Nellie Creek Trailhead

Posted On: 7/11/2013 By: joetsou
Info: I drove my stock 1995 Suburban high clearance 4WD to the upper Nellie Creek trailhead on July 9th, 2013. For years I thought the Suburban's long wheelbase will have problems on tight switchbacks. No, folks, you can drive just about anything to the trailhead, provided you have enough clearance. 2WD or 4WD does not make any difference. If you are not afraid to hit bottom you probably can get a Prius up there (if you're tall enough to cross the two streams) On July 9 and 10 the stream crossing is no problem at all. The water was perhaps ankle deep. On July 9, there was a Isuzu Trooper, 2 Jeeps, 1 Ford F150 truck and my Suburban at the trailhead. On 10th there were 4 Suburbans! I am not kidding. I have enclosed a picture to show you. So, drive your big SUVs up there. The hiking was EXCELLENT!

Posted On: 6/30/2013 By: trishkaken
Info: The road to Nellie Creek is stable. Here‘s an indication of the types of vehicles that can traverse this road: Honda Pilot, Toyota FJ Cruiser, Jeep, Tundra, high clearance pick-up trucks. Do not try this in a passenger vehicle. While earlier pictures show a Subaru Outback, my hiking partner did not want to try it in her 2012 Outback and I agree, it would have probably bottomed out a couple times on the way down. While the streams are running, both crossings are shallow and will not give you any problems. Watch the brake usage on the way down; I don‘t know how to avoid hot brakes. I stayed in first gear but had to ride them all the way and ended up stopping twice to let them cool down.

Posted On: 6/18/2013 By: xavier3181
Info: The Rivers are still raging, but any AWD or 4WD will make it. The trail is 98% free of snow, it‘s ready for the summer.

Posted On: 6/7/2013 By: gregpeak
Info: Road is clear of snow all the way to the trailhead. The stream crossing are no problem.

Posted On: 5/24/2013 By: eskermo
Info: Was able to drive all the way to the upper trailhead in a 4runner. Both creek crossings are raging with water but if you have the clearance they are totally manageable. The only sketchy part is immediately before the second creek crossing. There is some snow on the road that looks like it wants to keep lingering. If you are going toward the trailhead, the left two tires will hit this packed/icy stretch and your two right tires will be in messy mud. Even with some momentum, this slick area will force you downhill toward the creek drop off/off the road. I slipped and had to take a few runs at it both on the way up and down the trailhead. Just be careful and you should be fine.

Posted On: 5/5/2013 By: Stevo
Info: The road is clear until mile 2.5 at which it is covered in snow until mile 3. The last half mile has regular snow drifts. The rest of the road is dry and easily walkable, however, a vehicle won‘t make it past mile 2.5.

The picture is what is enountered at mile 2.5. It probably needs another 3-4 weeks of warm temps before the Nellie Creek TH is reachable by car.to fully

Posted On: 10/19/2012 By: a forest
Info: made it all the way up in a stock suv in 2wd. no snow

Posted On: 10/6/2012 By: Doug62
Info: Took me about 45 min to drive the 4 miles from the Alpine Loop (Henson Creek Road) to the upper trailhead in my 06 4Runner with mud tires. Road was dry with low water levels at stream crossings. This trail has a number of tight switchbacks and blind curves, with only a few pullouts for passing oncoming traffic. There are also alot of dirt benches and some fairly large rocks that require higher clearance.

Posted On: 9/6/2012 By: Mountain Tim
Info: Drove up to the TH in a Nissan Frontier 4WD. Except for a few spots and the creek crossings the road was dry. I would suggest that anyone who doesn‘t have a high clearance 4WD vehicle should expect some damage to the vehicle if they attempt to get up to the TH. I have a 2006 Toyota Highlander and I would not take it up this road. The other 2 vehicles at the trail head the night before and when we got back to the TH were all high clearance vehicles.

Posted On: 9/4/2012 By: hvbrogan
Info: Got my ‘94 Subaru Legacy to the trailhead. The first stream crossing was the most difficult, definitely scraped on the large rock in the middle. We stopped and got out of the car once or twice to choose the best route on the more difficult sections. The mud was slick, but didn‘t create major problems. Descent was about the same. We just took it slowly and carefully. Overall a fun road!

Posted On: 8/26/2012 By: My-Therapy
Info: We made it to the trail head without any problems in a stock 1998 Toyota 4runner. All of the vehicles that were parked at the trail head were true 4wd's except for one older Subaru Forester. Many sections of the road were wet and somewhat slick, however none of the road is what I would consider treacherous. The very beginning of the Fall color change can start to be seen along the road up to the trail head. There was no toilet paper in the outhouse at the trail head, so you will need to bring your own.

Posted On: 7/15/2012 By: mkim822
Info: After reading a lot of the other reports regarding driving up Nellie Creek Road, I was really nervous and worried about making it up the 4WD road to the trailhead with my 2WD 2004 Toyota Tacoma (rear wheel drive). However, I successfully drove up Nellie Creek Rd with no problems. I definitely agree with the other reports that you NEED high clearance, but I do not think you absolutely need a 4WD vehicle, as I made it up with my 2WD. I just drove really slow and stayed in LOW GEAR. Also, I have All-Terrain tires, which I think helps. I had read an old trip report that another person made it up with a Chevy S10 that was also 2WD. I will say that I probably only made it up the road because it was completely dry and the 2 creek crossings had very low water levels, as this past winter had very little snowfall. If you do attempt this road with 2WD, just make sure it's dry, go slow in low gear, and try not to make any stops along the way. I was lucky that I didn't have to back up or stop for other vehicles, which allowed me to keep my momentum the entire time. Nellie Creek road is not as steep or bumpy compared to the 4WD road to the Mt. Massive N. Halfmoon Creek trailhead, which is much more steeper. I did not make it up to the Halfmoon Creek TH.

Posted On: 7/5/2012 By: AeroFaze
Info: My manual tranny, AWD '07 Forester XT Limited with 7.9" clearance and 99.4" wheelbase made it fine all the way to the trailhead. Fun road!

The only hairy part was exiting the first stream crossing. I blame it on being lazy and not spending the time to switch out my extreme performance summer tires with something a little more substantial (all-seasons would've been fine). The wheels spun a couple times just before we hit the dry dirt again, so I had to reverse it a couple inches before we were able to get it moving again.

Also, I had to ensure plenty of room between my car and the vehicle in front. As they were true 4WD with lo and hi options, they were able to ascend much more slowly, whereas my car needed to maintain speed to get up some of those switchbacks. So the one time they stopped just above us, I had to back down to a flat area a couple yards before I could regain acceleration again.

I wouldn't recommend a Mazda 3Speed, WRX, or an Impreza up there.

Keep in mind this has been a low precipitation year so far, so the streams may have been lower than in past years at this time.

Posted On: 6/17/2012 By: Jyak
Info: Took a new model Subaru Outback (2" more clearance than the old model) all the way to the upper trailhead. Saw another new model Outback up there as we got back to the car after the hike. Creek crossings are a breeze with good entry and exit points going in both directions.

Posted On: 6/1/2012 By: hiker55
Info: Road to TH in decent condition. Water crossings were easy with 4 wheel drive, high clearance vehicle. No problems.