Castle Creek Trailhead

Posted On: 7/23/2024 By: Emilygrippin
Info: Hiked on 7/21. To mirror previous posts, the road gets a bit spicy past campsite 3, I decided not to risk it with a Subaru Crosstrek. After this patch the road is relatively good until the large rut that spans across the entire road near campsite 7. The first three campsites are in high demand as you can imagine, but if you have the correct vehicle or are willing to hike, there are several dispersed campsites with established fire pits beyond the creek crossing. 4Runners and jeeps were handling this road without issue.

Posted On: 7/16/2024 By: dwoodward13
Info: Took a Subaru to campsite #7, approximately 1 mile from pavement. Just past this there is a road-width water rut mentioned in prior reports. It looked pretty dicey for standard SUVs to cross, however a Expedition parked just beyond. This is only a quarter mile from the stream crossing, which would likely stop any SUV anyways so probably not worth it for most. Only pickups, 4runners, etc past the stream. A modified F150 (?) made it to the switchback just below 12,600.

Posted On: 6/20/2024 By: S-Parx
Info: Stopped at campsite #3 about 0.5mi from the pavement due to holes I did not want to take my CRV through. A more capable vehicle could make it to ~11,300 if I remember correctly until a large drift blocks the road. This is the same location there is a private house on the E side of the road.

Posted On: 6/15/2024 By: Dan_Suitor
Info: I made it about 1.5 miles (est.) past the creek crossing. At that point, the road is impassible, due to snow. My full sized GM Pickup got across the creek with no problems, but it is running fairly high.

Posted On: 5/20/2024 By: k_fergie
Info: Castle creek road is snowed in at about 10k. Continuous snow after the 10.2k creek crossing. Road is in deep from there and will not be drivable beyond that for quite some time

Posted On: 4/28/2024 By: WillRobnett
Info: Quick drive to winter gate, still locked near mile marker 11. Snowed all day barely sticking to the road. Spring Conditions!

Posted On: 10/22/2023 By: drchele
Info: The road is still open all the way to 12,800. Some snow and ice patches in the trees. I drove my FJ Cruiser (not lifted) and in the dark, it was easy to bump/scrape bottom in two areas. If you get to Pearl Pass, there really aren't any worse hazards above that. A month ago, I took my lifted Subaru Outback and parked at camping spot 9. Just past 9 and up to the right, there is a deep diagonal rocky rut (before the creek crossing) that looks like it eats passenger car undercarriages for lunch. No problem in the FJ, but I didn't brave it in my Subie.

Posted On: 10/2/2023 By: Eagle Eye
Info: The FR102 Castle Creek Road is in good shape. The creek crossing is mellow and has a low flow & relatively smooth rock "floor" through it. All 9 numbered campsites were occupied. It hailed during my trip & so it added a little hail accumulation slickness to the upper parts of the road -and just wet otherwise lower down. Several people had driven and parked along the road, but none were much farther than the Pearl Pass fork. No one had driven to the end of the road.

Posted On: 9/23/2023 By: Jerousek
Info: Made it to 11,100' in a stock Forester Wilderness. There were 3 or 4 obstacles where I got out to double check the line before committing. No scrapes; very doable, but engaging driving at times.

Posted On: 8/29/2023 By: V1per41
Info: Parked and camped at campsite #6 with a 2" lifted Subaru Crosstrek. Road had a decent rut in it just after that (see pic 3). I probably could have made it on second look, but the car is new-ish and I'm still learning what's it's capable of.

After the 9 official campsites, there were a couple more unofficial looking ones that have gotten fairly heavy use. The road from 11k to 12k didn't look much more difficult that the road just to get to 11k. If you made it to 11k with ease, then 12k is reasonable. We saw no vehicles that attempted the top trailhead today.

Pictures are from the worst obstacles on the road up to 11k.

Posted On: 8/21/2023 By: ochres
Info: Parked just below Pearl Pass Junction in a stock 4Runner with AT tires (~11,130 ft). A couple spots for vehicles to park. Pretty mellow drive with a few rutted out sections/rocks to navigate with minimal scraping/bumping running boards. No crazy shelf roads before the junction and the switchbacks past it seemed to be decently wide with a few opportunities to pull over if needed. I think I could've made it all the way up to the very end of the road but wanted to get a decent amount of elevation gain in. A few full size pickups, a new Bronco, and Jeep parked at the end of the road.

Posted On: 8/17/2023 By: mdfreiberg
Info: Trail/road was in good condition (considering) and stream crossings were no issue for my rental Jeep Rubicon. The deeper ruts are easily passed with reasonable alignment. That Jeep made it up to 12K and after walking the rest of the road I know I could've made it to 12,800. Two nice campsites above the Pearl Pass Junction (both within .5-1 mile on the right) and I highly recommend them if your vehicle can climb it's way up.

Posted On: 7/23/2023 By: pbarn
Info: Road is now clear of snow all the way up, and passable to anyone with the right vehicle and skills.

Posted On: 7/22/2023 By: cgolkie
Info: Campsite 1 is semi-easy to get to (with skilled driving) with most vehicles but the road is rocky and rough. I took my Subie Crosstrek up to Campsite 7 and parked it there. There is a very large rut just after that. You could make it over with the right wheel placement in a Subaru or similar vehicle, but I didn't want to risk it. It's a 4 minute walk to the creek if you park below it. The creek seemed manageable as well, but there is another rut just after the creek. At 11k and above it was Wranglers, Tacomas, and lifted 4X4. There was one Jeep at the very top of the trailhead.

Posted On: 7/12/2023 By: Dagmar
Info: Snow patches start at 11890 ft. Large snow patch covering entire road at 12230. Road is rough in few places but drivable with 4x4. A lot of water in streem crossing. Saw couple of Jeeps and one Toyota truck made make it trough both driving to about 11000 ft. Saw a subby making it all the way to camp site 9.