S. Winfield/Lake Ann Trailhead

Location

RangeSawatch Range

Elevation10,575'

Lat/Lon38.96039, -106.46091

14ersHuron Peak

Road Difficulty

4 Moderate 4WD, good clearance

2WD dirt to Winfield.
4WD to upper TH. SUVs with good clearance can usually make it if the road is dry.

Driving Directions

From Leadville: Drive 20 miles south on U.S. 24 and turn right on the Chaffee County 390 road. From Buena Vista: Drive 14.5 miles north on U.S. 24 and turn left on the Chaffee County 390 road (dirt).

On 390, drive 12 miles to Winfield. Turn left and measure from here. Drive 0.1 mile to reach the lower, 2WD trailhead in south Winfield. There's a large parking/camping area or you can park on one of the many pull-offs a bit further up the road. 0.4 miles after Winfield the road turns to 4WD and good clearance is required to drive to the Lake Ann trailhead. The road is rough and narrow. After 0.7 mile, stay right at a junction. Near 1.7 miles, the terrain opens up and you'll find parking and along the road in several areas. Continue to the end of the road and Lake Ann trailhead, at 2.1 miles.

On-Site Info

ParkingLots of parking at the 2WD trailhead and along the road before it turns to 4WD. Less at the 4WD trailhead but there are many spots to pull-off along the upper road.

CampingDispersed camping just south of Winfield, at the base of the 4WD road and more near the upper trailhead.

Restrooms?Yes, at the 2WD camping area just south of Winfield

Fees?No

Photos

Winter Access

Closed near 9,200 feet - many miles below the TH.

