South Colony Lakes Trailhead

Posted On: 6/28/2026 By: MaryinColorado
Info: Whew! Parts of the road that were awful last year seem smoothed out now, but then there are other parts that used to be good that are now awful. I would NOT attempt in a standard SUV. Yes, a very skilled driver in a Subi can likely make it to the 4WD hopefully unscathed. And my stock 4Runner did fine. But there are 2-3 exceptionally rough areas where a good line is critical and where I appreciated 4Lo on the way down so as not to have to ride my brakes.

Posted On: 6/25/2026 By: Farney814
Info: It's been quite a few years since I've driven S. Colony road, and the condition currently was far worse than I remembered, especially in the first 1.5 miles or so that cross private land. The upper sections closer to the parking lot are not quite as bad. In my 2000 Land Cruiser with 2" lift and 33's, I didn't have any trouble, but for vehicles with either less clearance, or a longer wheelbase, it would be a pretty miserable trip and you'd need to be comfortable with some scraping.

That said, I saw an F250 Superduty pickup at the top, along with a Rav4 and some Subarus, so it's clearly possible. Just not something I would want to do with my own vehicle. Some of the grade reversals and very sharp dips/large potholes would really challenge something like that F250.

We drove up in the late afternoon/evening on Saturday the 20th as we were heading up to hike in and camp by the lakes in preparation for hiking Humboldt on Sunday the 21st. A lot of traffic coming down between 3 and 5pm, but there's enough places to pull off and get out of the way that it wasn't too much of a problem to be going against the current of traffic that time of day. The parking lot had clearly been full earlier in the day as there were vehicles parked precariously outside the main parking lot when we arrived at about 5pm, but a lot of space had cleared out and by the time we left the lot to hike in, there were only about 7 or 8 vehicles left.

After our hike on Sunday morning, we were back down to the parking lot by around 1pm, and the lot was only half full then.

Posted On: 6/15/2026 By: EndWillows
Info: Upper trailhead is easy tbh, easier than its been in prior years. About 30 min going up from the lower trailhead and 20 min going down. I do drive a lifted GX but I think this trail is absolutely doable in Subarus and the like, saw a rav4 up there. Definitely some areas where with lower clearance you’d want to pick a good line but any mildly capable SUV with good clearance can proceed with confidence.

Posted On: 5/26/2026 By: ceebs_here
Info: Road is in summer condition. No issues with lifted Tacoma. High clearance is definitely rewarded. Saw three Subarus at Upper Trailhead. It is possible, but a few sections require a strategic line if you do not have the clearance.

Posted On: 5/22/2026 By: katarinaa452
Info: South Colony Lakes Road / Upper Trailhead Conditions (5/21):

Started driving to the Upper South Colony Lakes Road around 4:30–4:45 a.m. in heavy fog and reached the upper trailhead around 6:00 a.m. Road conditions were overall relatively dry with only a few puddles from recent weather.

Made it to the upper trailhead in a stock Toyota Tacoma with 33” tires and approximately 11–12” of clearance without any major issues. Careful line choice is still important, especially through the rockier sections and tighter obstacles, but overall conditions were favorable this morning compared to what the road can often be like.

As of this morning, the road was very passable for capable high-clearance 4WD vehicles. Fog was the biggest factor early in the morning.

Posted On: 5/18/2026 By: Sphenna
Info: Made it up in a Rav4 with 8 inches of clearance, but it was pretty sketchy at times and I scraped the bottom a little on two occasions. Did see one other Rav4 up there, but otherwise only trucks and jeeps. I think it's possible to do this in a Subaru type vehicle, but only going slow with an experienced driver, and only if you are OK with maybe scraping a bit. Going down was easier. The crux was in the last .3 miles before national forest starts and private property ends

Posted On: 4/4/2026 By: JerJerBinks
Info: Road is clear. Summer conditions

Posted On: 3/16/2026 By: madmattd
Info: A few scattered sections of ice in the first 1.5mi (private property stretch) starting as soon as the road gets to the trees. Ice gets more consistent at the National Forest boundary. Tire tracks throughout, but old ones (looked like most higher up were atv tracks). I wouldn't advise driving the road right now, but depending on the weather we get, there's a real world where it is possible to drive up to the National Forest Boundary in a few weeks. Above that to the Rainbow Trail/SCL TH will need longer.

Posted On: 12/30/2025 By: Chipmunk
Info: Downed trees have been cleared by Custer County SAR - thank you! Road has ATV tracks all the way to the Rainbow Trail Junction (and beyond) which makes for easy and efficient foot travel.

Posted On: 12/23/2025 By: coflosmo
Info: Parked 4Runner at 9100ft. Impassable further due to rotten snow and probably a dozen downed trees between 2wd and 4wd lot. The first downed tree at 9400 is the largest, I put on skis after getting over it because that’s what I was up there to do. There’s a good trench and shallow snowpack though; all you need is good boots but would want float past 11.2k. The foot trail up to SCL from the road has always been thick and steep but now it’s totally blown down and not trenched. It seems like the old road is the route right now, and was completely dry for like a quarter mile. I turned around at 11,200 after finding my seat and eating my lunch. Looked deep past there with maybe one set of tracks. Ski out was wack. Broken hand pass looked snow-affected. Humboldt did not. Pray for snow!

Posted On: 12/21/2025 By: Kiefer
Info: Trucks & Jeeps can only make it another .2 mile past the lower 2wd trailhead. If you have tracks on your ATV, you can make 1.2 miles further up the road before a HUGE tree completely blocks the road.
This recent wind storm wasn't kind. I lost track of all the downed trees across the road.

Flotation isn't needed until .3 miles past the upper 4wd trailhead. It was mashed potatoes this morning by 10:00 am.

Posted On: 12/13/2025 By: bigfoot1
Info: A bit if snow and ice on the road in the quarter of a mile before the 2wd lot that I scraped bottom on. If you have 5" or more of clearance, you'll be ok. I'm guessing it'll be melted and completely snow-free to the lot in less than a week. The lot itself is dry and actually a bit muddy.

Posted On: 12/7/2025 By: emself
Info: Road above 2WD parking lot is snowed in & inaccessible to vehicles

Posted On: 10/11/2025 By: Nosimplehighway
Info: Plenty of nice dispersed campsites once you enter Nat'l Forest land 1.5 miles from the lower trailhead. The upper trailhead is doable, but approaches the limits, of what most stock AWD vehicles can safely handle. I did this in a stock 2021 Subaru Crosstrek sport with 8.7 inches of clearance and all-terrain tires. The most challenging driving difficulties were at roughly 1.3-1.4 miles from the lower trailhead - just before entering Nat'l Forest land. This stretch of road was passable in AWD by picking a line carefully, but traction on this section would be smoother with 4-LO. After crossing onto Forest service land, the final 1.2 miles or so is a bit easier and has plenty of places to camp.

Posted On: 10/2/2025 By: drewskiclimbs
Info: Road to the upper trailhead was very bumpy / rutted out. 4WD and good clearance are a must. Took ~30 mins to get from lower TH to upper lot (worth it though, if you can make it). The pictures do not do justice to how dicey it is in a few sections. Plenty of parking available up top.