7/15/2023 Posted On: 7/17/2023 By: hsfedina Info: Rough at the beginning. 2 streams flowing strong but shallow enough. Theres a huge boulder in the road about mile 3narrow passage between it and ravine. Looked narrow and scary but saw some decent sized vehicles at trailheadLexus Landcruiser, some pickups. | ||||
7/2/2023 Posted On: 7/4/2023 By: BRadleyC Info: Drove stock Ford Ranger Tremor Edition up to 4WD trailhead. Truck has 9.7 inches of ground clearance. Tight switchbacks required a bit of back and forth to negotiate. Both creek crossings are vigorously flowing and the big boulder (as mentioned in previous reports) is still there but no issues squeezing around it. Upper trailhead restroom is open, but out of TP and a mess (trash piled up and running over). | ||||
6/30/2023 Posted On: 6/30/2023 By: ssowalskie Info: I only took my Subaru Outback about .25 miles up the road before pulling off, though if I had known what the rest of the road looked like, I probably could've pushed it to about .5-.75 miles up. The creek crossings are no joke, so make sure you have a lot of clearance if you attempt to drive through them. The boulder near the upper trailhead is still there as well, but looked like there was enough room to clear it (just barely). | 3 |
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6/26/2023 Posted On: 6/26/2023 By: Gpacardella Info: Thanks to Virtual Sherpa and Flatlander previous comments and pics, we brought a sledgehammer up the road and my son knocked down the truck side of the boulder to give another 6"-8" of clearance. This gave us a total of about 1' to get around the boulder in my stock Tundra. Warning though that during the 1 dry night we were camped at the TH, a modest slide dropped debris back on the 4wd road that we drove over when we left. No big deal but if there was heavy rain, there could be some huge boulders that will likely clog the road so beware if it's a rainy forecast, so you don't get trapped up valley. The narrow spot I'm referencing is 1/4 to 1/2 mile down valley of the boulder. No other blockage exists on the road at this time. | 1 |
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5/28/2023 Posted On: 5/28/2023 By: Thevirtualsherpa Info: Same as last status update - stock taco to just before 2nd creek crossing no problem. After that, some major issues - snow is least of your concerns as there are a number of downed trees (one right before 2nd creek crossing) and then about 5/6 more after that. To add to that - 2/3 mudslides have really added some nice spice to the road just after the 2nd creek crossing including one large Boulder (pictured) that Im sure a lot of larger trucks/ cars will not be able to get by. Positive: upper toliet is open | 2 |
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5/17/2023 Posted On: 5/17/2023 By: Logan5280 Info: Road is open. Drivable to about 1.5 miles below summer trailhead if you're willing to drive through the creek with somewhat high water levels. From there, deep snow and downed trees make the road impassable for now. | ||||
4/23/2023 Posted On: 4/23/2023 By: milesmorris Info: Park at bottom of Nellie Creek, patchy snow for 1.1miles then continuous snow to TH. 1 down tree half way up and a creek crossing could be challenging on a snowmobile, but possible. No where to park along the road where snow starts. | ||||
4/15/2023 Posted On: 4/17/2023 By: aksean22 Info: Dry and 2WD accessible to the lower TH. Nearly continuous snow starting at the bottom of the 4WD road. Would not recommend trying to make it any further. | ||||
10/7/2022 Posted On: 10/10/2022 By: L_Macalister Info: We made it in an Xterra 4x4 with a couple bumps (probably my fault) but no issues. My first time up this road but compared to some pictures I looked at before I went, I'd say they've improved the road a bit. Some people have said this one is comparable to South Colony road. For me this was not true, I found SCR to be harder in my vehicle. The toughest parts here were the switchbacks right after both creek crossings. Tight and there are some big ruts and boulders on the inside of the corners. On the upper half there was a lot of mud in some places from some recent snowfall. Saw 6-8 other vehicles and a few sideby's over the weekend. There was one new Rav4 that I saw come up to the trailhead, heard them scrape a few times in the 100 yards that i could see them. So I'd say unless you don't care about scraping it's still higher clearance only to the trailhead. | ||||
9/26/2022 Posted On: 9/26/2022 By: random-dude Info: No real issues w/a stock (excepting rock rails) 2015 xterra pro4-x - we aired down our tires and went up in 4L and 2nd gear and run 31" KO2 tires. It was honestly easier going up than going down for us. Were not the most experienced 4WD wheelers around so take this w/a grain of salt but it was fine taking it slow and steady. We saw others going much quicker and thats fine also. I, personally, wouldnt drive anything up/down this road that isnt an actual, real 4wd. I am sure someone in a Subee will and has gotten up there but that wouldnt be a great idea for the transmission or brakes imo. There were two stock Taco's TRD-Off Roads, a crewcab F150, a heavy duty Ram 2500, a lifted Tundra, and a Grand Cherokee Trailhawk for non SxS's that we saw up there today. We barely slipped at any point going up or down. | ||||
9/19/2022 Posted On: 9/20/2022 By: JasonCrane Info: We opted to park on CR20 along the side of the road at the base of Nellie Creek Rd (CR23.) It's 4 miles extra road hike each way to upper TH. Nellie Creek Rd/CR23 has deep ruts, large potholes, rock beds, multiple creek crossings, switchbacks & about everything you can imagine on an unmaintained backcountry road. We did see several high clearance pick-up trucks at the upper TH & at dispersed campsites along the upper 1/3 of the road. We also saw a number of ATVs cruising by without much issue. Ultimately, despite the road hike & extra miles, we were very happy with our decision not to try to drive Nellie Creek Rd. Total RT hike to Uncompahgre summit was 15.7 miles (Garmin Fenix.) CR20 (dirt road) from Lake City is generally in good condition & passable for 2WD as far as we went to Nellie Creek Rd junction. Note - it's hunting season & we saw a few hunters. Hikers may want to consider wearing orange. | ||||
9/10/2022 Posted On: 9/12/2022 By: soxfan249 Info: A front loader and grader at the trailhead appear to have filled in some of the more difficult portions of this road. The exit from the first creek crossing, several switchbacks after the second creek crossing, and the rut in the trailhead show signs of recent improvement. Bold and skilled Subaru drivers could get to to the trailhead in the road's current state, but there are enough places to pull over, park, and walk from if your nerves get frayed. | ||||
9/8/2022 Posted On: 9/8/2022 By: nutella262 Info: I had a very different experience than the person who reported on 9/5. The road is slow but very doable in an SUV, especially compared to American Basin (2021) and Rollins Pass. We did it 90min in a 2013 LTD 4runner up and 75min back, including 2 stops to give the breaks a rest, (the low gear on this 4runner is TERRIBLE). Only slightly sticky spot was coming up from the second stream crossing where the wet tires spun a bit coming into the first switchback. In the parking lot, there was another 4runner, a Jeep Cherokee, and a Jeep Wrangler. BYO TP - bathroom is out. | ||||
9/5/2022 Posted On: 9/5/2022 By: Larjones Info: "The road description is a bit out of date: "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." is no longer correct in my opinion. The worst part of the road is about three miles up at a couple of switchbacks, and there are a few other places below that need some care. The lower part is not that bad. I personally wouldn't take an SUV up this but there was one at the trailhead. | 1 |
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8/27/2022 Posted On: 8/28/2022 By: dr_j Info: Muddy. I rode up in a Taco, and there were a couple of trouble spots past the creek crossings, made trickier by the mud and lack of traction. Bottomed out once on the way down, had a few rough encounters with rocks, but the road is doable with the proper clearance and driving skills and skid plates. |