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 story
You don't expect to find a 42-foot Tibetan stupa staring off into the San Luis Valley from the dead-end of a dirt road, but Crestone is not a normal town. Home to roughly 140 permanent residents and more than two dozen active ashrams, ziggurats, and Zen centers, this high-desert pocket operates on its own frequency. Tashi Gomang Stupa, built to honor the 16th Karmapa, took volunteers seven years to construct by hand, transforming the crest of the Baca Grande into a permanent pilgrimage point.
The real strangeness sits locked behind the stupa's white plaster walls. Before sealing the monument, builders packed the core with sacred relics, including fragments of wood from the Bodhi tree and a single, hand-carved juniper trunk running through its center as a structural spine. Surrounding that trunk are 100,000 miniature stupas—known as tsa-tsas—that volunteers rolled by hand, each one wrapped around an individual prayer scroll.
What it's like
To get there, you'll drive down Camino Baca Grande until the pavement dissolves into washboard dirt. Keep driving past the water tower until the road runs out of land, park in the lower turn-around, and take the short uphill walk to the platform. Up top, the wind tears across the San Luis Valley while prayer flags snap overhead. The protocol here is strictly observed: circle the structure clockwise, speak quietly, and leave the tokens—coins, quartz, weathered candles—left on the ledges by whoever came before you.
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.
Pair it with
- Crestone Ziggurat — Follow the neighborhood dirt roads a mile away to contrast Tibetan Buddhist geometry with a Babylonian ziggurat built by a former FAA chief.
- Haidakhandi Universal Ashram — Stay on the local shrine loop to see how a Hindu ashram built into the same foothill handles high-desert quiet.
- UFO Watchtower — Drop out of the mountains and onto the flat valley basin to swap sacred relics for a steel observation platform built for sky-watching.
- The Greenhouse at Sand Dunes Recreation — Head south across the San Luis Valley floor to thaw out after a windy hilltop walk in 118-degree geothermal water.
Good to know
How do I drive to Tashi Gomang Stupa?
From the Baca Grande entrance kiosk south of Crestone, take Camino Baca Grande about five miles as pavement turns to dirt. Turn left at the water tower and follow the road to its dead end at the stupa parking area.
Can a standard sedan make the drive?
Yes, standard two-wheel-drive cars usually manage the dirt and washboard sections fine if driven slowly, but winter snow or heavy summer mud can make the grade tricky.
What is the proper visiting etiquette?
Walk clockwise around the stupa platform, keep your voice down, and leave any coins, stones, or candles left on the ledges exactly where you find them.
What relics are buried inside the stupa?
The sealed interior contains a carved juniper trunk spine, pieces of Bodhi-tree wood, and 100,000 hand-rolled miniature stupas (tsa-tsas) wrapped around prayer scrolls.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · coloradocentralmagazine.com · tricycle.org · kagyu.org
last checked: 2026-06-11