Trailhead added by BillMiddlebrook

Status Updates
Map


6/1/2024 Posted On: 6/1/2024 By: daway8 Info: Road is melting fast. Bottom of the 4WD section is getting close to being dry, but don't let that fool you; it would take a very capable vehicle/driver to get all the way to the 4WD trailhead at the moment, if you even could. Most people would be much better off waiting at least another week or two before expecting to drive to the 4WD TH.
5/25/2024 Posted On: 5/25/2024 By: daway8 Info: Road to Silver Basin/Lake Ann is totally dry to, and a little past Winfield, including the large parking area just past Winfield on the left, but note the outhouse has been removed. Past the parking area the road gets muddy with random chunks of snow. Only slightly problematic until the base of the 4WD section then it gets incredibly ugly looking with major piles of hardened snow turning the road into a mess. A few drunk guys reportedly got all the way up to the lake but upon returning to the Winfield parking area drove into a ditch and had to get winched out. Interpret that how you will.	4	2
5/17/2024 Posted On: 5/19/2024 By: Gueza Info: Drivable to just past Winfield
4/12/2024 Posted On: 4/12/2024 By: AlpineSplit Info: Road is snowpacked from just past the Missouri Gulch trailhead, and is not drivable past this point: https://maps.app.goo.gl/ac56H5oBBH8NLHpz8 It is possible to snow machine all the way to Winfield	2
1/4/2024 Posted On: 1/5/2024 By: madmattd Info: I'd highly recommend AWD/4WD and actual snow tires (or AT) to get to Winfield right now - the road is drive-able but nearing Missouri Gulch it starts getting a little deeper and softer between and along the tire tracks, and worse beyond. Many places where people have clearly gotten stuck with inadequate traction/driving ability. Shockingly it's clear that people are still getting up the 4WD road towards the Huron/Lake Ann TH, but it's just as clear that a ton of people are getting stuck as well - the road is very soft and very chewed up not even 1/2-mile up from Winfield from all the spin outs, but tracks continue beyond that. I gave up trying to XC-ski the mess and went elsewhere.	1		2
11/11/2023 Posted On: 5/29/2025 By: Chipmunk Info: The drive to the 2WD trailhead is currently doable in any vehicle with intermittent snow patches and the usual washboarding. The road beyond Winfield townsite to the 4WD trailhead is full snow. We made it in a 4Runner - there are tracks to follow, but I don't recommend this right now without excellent winter driving skills and/or chains. One more storm and the 4WD TH will likely be inaccessible.	3	1
11/4/2023 Posted On: 11/12/2023 By: sarahmariekirk Info: Road is pretty snowy all along Missouri Gulch. We were able to basically get all the way up to Rockdale, but it was pretty snowy up there.
10/7/2023 Posted On: 10/8/2023 By: MetricAssLoad Info: Made it to the trailhead in the lifted outback with no issues, no scrapes, minor slippage on the first obstacle but the Subaru figured it out after a couple seconds. There are three sections that I would say require some clearance and if its wet a couple areas that would be difficult without 4wd, the worst of which is directly after the start of the 4wd road. Vehicles at the trailhead: 4Runners, tacomas, f150s, outbacks, crvs, and rav4s.
9/23/2023 Posted On: 9/23/2023 By: Ryan987 Info: Made a post to show photos for your judgement. Wasn't bad in a lifted trucks but I saw three subies at the TH which was very impressive IMO!! The first and worst obstacle is very flexy right now		2
9/18/2023 Posted On: 9/18/2023 By: JasonCrane Info: I walked the 4WD Road from an area of dispersed campsites about 1/2 mile from Winfield to Huron TH. The 4WD road has a few really rough spots starting at that first hill where the road sign is located. There are some deep dips at least 3 feet in depth. However, I saw a lot of vehicles at the TH, mostly 4x4 pick-ups & one SUV. All the vehicles driving-out made it okay.		2
9/16/2023 Posted On: 9/16/2023 By: minnesotanclimber Info: I camped at the 2WD trailhead for South Winfield Saturday night to Sunday. There are tons of spots here to find a good place to car camp, including on the road itself into Winfield. I climbed Huron and descended via the standard route, walking the entire length of the 4WD road back to the 2WD trailhead. I was impressed to see a Forester and a CrossTrek (!!!) at the 4WD trailhead. Most of the 4WD road is doable, but there are a few really tough spots. Use the first 30ft of the 4WD road as a tester. If you can't make it up that stretch, then park at the 2WD trailhead.
9/8/2023 Posted On: 9/9/2023 By: Ed_Groves Info: The four wheel drive road was rough with large rocks and lots of dips. I drove on it in the dark and stopped 7 tenths of a mile from the four wheel drive trailhead when I encountered a hole that I thought would scrape the bottom of my 2022 Toyota Tacoma. Since I needed to drive it back to Missouri I didn't want to risk it. However, when we returned from our hike I noticed that I could have driven to the right and missed the worst depths of the hole. My truck could have made it all the way to the 4wd trailhead. I should have climbed out of the truck and given the hole a closer look. After that hole the road was pretty decent to the end. The first 2/3rds of the road are the worst part. The last third is pretty easy if you can make it past the hole.
9/5/2023 Posted On: 9/5/2023 By: 5ClimbingCooneys Info: No big changes to report, but a little more detail: the worst portion of the road currently is the section right where it turns into a true 4x4 road immediately after the small parking area. There are several holes that have been dug out by water, erosion, and too many people needing to gun it, thus spinning tires and making the holes deeper. I was able to crawl up in okay in a stock Nissan Xterra Off Road, but the road was loose enough I had to use my locker to avoid spinning the tires and bouncing too much. The holes tent to alternate from one side of the track to another, forcing a lot of flex and articulation within the vehicle's suspension and making it nearly impossible to choose a line that avoids all the holes. It completely maxed out the flex I had in my Xterra to the point I was lifted a couple tires at various points on the way down. Due to the spacing, a longer bed vehicle like a Tacoma might handle these a bit better. If your vehicle doesn't have a good crawl gear and good articulation, it'll be a really touch pitch. After that the road was no issue except the large dried-out mud hole closer to the trailhead. There was a row of well-placed rocks that made the climb out of the hole easier, but it's still a pretty good size lip to get over.
8/25/2023 Posted On: 9/7/2023 By: Strider29 Info: As mentioned elsewhere, there are three tricky spots on this route. The first is right where the 4WD portion starts. The second is about halfway up and is very similar to the first obstacle, maybe a tick rockier. The third is the mudhole, which I thought was the easiest of the three. I saw one subaru parked just up the hill past the first obstacle, otherwise it was all Jeeps and 4WD trucks at the upper TH. It was pouring rain on my way in and my way out. I didn't think this road was all that bad - maybe a 3.5/5 (I was in a stock Jeep Wrangler Unlimited). Just make sure you have decent clearance and go slow. Also, the men's side of the bathroom at the Winfield 2WD parking area is "permanently closed". Women's side is still open.
8/19/2023 Posted On: 8/20/2023 By: jhalee4 Info: We drove up to the beginning of the 4WD road and parked there. We were going to attempt it, but then decided not to. After walking the road to the trailhead, we realized we probably could have done it (have a Jeep Patriot), but the walk wasn't too bad. There are 3 pretty rough spots, but the rest is fine. At the actual trailhead there were a lot of trucks, Jeeps, and two Subarus that made it up.

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