| Date | Status Information Posted by 14ers.com Forum Users | Posted By |
|---|---|---|
| 2009-11-03 | As of 11/01 a 4WD can make it to about +/- 3 miles past the Singing River Ranch. After that it is mostly snow covered road to the upper trailhead. If you go before it snows again there is a nice trench to follow. | MikeyC |
| 2009-10-20 | 10/17/09 - No snow, mostly dry all the way to the TH. A few large puddles, nothing more than ~8" deep. 2WD accessible, assuming you don‘t mind bumping around or a few dings to the car (wouldn‘t take new 2WDs up there, though). Comparable to Tigiwon Road. About an hour‘s drive from Gardner. | JosephG |
| 2009-08-25 | Trailhead is accessible by any vehicle with good clearance. Probably a truck or SUV is your best bet to avoid any bottoming out. There are four or five small stream crossings but as of 8/22/09 none are more than 12 inches deep. Several hundred feet of the road just about where the ranches are is constantly wet due to a small stream running down it but is solid, not muddy. Road is well maintained and it took right at an hour to get from the turn-off north of Gardner to the trilhead. | huffy13 |
| 2009-06-21 | If you are taking I-25 south to Walsenburg to climb Lindsey or head over La Veta Pass here is a closure you should know about. From CDOT website [url]http://www.cotrip.org/roadConditions.htm[/url] Bridge Construction I-25 Southbound at CO 10 North of Walsenburg (Milemarker 50) (through July 2009) 24 Hours Full closure of southbound lanes for bridge rehabilitation tentatively scheduled through the end of July. Traffic detoured at Exit 52, through Walsenburg via Business Route I-25 (US 85/87 - Walsen Ave/Main St), rejoining I-25 at Exit 49 on the south end of Walsenburg. Friday 6-19-09 super time traffic on I-25 south was backed up and stopped for about a mile before Walsenburg. The back up continued into Walsenburg. There is a dirt frontage road along side the highway. High clearance vehicles were crossing the ditch to get on this road. The frontage road will take you to the parking lot of the gas station at the Walsenburg exit with the A&W inside. The other side of the parking lot is on Hwy 69 which heads up toward Lindsey. For Lindsey an alternative is to cross from I-25 (exit 56) to 69 on Red Rock Road which is a few miles north of Walsenburg. Red Rock Road is now paved. If you need to head over La Veta Pass you might have to get more creative to get past the back up. | MountainHiker |
| 2009-06-10 | Just echoing the below update- trailhead is clear all the way to the summer TH. There are 2 puddles that lower-clearance vehicles should take caution through. | USAKeller |
| 2009-06-01 | No snow all the way to the uppermost parking. Last 1/2 mile is a little steep and loose for the Subaru though. | elchivoloco |
| 2009-05-23 | There is one snow drift that will keep a low-clearance vehicle from getting all the way to the TH, but it is a very short walk away from it. Totally 2wd accessible otherwise. | thunderinacircle |
| 2009-05-23 | The downed tree mentioned in the previous update has been removed. Vehicles can access the trailhead, now. There‘s a little bit of snow toward the end, but not much of an issue. | tmathews |
| 2009-05-17 | Driveable to about 100 yards shy of the Lower Huerfano trailhead (Zapata Trail), at which point a large tree blocks the road. If you bring a chainsaw and get through this tree, you will be able to get signicantly farther up the road without encountering major snow drifts. | GeorgeB |
| 2009-03-09 | With 4WD the road is passable to 3.5 miles before the summer TH (2.5 miles past the Singing River Ranch). A shovel is a good idea though as there is still some snow to deal with. Further passage blocked by deep snow and a downed tree. | SarahT |
| 2009-02-08 | As of 2/7 the road is impassable for passenger cars past the Singing River Ranch, 4WD can continue for an additional .5 miles before monster snow drifts will stop anything short of a snowmobile. | benners |
| 2008-11-16 | Drove my 4wd to the upper trailhead. 2-4 inches of snow and some icy patches above the second large meadow. Icy stretch by second ranch not for cars. | piper14er |
