Mosquito Creek Trailhead

Posted On: 7/11/2020 By: mjflynn74
Info: Can confirm the other report from today. The 4WD road is bumpy, but I'm a city driver with a grocery-hauling AWD crossover, and I made it to just below the trailhead with no real problems. Stopped at the two potholes noted in some previous TRs, but when I walked by them, even they looked possible. There were several non-4x4s at the TH.

Posted On: 7/6/2020 By: Muddy_Mudskipper
Info: Contrary to trailhead info listed on Mt. Tweto Southwest Ridge route page, Mosquito Pass road becomes 4WD only just before the 4.5 mile mark. This left us to hike the rest of the way to the unofficial trailhead/parking area, adding almost 5 miles to our trip and a considerable amount of vertical gain. Somebody please edit the description to reflect this. It was entirely because of this we weren't able to make the summit. Aside from that, I will say there was no snow on the road all the way up to where it ends at the highest mining ruins.

Posted On: 6/5/2020 By: Brian Thomas
Info: Road is snow free to the parking area at 6.8 miles. Just above that the road is completely blocked with a 2 foot deep snow drift and intermittent snow to the Kuss/London saddle.

Posted On: 4/30/2020 By: angry
Info: Parked 2 miles below trailhead, ~11,000ft.

Posted On: 2/16/2020 By: Aphelion
Info: This road is only plowed occasionally, and has significant drifts. Per a work crew we talked with, the drifts can block traffic to smaller vehicles all the way from the highway on occasion. On 2-15-20, getting to the normal winter closure required high-clearance 4WD, good tires, and some chains (though it was possible to get part-way up without those). We either helped with or observed the extraction of several vehicles that attempted the first drifts lacking these. Would not recommend taking chances on this road currently unless you have those, plus your favorite method of self-extraction.

Posted On: 2/3/2020 By: Chicago Transplant
Info: Road is plowed to the normal winter closure (about 3 miles from CO9), however, there are a few soft spots from where snow drifts blew into the road that were not plowed. They are easy enough to drive through but a lower clearance 2WD may struggle in one or two of them.
For hiking the 4WD road, the first couple of miles are mostly packed out or just dirt and do not require snowshoes. After the old mill structure snowshoes become useful. There is a track, but you would likely post hole a lot in just boots. The road above the mine ruins cuts across London and crosses two potential avy slopes. I went wide right and met the road closer to the London/Kuss saddle. After that there is another potential slide path the road crosses on Kuss, but I was headed for London. Not sure the bypass option, maybe just straight up Kuss' east ridge.

First photo: Road cut across London
Second photo: Kuss' east ridge and steep slopes road cuts across

Posted On: 1/21/2020 By: Dad Mike
Info: Road is plowed to the London Mill. There is a turnoff to Mosquito Pass to the right, but the sign is hard to read and I missed it in the dark. It is at around 11,000 feet. The road is not drivable after this point because of drifts over the road. This is where I parked. You can drive a little further to a small parking area. From here there is a shortcut up to the Mosquito Pass Road. I would say this is a 1/4 mile past where I parked.

The first few miles are a mix of bare dirt and packed snow. I used snowshoes, but they are not necessary for a while. I ran into another group on Kuss and they didn't use snowshoe at all.

Posted On: 12/6/2019 By: WildWanderer
Info: 2WD drive in icy but doable. 4WD road ranged from bare to 6 inches of ice to 4 foot drifts. I parked at the turnoff for the 4WD road and wasn't disappointed. It doesn't look like anyone's been to the London Mine in a while. I *probably* could have made it another mile past the 4WD turnoff in my Tundra but after that the snow would have been past my tires.

Posted On: 11/25/2019 By: habaceeba
Info: Road in from Park City was snowpacked and passable. Deeper snow encountered after American Basin turnoff, but was passable with 4wd. I made it all the way to the Mosquito Pass turn with stock Tacoma with no issues.

Posted On: 9/2/2019 By: LetsGoMets
Info: Rough 2WD (particularly the last 3ish miles, after the sign designating 4WD) to the parking area where the road starts to truly ascend Mosquito Pass, roughly 6.8 miles from the main road.

Posted On: 8/5/2019 By: E_A_Marcus_949
Info: My 2018 Subaru Forester made it just about to the junction of Mosquito Gulch Road and Mosquito Pass 4WD road (where it turns left up to London Mine). There is a large "puddle" blocking the whole road that I wouldn't attempt to cross, and I was glad I didn't after seeing a lifted truck go through - water was almost covering their entire tire/up to the base of the truck. I was able to park partway off the road right before this water - maybe a couple hundred yards back from the junction - no big deal. After hiking down Mosquito Pass from Kuss at the end of the day (we started with Tweto then looped over Treasurevault/Mosquito/Kuss) it was clear only large trucks and jeeps and off-road vehicles (though we saw one brand-new 4Runner) should go up Mosquito Pass. There are some serious creek/water crossings and large divots/potholes obstacles to get through.

Posted On: 7/15/2019 By: HikerGuy
Info: High clearance vehicles can make it to the trailhead area where the road turns up to climb to Mosquito Pass. Good amount of parking space. I was driving a Hyundai Santa Fe, also saw a Subaru. There is a large, deep-ish waterhole just before the trailhead that low clearance cars best not attempt. Off-road capable 4wd vehicles can make it to the North London Mine. A large snowfield blocks progress as this point.

Posted On: 7/6/2019 By: Jon Frohlich
Info: All the avalanche debris is gone and you can drive to the North London Mine with some care. Above that the road has multiple large snowfields that are going to take a while to melt out. If you are going to hike the road to Mosquito Pass I'd recommend spikes, poles, or an ice axe right now.

I'd estimate at least two weeks for the road to fully melt if not longer.

Posted On: 6/30/2019 By: Alrightmax
Info: All the avalanche debris has been cleared. There's snowdrifts up the road that will be impassible for vehicle, but you can make it to the junction with CR783 in the parking area. Quite a lot of snowmelt, be careful around the deeper pools.

Posted On: 6/25/2019 By: telemarkdude
Info: The first slide has been cleared but there's another much more serious one, 1.5 miles from where the Mosquito Pass road forks off to the right and becomes 4WD. That one will take a while to clear.