14ers.com • Trailhead Status

Trailhead:	Baldwin Gulch Sawatch Range
Posted By:	ndrew
Date of Info:	08/22/2020
Date Posted:	08/28/2020

Status Update
I drove this road on a stock 2019 Jeep Cherokee with about 8 inches of clearance, no added skid plates, only what came with the Jeep. Stock tires, with standard inflation. It was a white-knuckle experience, but I made it to up the road to the point where the road crosses the creek (a little under 3 miles from the CR-162). There were 3-4 tough spots and a few scrapings of the bottom of the Jeep. The road gets way better at this point, but I decided to stop here as i didn't want to drive the entire way up the mountain. If you can make it to the creek, you can keep going. Going down was a different story, since the car was pointed down, I found myself scraping the bottom of the car more than a dozen times. I didn't like it and it was an unpleasant experience, but it was still better than hiking down. A quick inspection of the car once I made it to the bottom showed definite scrapes on the undercarriage and one of the plastic coverings got torn off. However, no leaks, flat tires, or significant damages, so I consider it a success and totally worth it. So if you are a stock 4WD SUV owner like me and are curious if you can drive this road, the answer is yes, but it won't be pretty.

Status Update

I drove this road on a stock 2019 Jeep Cherokee with about 8 inches of clearance, no added skid plates, only what came with the Jeep. Stock tires, with standard inflation. It was a white-knuckle experience, but I made it to up the road to the point where the road crosses the creek (a little under 3 miles from the CR-162). There were 3-4 tough spots and a few scrapings of the bottom of the Jeep. The road gets way better at this point, but I decided to stop here as i didn't want to drive the entire way up the mountain. If you can make it to the creek, you can keep going.

Going down was a different story, since the car was pointed down, I found myself scraping the bottom of the car more than a dozen times. I didn't like it and it was an unpleasant experience, but it was still better than hiking down. A quick inspection of the car once I made it to the bottom showed definite scrapes on the undercarriage and one of the plastic coverings got torn off. However, no leaks, flat tires, or significant damages, so I consider it a success and totally worth it. So if you are a stock 4WD SUV owner like me and are curious if you can drive this road, the answer is yes, but it won't be pretty.

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