Cinnamon Pass Road

[Eph 2 5]

How difficult will it be for me to drive my Subaru Forester from Silverton to the top of Cinnamon Pass? I've looked at some previous threads and couldn't find the info. I was looking for. I'm making plans for this upcoming summer and want to hike Wood Mountain and Cinnamon Mountain from Cinnamon Pass. I drove from Lake City to Silverton over Cinnamon Pass 6 years ago in a Suzuki Grand Vitara and scraped the bottom once on the east side of the pass. My memory of the west side of the pass is that it wasn't as difficult as the east side. However, I'm guessing that the road is more rutted now than it was 6 years ago based on my drive to American Basin last year from Lake City (it seemed more difficult than 6 years ago). My backup plan is to park at Grouse Gulch and walk 3 miles up to the pass on the road. I'd rather not do this, though, since I may have limited time. Thanks a lot for your help.

[Matt Lemke]

One thing I can tell you, when the Cinnamon Pass road is open, it is possible to drive a Subaru Forester over the pass. I have a friend who did it in a Forester.
His car didn't escape without its fair share of damages though.

[LetsGoHigher]

A Forester has pretty good clearance, which will be the most important thing. As long as you take it slow and choose your spots carefully, you should be fine. Plan on it taking lots of time, but it will be a beautiful ride!

[Cruiser]

I bet you could make it to the American Basin from Lake City in a Forester without much difficulty. But I'd be reluctant to take it over the pass from Silverton. The road gets a lot worse as it near the summit of the pass on both sides. You wouldn't want to get stuck / broke down up there because towing would be frighteningly expensive.

[semitrueskerm]

I made it with a 2WD Jeep Liberty a few years ago...

[Manky]

I bet you could make it to the American Basin from Lake City in a Forester without much difficulty. But I'd be reluctant to take it over the pass from Silverton. The road gets a lot worse as it near the summit of the pass on both sides. You wouldn't want to get stuck / broke down up there because towing would be frighteningly expensive.

My thoughts exactly. It's not worth tearing up your car, have fun.

[kushrocks]

I would highly advice against this especially right now. I took my Mitsubishi Outlander (small SUV) with higher clearance than a subaru and I regreted it big time. I tried this in late September at the fall gathering thinking it might cut off some time to get to Mt. Sneffels . . . . it sure as hell didnt. The road took forever because of all the technical sections and I definitly bottomed out hard a couple times. Luckily I had no major damage but I would never take my vehicle up this road again. A jeep or big truck would be fine but a small suv or especially a subaru I would highly advice against.

[Prairie Dog]

For what it's worth - about five or six years ago (in July), I drove my stock 2000 Chevy S-10 4WD from Ouray to American Basin (summited Handies) then continued on to Lake City. I did not bottom out and suffered no damage to the vehicle. I'm not advocating that anyone try this and it should be noted that the road conditions could have changed drastically since then.

Chris

[gdthomas]

The road to Cinnamon Pass from the west is not as bad as the approach from Lake City, particularly the upper sections. I've been on that road several times, most recently the Summer of 2010. They were grading portions of the road near Cinnamon Pass on the west side. My guess is a careful driver in your car can make it without too much trouble. If you get in a pickle, there are plenty of places to turn around.

[Mel McKinney]

I drove Cinnamon Pass in 1997 in a stock Ford Explorer with no issues. When we went over it again about 10 years later the west side was horrible. Luckily we were in a Toyota Tacoma so there was clearance. Otherwise we would have been backtracking. It was like driving in a river bed. I keep hearing that they grade it. I'd suggest checking for 4x4 trail reports online closer to your drive and seeing if there is a recent one. I don't know who does "upkeep" on the road where you could get info. The county maybe?

Thread from a few years ago.
http://www.14ers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13667

[Presto]

by Mel McKinney » Thu Feb 16, 2012 2:58 pm
... I'd suggest checking for 4x4 trail reports online closer to your drive and seeing if there is a recent one. I don't know who does "upkeep" on the road where you could get info. The county maybe?

http://www.bushducks.com/tripreps/passopen.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (listed alphabetically)
http://www.bogley.com/forum/forumdispla ... f-Road-4X4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (at the bottom, you can sort by conditions)

[Mel McKinney]

http://www.bushducks.com/tripreps/passopen.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (listed alphabetically)
http://www.bogley.com/forum/forumdispla ... f-Road-4X4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (at the bottom, you can sort by conditions)

Nice. I could only find older reports. I like http://www.traildamage.com but sometimes there's nothing recent for a trip report.