| 2008-09-15 | If you are a great driver then a 2WD would probably suffice, but I would definitely still recommend a 4WD, as accessing the TH with one is pretty much a breeze. | ossie322 |
| 2008-09-11 | Made it to the trailhead in my AWD Suby WRX on 8/31. Rocks weren‘t too bad, road just steepens a bit toward the last mile. Just gotta keep the momentum going up. Saw another Subaru Outback at the TH- looks like AWD vehicles with decent clearance should make it. Was at night too! | summitseeker |
| 2008-08-31 | No wonder the road was so good. Thanks Huerfano County! Drove this Saturday morning 8/30 and it is in great shape. Some standing water here and there but no problem at all, especially if you have some clearance. Road is so good you might even be able to make it in a 2WD car. | Beagle |
| 2008-08-28 | Huerfano County roadgrader was working on the upper part of the ranch section of the 580 road on the 26th. He has really smoothed it out nicely, and filled in all of the erosion, potholes, etc. There are still few muddy pieces just below the forest boundary, but it is good mud, not the kind of mud that will get you stuck. | huunqs6nq |
| 2008-08-25 | I went up to the Lily Lake trailhead on 8.23.08 and road work has been done on the pond. It was very easy to cross they filled in the road with dirt and we crossed it will no problems. Forgot to take a picture, but it‘s now dirt filled. | mtncatmoore |
| 2008-08-09 | Pond/puddle still there 8-9-08. Stay left if approaching trailhead, right if leaving TH. Drainage tube is shallower on right side of photo. (See picture below). Crossed with no problem in an Xterra, many other trucks and SUV‘s crossed fine, including a Geo Tracker. | mtnklutz |
| 2008-08-09 | Pond/puddle still there 8-9-08. Stay left if approaching trailhead, right if leaving TH. Drainage tube is shallower on right side of photo. (See picture below). Crossed with no problem in an Xterra, many other trucks and SUV‘s crossed fine, including a Geo Tracker. | mtnklutz |
| 2008-08-04 | Fifteen minutes with a shovel and removal of a couple fallen logs, and that puddle could be drained. Until then, 2wd cars still need to stop at the puddle/pond as of 3 August 2008. | MUni Rider |
| 2008-07-28 | Large puddle mentioned below is still there as of July 27; it was more than a few inches deep. I‘d want at least AWD with better than average passenger car clearance; hi-clearance 4WD would be no problem. | scotthsu |
| 2008-07-19 | There is a very large puddle a few inches deep with an exposed culvert about 3 miles from the parking area. All cars we saw were parked here. A 4x4 Xterra and Escape were able to make it in and out without problem. | Cody |
| 2008-06-29 | Same as last report. | covfrrider |
| 2008-06-15 | Trees have been cleared, trailhead is accessable with high clearance 2wd. | doumall |
| 2008-06-13 | A fallen tree blocks the road about 0.75 from the Huerfano and Zapata trailhead and 1.75 miles from the Lily Lake trailhead. | thatguy |
| 2008-05-31 | There are several creek crossings and a couple large, deep puddles (one about a foot deep), but my Jeep made it through no-problem. We got stopped about 1/3 of a mile from the TH by snowdrifts. The snowdrifts were rapidly melting - another week of warm temps and you might be able to get all the way to the TH. | slynn4_13run |
| 2008-05-29 | As of 27 May, there is a large snowdrift, which will stop any vehicle, about halfway between the NF boundary and the actual trailhead. Beyond that, the road/trail has serious drifts in numerous places, but they are melting fast. The pool of muddy water (the drain culvert appears to be blocked) about a mile short of the forest boundary is only about 6 inches deep, and can actually be safely crossed by most vehicles. | cftbq |
| 2008-05-04 | Climbed Lindsey via the North Couloir on Tuesday. The road is passable via passenger car to about 17 miles from the Redwing spur of Colorado 69. Four-wheel drive can make it to mile 18.5, then ice and densly consolidated snow drifts make it to treacherous to drive any further. | DaveP |
