5/27/2023 Posted On: 5/27/2023 By: 123tqb Info: It's open again! The road is completely dry all the way to the parking lot. | ||||
7/23/2022 Posted On: 8/1/2022 By: CarpeDM Info: Apparently, when the Hessie and Fourth of July TH parking lots are full, they're now closing the road and running shuttles from the high school. I found this out 7/23/22. Hiking something up there was going to be my Plan B when Plan A fell through. I arrived at the closure just before 7am to find that even the high school parking lot was nearly full. I was told that shuttles run about every 20 minutes. (I went to Plan C.) | ||||
11/19/2021 Posted On: 11/19/2021 By: markf Info: On Wednesday, 11/17, I was able to get to the trailhead in a Honda Civic with good snow tires. Quite a bit of bare ground, and limited clearance was not a big problem. | ||||
11/19/2021 Posted On: 11/19/2021 By: markf Info: Winter access for this trailhead is at the Hessie Rd and Fourth of July Road split (39.951572762098884, -105.5950280484135), about 4 miles below the big parking lot and Buckingham Campground. This is also the 2WD option for the Hessie trailhead in summer. The road to this point is 2WD dirt, and is well maintained in winter, although snow tires or chains are frequently necessary for 2WD vehicles. This area is very heavily used in winter by snowshoers and XC skiers. | ||||
7/29/2021 Posted On: 7/29/2021 By: ccerling Info: FYI. There are road signs up indicating that 4th of July Road will be closed on Tuesday 8/3 with no access in or out for resurfacing work. https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/arp/recarea/?recid=28264 | ||||
7/26/2020 Posted On: 7/26/2020 By: kingshimmers Info: Trailhead and road parking was almost full at 6:30am. Road has some spots that are in rough condition this year. Some years I'd take a sedan up, others I wouldn't... this is one where a few of the spots would be rough. Potholes and ruts are starting to get a bit deep in one or two places. That said, I did see a Tesla model 3 at the trailhead sooooo... | ||||
11/17/2019 Posted On: 11/18/2019 By: 123tqb Info: Road is closed from the Hessie trailhead onwards. Expect to add another 4mi each way, with icy conditions all the way up to 4th of July. Microspikes highly recommended, with deeper snow after the trailhead. Snowshoes not necessary yet, but could be used. | ||||
7/26/2019 Posted On: 7/26/2019 By: LetsGoMets Info: A good number of deep ruts and high rocks - I'd imagine you need to get creative with a low clearance vehicle to avoid damage, but there were a good number of 2WD cars there. Trailhead (and all road parking) was full by 11AM (Friday) - I was stalked by parking spot claimers the second I walked out of the TH. | ||||
5/20/2019 Posted On: 5/20/2019 By: rgmcnair12 Info: the road is free of snow to the upper trailhead. | ||||
11/17/2018 Posted On: 11/17/2018 By: DaisyofColorado Info: We weren't able to make it to trailhead with AWD, winter tires and high clearance cars (Subaru, Nissan xterra, Honda CRV). We made it 1 mile left to the trailhead (3 miles up from Hessie TH) and had to turn around. Snow got very deep, slipped a lot and I got stuck in the snow (AWD, Winter tires Honda CRV) and had to be pushed out by friends. The section of the road to Hessie TH was good. | ||||
5/28/2018 Posted On: 5/28/2018 By: gmarc Info: Was up there today, open and snow free to the trailhead! | ||||
5/10/2018 Posted On: 5/10/2018 By: grahampa Info: Fourth of July TH is still closed at the normal winter closure. About 2.5 miles up the road from the closure starts long stretches of snow coverage. snowshoes recommended later in the day. I still was able to make it to the TH from the winter closure in about 1.25 hours in my trail runners around 1 pm. anything further up the Arapaho pass trail snowshoes, gaiters and/or skis highly recommended. | ||||
11/4/2017 Posted On: 11/14/2017 By: kingshimmers Info: On this specific day, Fourth of July Road was 95% clear of snow. Road was mostly dry on 11/4 (no giant puddles), and currently passable in most vehicles. Outhouse is still stocked with TP ;) | ||||
8/26/2017 Posted On: 8/27/2017 By: kingshimmers Info: Currently fine and passable in most vehicles. One set of puddles getting larger as the season progresses, but still looking fine as of now. | ||||
8/4/2017 Posted On: 8/5/2017 By: jennincolorado Info: Based on a previous report that I read online last week (I can't remember if someone posted here or elsewhere) I didn't take my Subaru Legacy up this & waited an extra week until we could take my boyfriend's Outback. I think my car would have been FINE even with it's low clearance (5.9in). This road is not bad at all. Its a 2wd dirt road. There are some rocks and some puddles. But anyone who has driven off road before on a 2wd road with a lower clearance car & knows how to maneuver your vehicle -- will be fine. We saw all sorts of cars up there at the parking lot including a Prius, a low Nissan sedan and an old Chevy car. |
