Castle Creek Trailhead Preparation

Trailhead condition requests, questions, alerts, etc.
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Mitsugi
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Castle Creek Trailhead Preparation

Post by Mitsugi »

Hi Guys,

In light of more thunderstorms on Blanca peak coming this weekend. I'm looking for alternatives. We're driving a beaten up 2014 highlander with about the best off road tires that fit. We made it to the top of that road that leads to the Humbolt Peak trailhead. How far up Castle Creek road will we make it? The website says the hike is only 7 miles if started from 11,200 ft.

What are the chances of us getting to 11,200? Are there pull offs between the 13mi main trailhead and the 7mi hiking point if we need to bail?
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Iguru
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Re: Castle Creek Trailhead Preparation

Post by Iguru »

It has been awhile since I have been up there, but if the road is in similar condition to then, you can make it all the way to about 12,800 with your vehicle. I drove my slightly modded Cherokee to around 11,600 where there was a small turnoff to park. I could have gone further, but I was with a hiking partner who wanted to stop and hike. Turnoffs are sparse at this point, so if you are this far, go all the way up to the top. I saw a stock Cherokee there when I did it.
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Re: Castle Creek Trailhead Preparation

Post by Chicago Transplant »

I've driven the Castle Creek road to the 10,200' creek crossing in my Outback (most recently 2019). I have been to the end of S Colony (Humboldt TH) before in that vehicle as well for comparison (most recently 2018). The issue was the creek crossing on Castle Creek road, I don't think my approach/departure angles can take it so parked before it.

After that the road looks like it is good until about 11k, there small pullout for maybe 2 cars right before the road turns and crosses a bridge. There are some spots after the bridge that get pretty rocky and steeper, and from what I remember that rocky stretch is below the Pearl Pass turnoff with no other parking. You may want to park there just in case so you don't have to back down if the rocky spot is too much.
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douglas
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Re: Castle Creek Trailhead Preparation

Post by douglas »

I was there last week and drove my stock Nissan armada to 11,500 feet. Honestly that was a little bit of a stretch for my car and I was probably pushing my luck but I never really scraped. Right at 11,500 feet there are some great camping spots and a nice area to pull off.
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Iguru
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Re: Castle Creek Trailhead Preparation

Post by Iguru »

Maybe I overestimated your vehicles off road capability. After hearing that an Armada was pushed to it's limits, your vehicle, being not as off road capable as that, might have more trouble with that road than I thought. I was thinking your Highlander was next in capability to a 4Runner, but it actually is not nearly as off road worthy. Sorry. Be careful, however you might get further than you think, with patience.
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daway8
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Re: Castle Creek Trailhead Preparation

Post by daway8 »

Got my Jeep Renegade up to Pearl Pass earlier this year (back when the road was still snowed in a little ways beyond that). The creek crossing looked slightly intimidating but wasn't bad at all.

The only tough spot was at the switchbacks just before Pearl Pass - that was a bit sketchy but not horrible (but a very capable looking truck was parked just below that section).

I seem to recall a little scraping of the skid plates in that section though might have been able to avoid that with slightly more careful driving. My Renegade has 8.7" clearance - if Google can be trusted it looks like your rig might only have 8" so you might struggle at those switchbacks unless you're real careful. There were some potential pull-offs just before the switchbacks (you're practically at the pass at that point - I think it's like 11,100ish or so...).

Use your GPS to track how close you're getting to the pass and as you start getting close keep your eyes open for pull off options in case you decide to back out at the switchbacks.
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Re: Castle Creek Trailhead Preparation

Post by Mitsugi »

Iguru wrote: Wed Aug 11, 2021 8:50 pm Maybe I overestimated your vehicles off road capability. After hearing that an Armada was pushed to it's limits, your vehicle, being not as off road capable as that, might have more trouble with that road than I thought. I was thinking your Highlander was next in capability to a 4Runner, but it actually is not nearly as off road worthy. Sorry. Be careful, however you might get further than you think, with patience.
I should probably modify as wel as my car is a 2006 highlander and not 2014. Dunno what I wAs thinking. But I’m told the older highlanders are more of road than the newer ones.
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Mitsugi
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Re: Castle Creek Trailhead Preparation

Post by Mitsugi »

Ultimately we always like to know how big of a bite of the apple we are taking and we’re fine with a 10 mile hike. So if we can reduce that 13.5 mile number it will be good. I dunno if we have to shave it all the way down to 7 miles to feel happy lol

Wanna climb Blanca but still feeling nervous about the weather. We got hailed on coming up the mt Harvard trail and my girlfriend really hated that lol. We were freezing and soaked.
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Re: Castle Creek Trailhead Preparation

Post by onebyone »

Went to 11,000 ish just below where the road forks toward Pearl Pass and onward toward Castle. I has a Ford Escape and didn't feel comfortable going past there and also wanted the min 3,000 feet.
The most intimidating part was the creek crossing and requires a bit of a leap of faith, but it turned out to be not that bad.

Overall, the road is not bad at all. I would park below the turn off for Pearl Pass, where it becomes more genuine 4WD territory.
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Summit Stomper
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Re: Castle Creek Trailhead Preparation

Post by Summit Stomper »

So it looks like a Subaru will get to the creek crossing just fine....but no more.

Can you camp right there easily?

Are there any problems with taking a 4 wheeler across the creek and up to the upper parking area? Have any here done that?
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Re: Castle Creek Trailhead Preparation

Post by madmattd »

Summit Stomper wrote: Tue Aug 31, 2021 7:37 am So it looks like a Subaru will get to the creek crossing just fine....but no more.

Can you camp right there easily?

Are there any problems with taking a 4 wheeler across the creek and up to the upper parking area? Have any here done that?
2 designated camp sites right before the creek crossing, and 6-7 more along the road up to that point. I recall signage restricting camping before the creek crossing to those (numbered) sites, there are some more (unnumbered) a little after the creek.

I drove this road to the creek crossing in Aug. 2019 in an AWD vehicle with 8.2" clearance rating, so slightly less clearance than a modern Outback/Forester, but comparable approach/departure angles. This was the summer following the massive avalanche season, and the road had just recently been cleared at last. The road from the lower TH to the creek crossing was very rocky, but tolerable. Might be the roughest 2WD road I've driven in CO. The water was low and I was tempted to try the crossing as I felt my approach/departure angles could manage it, but we stayed put and hiked from there in the morning (camped in one of the 2 sites there). The road on the other side of the creek crossing was in way better shape up to the bridge just before the Pearl Pass junction than it was up to the creek crossing, would have been easily handled. Saw a stock Rav4 there. There was some decent erosion on one end of the bridge.

We saw a few 4-wheelers on the road in the afternoon. They seemed to park at the lower TH and ride from there versus trying to get to the creek crossing first, made sense to me given the limited parking options near the creek.
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Re: Castle Creek Trailhead Preparation

Post by Summit Stomper »

So Mad Matt......Those 4 wheeler drove to the upper trailhead then? No problems? I imagine the creek crossing would be much lower this time of year?

Thanks for the info.
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