Nellie Creek Trailhead

ROAD CLOSURE MIDWEEK
Starting Monday, June 23rd, 2025, the Nellie Creek road will be CLOSED Monday through Thursday for the next several weeks while Hinsdale County conducts Road Maintenance.

Location

RangeSan Juan Mountains

Elevation11,400'

Lat/Lon38.06209, -107.42158

14ersUncompahgre Peak, Wetterhorn Peak

Road Difficulty

4 Moderate 4WD, good clearance

2WD dirt to the lower TH at 9,300'. 4WD to the upper TH.

Driving Directions

From Lake City, turn west onto Second street. Drive 0.1 mile and turn left onto Bluff Street which turns into the Henson Creek road/Alpine Loop Scenic Byway. Drive 5 miles to the sign for the Nellie Creek trail (#877), on the right. If you don't have a high-clearance 4WD vehicle, park on the Henson Creek road and start here. It's 4 miles up the rough Nellie Creek road to reach the trailhead. If your 4WD vehicle makes it through the rough section at the start of this road, you'll probably be able to make it to the trailhead. Cross Nellie Creek at 1.8 miles. At 2.3 miles, stay left at a junction. At 2.7 miles, cross the creek a second time. Grind up the remaining narrow road to reach the trailhead.

On-Site Info

ParkingRoom for ~15 vehicles at the 4WD parking. More room along the road.

CampingA few places to pull-off and pitch a tent near the bottom of the 4WD road and a few spots to set up at the upper trailhead.

Restrooms?Yes, at the upper TH

Fees?No

Photos

Winter Access

Usually closed a short distance up the Henson Creek road - many miles from the TH.

Trailhead added by BillMiddlebrook

Status Updates
Map


7/16/2008 Posted On: 7/16/2008 By: ChloeBlue Info: I drove up the road on July 15th - - it took 45 minutes to drive from Lake City to the upper trailhead, in a stock 4Runner. The first river crossing (closest to Lake City) is currently the highest/the rest of the road is passable with some skillful driving. Watch out for the abundance of 4-wheelers.
6/29/2008 Posted On: 6/29/2008 By: Carl Info: Slides were cleared and road was repaired this week. Passable now all the way to the TH in high clearance 4wd.
6/22/2008 Posted On: 6/22/2008 By: robby40 Info: Saturday June 21. Road open to road split at 2.3 miles (see route description). Beyond the split is a mud hole a short ways up which is pretty dry now and may or may not be passable and there will probably be more road work there. Quite a bit farther up there is a land slide that includes whole trees with roots and five feet of earth below the roots, making the road width about an axle width wide, with a drop to the stream to the left - this may take a while to get cleared. It took me about 45-50 minutes to walk from the road split to the regular trailhead. The crossing of Nellie Creek is not too bad but it is running pretty hard. Definitely 4WD vehicles with decent ground clearance only .
5/23/2008 Posted On: 5/23/2008 By: PKR Info: Road still impassable by car.
4/27/2008 Posted On: 4/27/2008 By: KirkT Info: The road up to the 2WD section is bone dry. The actual 4WD drive road up to the 4WD trailhead is inpassable by any forms of transportation. The snow starts almost immediately and is consistent the complete 4 miles to the Trailhead. Snow ranges from 1-6 ft in places on the road. There are also 3 avalanches that are covering the road. One of them is at least 100ft long along the road. These will require Forest Service clearing. Expect at least Mid June before the snow completely melts.
10/28/2007 Posted On: 10/28/2007 By: Chicago Transplant Info: Nellie Creek is in good shape for the first 2.3 miles, basically right to the road split mentioned in the trailhead directions. Above this the road is VERY icy in the morning. There is one spot in particular that was impassable and I had to back down the road to a small pullout and go back to the junction. Above that there were several other short sections of icy snow. The road MAY be drivable in the afternoon when softer, but my recommendation is to stop at the road split and hike the extra 1 3/4 miles. Hey look at the bright side, you can get 3000' on your ascent that way!
9/27/2007 Posted On: 9/27/2007 By: TravelingMatt Info: Dry. On the way up I met a party on horseback coming down... don't drive in a manner that might spook horses. Strangely, the toilet at the trailhead was locked.
6/24/2007 Posted On: 6/24/2007 By: Matt Info: The tree is gone, but a boulder has fallen in a narrow, semi-exposed spot somewhere the big creek crossing. Two strong people could move the rock if it's still there.
6/21/2007 Posted On: 6/21/2007 By: otr13 Info: I easily drove around the tree on 6/14 and it was removed by the time I drove out on 6/15.
6/5/2007 Posted On: 6/5/2007 By: CRAIGO Info: Road is clear all the way to the trailhead. Near the top of the road was a large fallen tree that required negotiation around.
5/19/2007 Posted On: 5/19/2007 By: cjw Info: Made it 2.6 miles in, just shy of 2nd creek crossing.
5/3/2007 Posted On: 5/3/2007 By: lordhelmut Info: Drove to the 2.2 mile mark (1.8 from TH) last weekend in a Landcruiser. First stream crossing is easily forded, didn't make it to the second one. No more trees in the road, tore 2 of them out. Stopped at a switchback a ways past the stream crossing, got the Toyota stuck and had to tow out w/ Xterra and then camped there. Probably won't be accessible till later in May or early June. If you have time and interest, you can work on the snowbanks, but with the incline and the road passed, its probably safest to just stop, camp and hike an extra 1.8 miles.
8/22/2006 Posted On: 8/22/2006 By: contour900 Info: As of 8/18/2006 there are sections of the 4WD road to the Nellie Creek TH (between the 2 stream crossings) that have humongously huge and deep mud wallows because of the almost daily rain. Pick your line carefully to avoid bottoming out in these sections.
7/10/2005 Posted On: 7/10/2005 By: BillMiddlebrook Info: Road is open to the upper trailhead. It has some rough, narrow sections and some tight switchbacks. Short, 4WD vehicle recommended.

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