Entry No. 25 — the Pueblo file — filed under: outdoor-weird
Tashi Gomang Stupa
Drive Camino Baca Grande until the pavement quits and the washboard starts; the road dead-ends at a 42-foot Tibetan stupa staring across the San Luis Valley. Volunteers spent seven years building it, then hand-rolled 100,000 tsa-tsas — miniature stupas, each wrapped around a prayer scroll — to seal inside, along with Bodhi-tree wood and a single juniper trunk carved as its spine. It honors the 16th Karmapa, and it's only the showiest of the two-dozen-plus temples, ashrams, and ziggurats scattered through this town of about 140 people.
The move: Pack a picnic, circle the stupa clockwise three times together, then eat facing the San Luis Valley while the prayer flags snap overhead.
📍 Before you go From the kiosk at the Baca Grande entrance south of town, follow Camino Baca Grande about five miles as pavement gives way to washboard dirt; turn left at the water tower and the road dead-ends at the stupa's parking area, a short uphill walk below the platform. Most cars manage it driven slowly, but mind the road after snow or heavy rain. Etiquette is simple: walk clockwise, and leave the coins, rocks, and candles other visitors have placed. Pair it with a slow loop past Crestone's other shrines — the ziggurat and several temples are minutes away on the same roads.
- 📍 Crestone
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: End of Camino Baca Grande, Baca Grande subdivision, Crestone, CO 81131
Hours: Added 2026-06-11 — confirm current hours before you go.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Proof: source 1 · source 2 · source 3 · source 4
last checked: 2026-06-11