Guanella Pass Trailhead

Posted On: 9/18/2026 By: Peebs3
Info: Got there at 4:20AM to hike Mt. Bierstadt. Tons of spots available. Started to fill up quickly around 5AM, but definitely would still be able to find a spot on road or parking lot across road.

Posted On: 9/6/2026 By: LucasR
Info: Climbed Square Top Mountain today - the road and parking is all in summer conditions. I wanted to remind folks that you can' t park on the road itself. There was enforcement there ticketing cars that were parked 1-2' on the road, all the cars that parked in the wide dirt shoulders, off the actual blacktop road, were fine.

For people into leafs - the aspens were starting to turn yellow already.

Posted On: 8/30/2026 By: dwoodward13
Info: Arrived around 5:45am and plenty of cars parked on the road but the upper lot was less than 25% full. When getting done about 10am the upper lot was still less than 50% full. At least 20 cars already had tickets for parking on pavement or on the wrong side of the road, with more being issued by the officer as I left.

Posted On: 8/15/2026 By: KylePolansky
Info: Arrived at 5:45am. An estimated 250 hikers were on the trail already. Parking lots were both full. Many cars were parked along the side of the road. Many cars parked with their tires touching the road were given $87.50 tickets. Cars parked fully on the shoulder without tires touching the road did not appear to have tickets.

Posted On: 7/26/2026 By: ChadFrom1owa
Info: Do not park on the side of the road. You will get a parking ticket courtesy of Clear Creek County for $87.50. I made that mistake this morning, as we were delayed and did not make it to the lot until 5:30am and it was full.

Posted On: 4/17/2026 By: yardman
Info: Confirmed yesterday that the road is open to the summer TH.

Posted On: 4/13/2026 By: Chicago Transplant
Info: Guanella Pass is scheduled to open for the season on Thursday 4/16/26 at 9am. Probably about 5 weeks earlier than a normal year because its just that dry. They may need to temporarily close if there is a spring snowstorm, so plan accordingly.
https://www.9news.com/article/traffic/guanella-pass-reopens/73-e0860b11-aa5d-411b-ba37-202fc552d23c
If you do plan on camping up there, please note that Clear Creek County is in Stage 1 fire restrictions, a further reflection of just how dry it is.
https://www.clearcreekcounty.us/AlertCenter.aspx?AID=185

Posted On: 2/14/2026 By: madmattd
Info: Just an fyi, at 7:15 this morning the road was unplowed starting in Georgetown. Plenty of tracks to the power plant, and a half dozen other vehicles pushed through to the winter closure ahead of me. 4-5" of snow. I had no notable issues with AWD and snow tires. Sounds like the plow made it to the closure around 8am, and most of the road was bare by mid-afternoon. Just a warning to not expect things to be plowed first thing, even with the power plant being right there.

Posted On: 12/1/2025 By: dwoodward13
Info: Per the Clear Creek County FB page, the pass is now closed for the season. Expected to reopen around Memorial Day weekend.

Posted On: 11/22/2025 By: bmcqueen
Info: Road was still open this morning. There was snow and ice on the upper part above the winter closure.

Posted On: 9/4/2025 By: Rampaging Baloths
Info: Filled in by about 0830 on this weekday.

Toilets have no TP and the lock is broken as well.

Supposedly the square top does.

So maybe bring some TP with you.

Posted On: 8/30/2025 By: vivianandmarcin
Info: Lower lot had a total of 4 cars at 4 a.m.

Posted On: 7/25/2025 By: MountainHiker
Info: There are now No Parking signs along the road at Guanella Pass. Cars were parked on both sides of the driveway for the upper lot. There is a ditch on both sides of the driveway. Getting off the pavement means parking tipped to the side for most of the spots. I came from the Grant side. Some vehicles parked beyond the signs on the road. A doable distance. I don't know how far the signs were on the Georgetown side.

Posted On: 7/11/2025 By: wwdonaldson
Info: Got to trailhead at 4:40 am. Plenty of parking spots remaining. I bet it filled up by 5:30am. I found some great dispersed camping on the gravel road to Geneva Park Campground. Drive into the campground, continue on the gravel road, and find numerous labeled dispersed camp sites.

Posted On: 6/19/2025 By: EarthOrbit
Info: Overflow parking on the shoulder of the road is allowed, but if you have any bit of tire on the asphalt, it's a $87 ticket from the Clear County Sheriff's Office.