West Willow Creek Trailhead

Location

RangeSan Juan Mountains

Elevation11,500'

Lat/Lon37.95563, -106.96672

14ersSan Luis Peak

Road Difficulty

3 Easy 4WD/AWD, good clearance

Driving Directions

The West Willow Creek Trailhead is nearly 9 miles north of Creede. After taking CO 149 into Creede, turn right onto Main Street and drive north through town to join Loma Ave/Road 503. The 503 road is a well maintained 2wd dirt road, albeit steep and rough in a few sections, and only turns to 4wd when you get within 1.5 miles of the trailhead. Reset your odometer as you pass the last buildings on your right or when the road turns to dirt:

Just outside of town you'll pass a mining museum/community building and a large parking area for ATV/OHV trailers.
Continue north through a gorge, full of mining remnants.
At 2.9 miles the road has a sharp left turn at the Midwest Mine site.
At 4.8 miles continue straight on 503 at a large intersection with Bachelor Road (504). Just past the intersection there should be a sign for Equity Mine.
At 7.1 miles turn left on 503, as you see the working Equity Mine up to your right. The 2wd road ends at the Equity Mine. This last 1.5 miles on 503 requires 4wd and good clearance.
At 8.2 miles the road switchbacks down and crosses a creek. If you somehow made it this far without 4wd, park at the turn before dropping to the creek - there's a pull-off big enough for a few vehicles.
At 8.7 miles reach the unmarked trailhead at a sharp left turn. The road continues west but your trail starts at the turn. There's parking for several vehicles and a few tent spots.

On-Site Info

ParkingRoom for less than 10 vehicles and then you'll have to pull off the road nearby.

CampingA few places to pitch a tent at the trailhead and down the road.

Restrooms?No

Fees?No

Photos

Winter Access

There is usually a winter closure at the Commodore Mine.

Trailhead added by BillMiddlebrook

Status Updates
Map


5/23/2020 Posted On: 5/24/2020 By: ncxhjhgvbi Info: The 503 road is open all the way to the 4x4 trailhead, however I would recommend parking before the creek crossing as described in the TH description at mile 8.2. I pushed my luck and made it to the top in a stock Tacoma. There are two drifts before the crossing and a few after that were no problem, but after the creek mud becomes an issue. I was seriously concerned I would get stuck and barely made it out of a few rough spots. The only vehicle at the top besides ATVs and bikes was a modified F150 with proper mud tires. If the road is frozen in the morning, it would be very easy to get to the top and then have a rough time getting back down after it thaws later in the day. My fears about getting stuck manifested when an ATV in front of us on the way out got stuck and actually broke a wheel trying to break free of the mud. A few others helped move it off the road and I took them down the road to Creede, getting very lucky with careful yet sometimes brazen driving.
5/23/2020 Posted On: 5/24/2020 By: emarr Info: 4wd road is open all the way to trailhead. However, I would recommend parking before the Willow Creek crossing . Pretty treacherous after the crossing. I crossed the creek and found hikers stuck in the mud in a nice Ram truck. Pulled them out and we both went back and parked before the creek crossing. Happy Hiking!
3/4/2020 Posted On: 3/5/2020 By: jmanner Info: Road closure is at the 503/504 intersection; which you can reach from either road. I guess the mine is closed so they arent plowing past the intersection. So add 2.5 miles each way and about 750 of uphill
2/1/2020 Posted On: 2/3/2020 By: Furthermore Info: The road is only plowed to the 503/504 intersection at ~10,550 (~2.4 miles below the Equality Mine). The road is accessible by any 2WD to that point.
9/9/2019 Posted On: 9/10/2019 By: Randyletourneau Info: The initial drive up from Creede through the mines are awesome. The 2WD road is vey easy and doable by any car. The right turn up the 4WD road I missed initially, but the 2WD road dead ends right away so it is hard to get lost. The 4WD road has lots of rocks, but I was able to do it in a 2WD CRV but you really have to know how to protect the underside of the vehicle. I do have experience and would not recommend for most drivers. The trailhead has lots of room to park and has water, but the level ground space for a tent is very limited.
8/31/2019 Posted On: 9/26/2019 By: TakeAhike Info: Trailhead was easily accessible via my Toyota 4Runner with 4 wheel drive. Very shallow stream crossings, and some rough terrain, but nothing too extreme. With that said, I arrived at night, it's easy to miss the trailhead road sign for Willow Creek, if you continue straight you will dead end at the Equity Mine. Be careful as there is a road that goes down into the stream just to the left of the mine, luckily, there are two big boulders at the bottom of this dirt road which would be very difficult to get over even with a high clearance vehicle. If you arrive at the Equity mine, you went too far, turn around, maybe just 100 or so yards and take the dirt road that forks left before reaching the mine. *The pictures included are from my drive out
7/27/2019 Posted On: 7/27/2019 By: ThuChad Info: Very smooth 2wd road to equity mine then easy 4wd road past Equity Mine. A higher clearance 2wd vehicle may be able to make it. The road is CLOSED before the creek crossing a half mile from the trailhead. The creek was shin deep. Figure an additional mile round trip for hiking from here.
7/25/2019 Posted On: 7/25/2019 By: scronz Info: Drove from Creede to the trail head, really easy drive to the Equity Mine. You can park there and add 1.5 mile hike to your trip, each way. We have a Jeep, we took the 4x4 trail which wasnt too bad. A couple of deeper rooted sections that would not work for lower clearance vehicles. There were two pickups that made it along with a Subaru Outback.			1
7/20/2019 Posted On: 7/22/2019 By: sharper100 Info: We took 503 in a Rubicon, so had no issues. It's actually like a road (very well packed dirt) up to the working mine. The next 1.1 miles needs a high-clearance 4WD vehicle. At 8.2, the road is still closed. You need to park here and walk the rest of the way (.5) to the trailhead.
7/9/2019 Posted On: 7/10/2019 By: Chad+Dewitt Info: Road is closed at the 8.2 mile creek crossing. I turned back because I didn't want wet boots at the start of the hike. It could be waded if you had spare boots. I wouldn't do it in thedark though. It's running high and fast.
7/2/2019 Posted On: 7/13/2019 By: BlueFish Info: Road is clear up to equity mine. After taking the 4wD road that is to the left be prepared for multiple stream crossings. Road is closed before larger stream crossing near the end. We camped right where the road ended and it was only a half mile walk to the unmarked trailhead.
6/29/2019 Posted On: 7/1/2019 By: CheapCigarMan Info: Drove all the way to within 625 feet of the TH where there is a pretty deep mud pit.
6/17/2019 Posted On: 6/18/2019 By: salleybthomas Info: Fallen tree has been partially moved off the road, enough for us to squeeze past in Rav4, made it to the creek crossing and did not attempt, water is running high and fast, may be possible in larger vehicle. Road for the most part is in good shape, though very wet and muddy			1
6/13/2019 Posted On: 6/13/2019 By: Bones007 Info: Road 503 is now open out of town but there is a large fallen tree that completely blocks the 4WD road about 0.1 miles just past the 503 turnoff after the equity mine. Essentially 1.6 miles before the trailhead. There is nowhere to turn around after the turnoff before the fallen tree so we had to come all the way back down in reverse. No getting past it without a large chainsaw at this point.
6/9/2019 Posted On: 6/9/2019 By: JulianSmith Info: Tried to approach San Luis last night, but found 503 closed at the edge of town. Unofficial word was the road being washed out. Rio Grand River looked like it is about to burst its banks.			1

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