowpack vs. normal. Declining SWE means snowmelt is adding moisture to the soil.0%
Drought
None
Snowmelt
complete
All conditions met (soil 52°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.22 VWC, 7d avg 0.21 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 52°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.22 VWC, 7d avg 0.21 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 52°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.22 VWC, 7d avg 0.21 — moisture sustained)
soil temp marginal (52°F vs 55°F min, 0/7 days above), today 0.22 VWC, 7d avg 0.21 — moisture sustained
All conditions met (soil 52°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.22 VWC, 7d avg 0.21 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 52°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.22 VWC, 7d avg 0.21 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 52°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.22 VWC, 7d avg 0.21 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 52°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.22 VWC, 7d avg 0.21 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 52°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.22 VWC, 7d avg 0.21 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 52°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.22 VWC, 7d avg 0.21 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 52°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.22 VWC, 7d avg 0.21 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 52°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.22 VWC, 7d avg 0.21 — moisture sustained)
All conditions met (soil 52°F, sustained 6/7 days above threshold, today 0.22 VWC, 7d avg 0.21 — moisture sustained)
Primordia readiness: Cold = mycelium dormant. Activating = soil warming, primordia building. Primed = 5+ sustained warm days at species threshold; fruiting imminent if moisture cooperates. Based on Schmidt 1983 / Mihail 2007.