| Colony Baldy | |
| Elevation Ft: | 13705 |
| Elevation Ref: | [1] [2] |
| Prominence Ft: | 922 |
| Prominence Ref: | [3] |
| Isolation Mi: | 1.36 |
| Parent Peak: | Humboldt Peak (14,070 ft) |
| Country: | United States |
| State: | Colorado |
| Region: | Custer |
| Region Type: | County |
| Part Type: | Protected area |
| Part: | Sangre de Cristo Wilderness |
| Range: | Rocky Mountains Sangre de Cristo Range[4] |
| Map: | Colorado#USA |
| Coordinates: | 37.9955°N -105.5603°W |
| Coordinates Ref: | [5] |
| Topo: | USGS Crestone Peak |
| Type: | Fault block |
Colony Baldy is a 13705feet mountain summit in Custer County, Colorado, United States.
Colony Baldy is set in the Sangre de Cristo Range which is a subrange of the Rocky Mountains. It is the seventh-highest summit in Custer County,[6] and the 153rd-highest in Colorado.[3] Colony Baldy can be seen from Highway 69 near the community of Westcliffe. The mountain is located in the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness on land managed by San Isabel National Forest.[4] Precipitation runoff from the mountain's slopes drains into tributaries of Grape Creek which in turn is a tributary of the Arkansas River. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 2450feet above North Colony Creek in 0.8 mile (1.3 km) and 2200feet above Macey Lake in 0.67 mile (1.1 km). An ascent of the peak involves hiking 17miles round-trip with 4700feet of elevation gain.[1] The mountain's toponym was officially adopted in 1970 by the United States Board on Geographic Names.[7]
According to the Köppen climate classification system, Colony Baldy is located in an alpine subarctic climate zone with cold, snowy winters, and cool to warm summers.[8] Due to its altitude, it receives precipitation all year, as snow in winter, and as thunderstorms in summer, with a dry period in late spring.