| 2008-04-26 | Intermitent snow drifts 3.2 miles short of trailhead - 1/4 mi. short of pond crossing (Chev. Tahoe could go no further). Solid snow cover (4‘+) from nat‘l forest boundary to trailhead. Estimate 2-3 weeks will be able to drive to nat‘l forest boundary, 5-8 weeks before you might be able to drive to trailhead. | cpstoney |
| 2007-11-26 | The road has consistent 3" snow coverage, and the water crossings are topped with about a 1 1/2" to 2" of good hard ice...mind your undercarriage. | wildbrookie |
| 2007-11-03 | For those coming from the west over La Veta Pass, check out this link for a great shortcut -- http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/150496/mount-lindsey.html -- I'm going this way today, so I'll give more info if needed | burningthebushes |
| 2007-08-11 | As if 08/09/2007 road is in great shape until reaching Singing River Ranch. After that, it becomes rough but passable for 4x2 Ford Ranger pickup or vehicles with similar clearance. About 2 miles past the Singing River Ranch there is a low water crossing that will present problems for low clearance passenger cars. | Gene913 |
| 2007-06-10 | Passable for 4wd cars all the way to the trailhead. | swm88er |
| 2007-05-27 | Still some snow banks near the top. Parking available at a campsite within a 10 minute walk from the trailhead. | ClimbandMine |
| 2006-05-30 | This road is good all the way up. | luigi |
| 2006-05-23 | completely dry the entire way......gets a little rough towards the end | frozenfire075 |
| 2006-04-30 | Was able to drive all the way to the Lily Lake trailhead on Thursday evening. There was one large snowbank that took 3 attempts to get through, but it's got tracks through it now :) Most 4wd's should be good all the way to the TH. | run2xs |
| 2005-06-20 | Clear and tame road, low clearance vehicles can make it to a mile of trailhead. some water filled low spots in the way. On the whole do not require 4 wheel drive, just a bit of clearance | gurbi |
| 2005-06-16 | This is an easy 4x4 road. I drove up on 6/15/05 in my Subaru wagon GL 4x4hi/4x4low. It was a breeze and a beautiful drive. You will need a vehicle with some clearence, but you shouldn't need 4x4 if you're a good driver. Of course, in winter it's a completely different ball game. | tommy dorr |
| Location: | Sangre de Cristo Range |
| 14ers Served: | Mt. Lindsey |
| Road Type: | Rough 2WD access to approx. 10,400' from the north via CR 580 that leads south along the Huerfano River. This road leads to the standard trailhead for Mt. Lindsey. Easy 4WD access to 10,700' by continuing up the road to the small parking at the end of the road. |
| Winter Access: | Usually closed near the ranches, many miles below the TH. |
| Directions: | - Drive to the town of Gardner - northwest of Walsenburg on Colorado 69. - From Gardner, head west for about 1/2 mile on CO 69 and turn west on the road to Mosca Pass. There should be brown Forest Service signs on CO 69 indicating the turn. - Just after the start of this road, there is a Forest Service sign that says "Upper Huerfano - 21.5" and "Lily Lake Trhd - 22.5". - Continue 6.8 miles and bear right. Shortly after this the road turns to dirt. - Drive 4.7 miles to a junction and turn left onto Forest Road 580. - Drive 3.4 miles and the road will enter private property. There is a "Forest Access" sign that reads "Upper Huerfano - 5.3 mi." - Continue 0.6 mile and stay left at the entrance to the Singing River ranch. The road becomes rough, narrow, but still 2WD. - Continue 0.8 mile and pass the entrance to the Aspen River ranch. The road turns to 4WD after this point. - Drive 3.4 miles enter the San Isabel National Forest. The road continues to get worse. - Drive 0.8 mile and pass a small sign for the Huerfano and Zapata trails. - Drive 1 more mile to the end of the road at the Lily Lake TH. The last 1/4 mile is rough but usually ok for most 4WD vehicles. Calculate Driving Time from your Address | Trailheads on Google Maps |
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