Lizard Head Wilderness

The United States Congress designated the Lizard Head Wilderness in 1980 and it now has a total of 41,309 acres. All of this wilderness is located in Colorado and is managed by the Forest Service.  Lizard Head, the peak (13,113 feet), stands spirelike on the eastern side of Lizard Head, the Wilderness, shadowed by both Mount Wilson and Wilson Peak, two of Colorado's fourteeners that incongruously bear the same name. Not far to the west, you'll find El Diente (or the tooth, in English), the westernmost of the state's 14,000-foot peaks. The province of more experienced climbers, Mount Wilson and El Diente are connected by a famous knife-edged ridge and considered difficult ascents. The summit of Lizard Head, a 400-foot-tall tower of rotten rock, has been voted Colorado's most dangerous and difficult climb by many mountaineers. Ascent is not recommended. Dolores Peak (13,290 feet) stands in the most western portion, just as the San Juan Mountains fade into the dry canyon country of the Colorado Plateau. Here you can stand in snow and look across heat-washed red-rock desertland.