When open, the pass can be accessed from Buena Vista to the east by following Chaffee County Road 306.

When open, the pass is one of the few routes through the Sawatch Range accessible in a standard two-wheel drive passenger vehicle.

In July 2002, heavy rains from a thunderstorm east of Cottonwood Pass caused a significant mudslide that blocked portions of Chaffee County Road 306 for many days.

The National Weather Service estimated that between three and four inches of rain fell within one hour on the evening of 22 July 2002,[3] causing a portion known as Red Deer Mountain to begin sliding downward and leaving debris up to 15 feet deep on the road.

[4][5] A project to widen, realign, and pave the pass began in the spring of 2017[6] and was completed in September 2019.