The La Garita Wilderness is a U.S. Wilderness Area located in the La Garita Mountains

La Garita Mountains

During the Oligocene epoch, a series of caldera building eruptions of titanic proportions, some as large as VEI-8, devastated what is now Colorado and raised up the mountain chain, part of the San Juan Mountains. The La Garita supervolcano's mega-colossal eruption created 5000 km3 of tephra,...

 of southern Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

. The 129626 acres (524.6 km²) wilderness established in 1964 in Gunnison

Gunnison National Forest

The Gunnison National Forest is a U.S. National Forest covering 1,672,136 acres in Mesa, Gunnison, Hinsdale and Saguache Counties in Western part of the U.S. state of Colorado...

 and Rio Grande

Rio Grande National Forest

Rio Grande National Forest is a 1.86 million acre U.S. National Forest located in southwestern Colorado. The forest encompasses the San Luis Valley, which is the world's largest agricultural alpine valley, as well as one of the worlds largest high deserts located around mountains. The...

 national forests includes a segment of the Colorado Trail

Colorado Trail

The Colorado Trail is a long trail running from the mouth of Waterton Canyon southwest of Denver to Durango in Colorado, United States. Its highest point is above sea level, and most of the trail is above...

. At 14014 feet (4,271.5 m), San Luis Peak

San Luis Peak

San Luis Peak is a fourteen thousand foot peak in the San Juan Mountains of the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the La Garita Wilderness in Saguache County approximately north of Creede...

 is the highest point in the wilderness area.
One entrance to the wilderness area is via Forest Road 787 from Saguache Park and Cochetopa Park off Colorado State Highway 114

Colorado State Highway 114

State Highway 114 is a long state highway in southern central Colorado.-Route description:SH 114 begins in the west at its junction with U.S. Highway 50 approximately eight miles east of Gunnison...

 west of Saguache, Colorado

Saguache, Colorado

The historic town of Saguache is a Statutory Town that is the county seat and most populous town of Saguache County, Colorado, United States. The population was 578 at the U.S. Census 2000.-Name:...

. There is a parking lot for visitors to the wilderness area at the south end of FS 787. Cochetopa Park may also be entered from the east over Cochetopa Pass

Cochetopa Pass

Cochetopa Pass is a mountain pass in Colorado. It lies between the city of Gunnison and the town of Saguache. It lies on the Continental Divide, which separates the Gunnison and Rio Grande National Forests...

via Saguache County Road NN14.