American Basin Trailhead

Posted On: 9/15/2022 By: mca25
Info: Drove from Lake City to American Basin trailhead via CR30. Gravel road starting at the turnoff from Hwy 149 is in excellent condition until you start gaining elevation at the end of the valley. The road becomes more narrow and has large and high rock as well as deep pot holes. Passable for any car with higher clearance or a pickup truck. I drove a 2011 Forester, no problems all the way to the trailhead. However I had to slow down to 5 to 8 mph for the rougher road. Drive to trailhead took 2 hours.

Posted On: 9/13/2022 By: nutella262
Info: Still in summer conditions from Cinnamon Pass to American Basin, easily passable in 4WD. Saw a Subaru turn back to lower parking between Cinnamon and American.

Cinnamon Pass is quite rough on the east (Lake City) side. Silverton side is better, but the pass is definitely not for the faint of heart. Took at least 75min from the Animas Fork in a stock LTD 4runner to get to American Basin.

Posted On: 8/11/2022 By: RUN_IT
Info: The rain over the last few weeks, not to mention the heavy and constant OHV traffic scraping the roads, have exposed quite a few sharp rocks in the very last stretch about 1/4 mile from TH. I wouldnt do it without tires with good rock protection and aired down. No scraping in the 4Runner but I was a bit stressed in a few sections towards the end. Maybe I care too much about my vehicle.

Posted On: 7/18/2022 By: MountainManta1
Info: Made it without too much difficulty (just a long rough road and some line picking) in a Subaru Crosstrek to just past the creek crossing ~.3 miles from the trailhead (pull out on left). Only higher clearance Tacomas, 4 Runners and Jeeps made it to the top lot. Theres one rough patch that stopped another Subaru right past where we parked.

Posted On: 7/14/2022 By: Azheng418
Info: Not really a 4wd road, more of a difficult 2WD road, made it all the way up to American basin with ease in a Volvo S60 Cross Country. Just pick your line and take it slowwwww.

Posted On: 7/10/2022 By: bribaker2001
Info: Upper TH is accessible via 4WD and good clearance. Upper creek crossing is maybe 6" deep. Found lost Toyota keys on trail at 13,500, likely dropped by white-bearded, single hiker seen descending from upper saddle at 6:40am; he nor an unoccupied Toyota were seen at the TH or anywhere down into town.

Posted On: 6/26/2022 By: sibetribe
Info: Road was free of any snow. There were 2 stream crossings that were no issue. After the last outhouse is when the road starts to get challenging. If you have a 4x4 w/clearance then it is very doable. Without clearance, I would not risk your car much after the American Basin turn.

Posted On: 6/5/2022 By: derekpetrie
Info: Road snow free to the TH. Two minor water crossings, no issues with a stock F-150. I did return to a marmot with its head exploring my trucks under carriage. No damage however there are several marmot homes around the TH, beware!

Posted On: 5/15/2022 By: nsaladin
Info: Road is clear of snow all the way to American Basin. Cinnamon pass has been plowed up to the summit and down to Animas Forks. Engineer is still not open from lake city side but should be soon. Cinnamon Pass from Lake City to Silverton is open.

Shot towards Sneffels Range as #3 and some heavy machinery that was sunk 5 feet deep in mud as #2

Posted On: 5/15/2022 By: bergsteigen
Info: Was able to drive to the lower 4WD just over the stream crossing. Snow begins right afterwards.

Posted On: 5/16/2022 By: CheapCigarMan
Info: Two stream crossings. The second just below the 4WD TH is widest and deepest. Road is plowed and clear all the way to just past the second stream crossing. You are able to drive beyond the second stream but will soon encounter snow drifts. This puts you at about a half a mile below the end of the road, the 4WD TH.

Posted On: 10/20/2021 By: john curtis
Info: Several patches of snow (not deep) up to the Cinnamon Pass/American Basin split. American Basin is only passable to the 3rd pull-off. I parked my Jeep Wrangler at the second pull-off at 11,352 ft. Deep show drifts cover the road the majority of the way to the trailhead for Handies Peak.

Posted On: 9/22/2021 By: -wren-
Info: With careful line choice, I was able to make it up and down to the upper trailhead without scraping in a 2003 Outback (7.9 inch clearance, AWD). On the way back I had to get out and look more closely at a couple of the nastier spots that are more blind on the descent. Low gear was helpful on the descent to creep over the sharper stuff with extra caution. Backing up for another vehicle would be a huge pain in the ass in a similar vehicle and would definitely call for a spotter. Any car with 7+ inches of clearance should be able to get just past the creek crossing fine with 2WD.

Posted On: 8/21/2021 By: Pedro F
Info: FROM SILVERTON -- Google maps is accurate, at least from a routing perspective (2 to Animas Forks, 5 to Cinnamon Pass, 30 from Cinnamon Pass). Road is not too bad through Eureka; don't be fooled though, it gets a good amount worse after Eureka, becoming more like a 4 rating, IMO...certainly worse than coming the opposite way from Lake City. I was squarely in 10mph (sometimes less) territory basically the whole way from Eureka, so Google maps claim of 45 min Eureka-TH is optimistic. Regardless, it gets tedious dealing with that for some 9 miles straight. Downdrive from Cinnamon Pass to the TH was relatively easy.

Posted On: 8/16/2021 By: wanderingsteve
Info: I made it to the upper 4WD trailhead in a Subaru Outback without any issues. It did require a bit of careful driving beyond the lower trailhead and I would not recommend attempting with any less clearance. The toughest section is a mound maybe 0.25 miles from the upper trailhead (I went to the right). The creek crossing is easy in any vehicle right now. I think the 2WD road below Silver Creek/Grizzly Gulch is a fair bit rougher than last year. We got a VW Jetta up there last year without much trouble, but I would not attempt to drive that section with such little clearance right now.