Castle/Conundrum

[Gogleos]

I'm taking my Subaru forester to Castle/con next week and I was wondering if it would be able to make it up some of Pearl pass Road. I always read about "ohh pearl pass is tough above the river crossing" but I never see anything about getting to the river crossing.

The main reason I'm looking at driving up pearl pass rd is to find better camping spots than just at the very lowest trailhead for castle/con. I'll be there on a Wednesday evening so I figure there should be some camping spots open.

[pmeadco]

I've taken my 2014 Forester up the road before. Kind of dicey. The Forester could use more ground clearance and would benefit from tougher tires for the sharp rocks. The lack of 4WD-low makes it really hard on the car. That said, we did make it up past tree line. If we had 4WD-low we probably could have made it all the way to the end, but the steeps that are past the switchback at tree line were too much for the car so we had to back down to the switchback.

I lean toward advising against it due to the risk of tire damage and the wear-and-tear on the clutch and transmission, but given my experience it can be done, so up to you if you want to roll the dice. Your first real test is the creek crossing at the 2WD parking area. If you get past that then you are good for a mile or so before it gets challenging again (the steeps past the bridge, below the intersection for Pearl Pass).

Are you feeling lucky?

[ErikS]

I was just up there on Sunday, and like pmeadco said, you can make it quite a ways up the road with some careful driving and tolerance for wear and tear on your car. The dispersed campsites are all within the first half mile or so, then your biggest obstacle is the stream crossing 1.3 miles in. If you get past that, you should be able to make it the next 1.7 miles up to Pearl Pass. There are at least two camp sites about a quarter mile short of the Pearl Pass junction, then three or four more about a quarter mile past the junction at or just short of tree line. It's a pretty easy hike if you decide to park low and do it on foot... I hike pretty fast, but I made it to the Pearl Pass junction from the paved Castle Creek road in about an hour and was to tree line in 1:10.

If I'm understanding your question correctly, you want to make it up part of Pearl Pass Rd? I don't think you have a chance of that. I didn't hike up the road at all, but just seeing the beginning of it, I'm guessing you'd need a modified 4WD.

[DeTour]

If I'm understanding your question correctly, you want to make it up part of Pearl Pass Rd? I don't think you have a chance of that. I didn't hike up the road at all, but just seeing the beginning of it, I'm guessing you'd need a modified 4WD.

I think the OP might mean getting up the road that leaves the paved Castle Creek Road at around 9800'. That stretch of 4wd road is labeled both Pearl Pass Road and Montezuma Road on Google Maps. Getting up that road accesses campsites suitable for Castle, either before or after the first crossing of Castle Creek.

ErikS is referring to the road that branches south at around 11,000', leading up and over Pearl Pass. Pretty sure OP didn't want to go that way. A kid did take it on a mountain bike from Crested Butte last year, great TR to read if you feel like finding it.

FWIW, our group got a rented Volkswagen Touareg up over 11,000 feet on the Montezuma Road - and then blew a tire. Then we rescued it with another rental, a Jeep Sahara, which we took to around 12,200 and could have taken higher. Might be way more than you want to know about that road, but I'm a shameless promoter of my TRs: http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepor ... m=tripmine

[ErikS]

If I'm understanding your question correctly, you want to make it up part of Pearl Pass Rd? I don't think you have a chance of that. I didn't hike up the road at all, but just seeing the beginning of it, I'm guessing you'd need a modified 4WD.

I think the OP might mean getting up the road that leaves the paved Castle Creek Road at around 9800'. That stretch of 4wd road is labeled both Pearl Pass Road and Montezuma Road on Google Maps. Getting up that road accesses campsites suitable for Castle, either before or after the first crossing of Castle Creek.

ErikS is referring to the road that branches south at around 11,000', leading up and over Pearl Pass. Pretty sure OP didn't want to go that way. A kid did take it on a mountain bike from Crested Butte last year, great TR to read if you feel like finding it.

FWIW, our group got a rented Volkswagen Touareg up over 11,000 feet on the Montezuma Road - and then blew a tire. Then we rescued it with another rental, a Jeep Sahara, which we took to around 12,200 and could have taken higher. Might be way more than you want to know about that road, but I'm a shameless promoter of my TRs: http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepor ... m=tripmine

Correct, I was referring to the left turn you can take at 11,100 as the Pearl Pass Rd. I didn't realize FR 102 (the dirt road that leaves the paved Castle Creek Rd.) was labeled as the Pearl Pass Rd. on google maps. Everything else I said is accurate though with regard to where the camp sites are along FR102 headed up into Montezuma basin

[TravelingMatt]

Everyone calls the relevant road Castle Creek Road.

The crux will be the creek crossing down low. Between the creek and the turnoff for Pearl Pass the road is relatively gentle and probably Subaruable (word borrowed from a recent TH report). The creek itself... you'll have to see it. Above the creek are several informal pullover areas one can park/sleep/camp; if any are numbered, only the first few are.

Or you could snag one of the first 9 or so campsites before the creek and start an hour earlier. They fill up on weekends but you should be OK on a Wednesday. It's just a road you're walking up.

FWIW, our group got a rented Volkswagen Touareg up over 11,000 feet on the Montezuma Road - and then blew a tire. Then we rescued it with another rental, a Jeep Sahara, which we took to around 12,200 and could have taken higher.]

This is the correct way to use rental cars