A place for shared Zen practice and personal retreats
The practice at Crestone Mountain Zen Center is rooted in the Soto Zen tradition brought to the West by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, founder of San Francisco Zen Center and Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. Founded by Zentatsu Richard Baker Roshi and now led by Abbot Tatsudo Nicole Baden Roshi, CMZC continues this living tradition through retreat, study, work, and daily practice.
Open skies, long horizons and the ever-shifting light shape the experience of practice in the San Luis Valley, a vast and sparsely populated high-desert basin in southern Colorado. Here the land and the teaching are inseparable.
Our most popular personal retreat formats. Each is fully customizable, and you choose your pace and length of stay.
Whether you seek a week of deep silence, a time for rest and reflection, or an intensive Zen immersion, there is a way here for you.
Zazenkai weekends, Sangha work weeks, and practice intensives throughout the year. Each is an open door – come for a weekend, or settle in for longer.
Take time for reflection, exploration and healing, held by the gentle rhythm of a Zen monastery. Stay three nights or three months, reading, writing, walking, sitting.
Settle into the daily schedule, practice zazen, and share the work in the kitchen, garden and grounds. Our Volunteer Program runs from mid-May to late September.
Nestled in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Crestone is a designated Dark Sky area. With no light pollution and an altitude of 8400 feet, you'll see the Milky Way like never before.
If you cannot come to Crestone, you can practice online through the Dharma Academy.
Each day, receive a short video with a gentle teaching, reflection or simple practice guided by Nicole Baden Roshi, abbot of Crestone Mountain Zen Center.
Chapter 1 will begin in Fall 2026. Join the waitlist to receive updates as soon as registration opens.
Explore Nicole's freely available talks and guided teachings, offering practical perspectives on meditation and how Zen practice can meet the challenges of contemporary life.
Join Zentatsu Richard Baker Roshi in exploring the mind of meditation.
Five months in the daily rhythm of the center, in exchange for the work the season asks of us. Three focus areas: kitchen, garden, or grounds.
5 months
Room & board
For those seeking the full depth of monastic training, we offer residency with a minimum one-year commitment.
1 year minimum
Open-ended
Full participation
A monastic practice center cannot survive without vital support from the community. By becoming a member or making a donation, you are helping us to maintain the practice center, provide student financial support when necessary, give our residents a small stipend, and keep the lights on.
Thank you for considering!
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