Grays Peak Trailhead

Posted On: 6/1/2025 By: SWINTJJ
Info: I was most of the way up the road to the summer TH on 5/31/2025 in my Expedition. Cars were parked in the middle of the road just before the point where others seem to be describing it as impassable. I did see car tracks through deep snow just before the summer TH parking lot, but did not see how far they went and did not make the summer TH lot. There was a sheriff deputy up there in his SUV. I did not talk to him and did not see him issuing tickets. There were several cars parked along the road, but they were in the areas that allowed two cars to pass. I do not know if this was on private property and I am not sure if this will prevent ticketing. I was up the road last fall and it seems worse this year.

Posted On: 5/31/2025 By: carmitz001
Info: Snow starts in patches around 10,600 feet and becomes impassable for vehicles around 11,000. One group of hikers had to shovel out the snow beneath their 4WD that got stuck. No vehicles at the upper trailhead.

Posted On: 5/28/2025 By: walks_a_lot
Info: I met and spoke with two officers from the Clear Creek County Sheriff's Office this morning in Stevens Gulch. They received two Polaris quads this summer to use for parking enforcement and will be in the area "much more frequently than past years." The county considers Stevens Gulch to be a 2-lane dirt road and if it can not be used as such because of parking obstructions (CCCMTC-1204) tickets are going to be issued. Anyone parked on private property (see image attached) in Stevens Gulch will also be ticketed and/or towed. Once the 40 car lot at the upper (summer) trailhead is full, you will need to return to the lower (winter) trailhead near I-70 to park. This will add 3 miles each way (6 miles roundtrip) to most routes.

Posted On: 5/28/2025 By: jmanner
Info: Road is drivable to within a mile of summer trailhead and then another 1/3 of a mile is also drivable without obvious parking that doesn’t block the road. .6 mile it’s essentially continuous snow to the summer trailhead. Seems like 10-14 days before the summer trailhead is accessible and parking will be available without pissing off a land owner. Included a photo with the FS map and the land owners blots. Looks like lots of places don’t have private owners.

Posted On: 5/22/2025 By: Carl
Info: No snow the first mile. Some snow drifts the next mile that are passable with high clearance. Last mile to summer TH is snow covered and will take another 10 to 14 days to melt is my best guess. Note there are only a few parking spots beyond the junction at mile 1 that are legal and don’t block the road, until the last mile to the summer TH melts out.

Posted On: 5/16/2025 By: Carl
Info: Stevens Gulch is only driveable 1 mile from the highway still, due to a pile of snow plowed in to block further access. Once that pile melts or is knocked down (it’s close), the next section maybe 3/4 to 1 mile doesn’t have much snow and will be passable soon. The last mile still has some deep spots and I’d guess could take 2 or 3 weeks to melt out depending on temps.

Posted On: 5/1/2025 By: 14er101
Info: Would still recommend parking at lower lot. A few vehicles have been able to make it up and down too the grizzly turnoff, but there would be some deep spots that require high clearance and could easily cause oneself to get very stuck. There was a jeep at the upper trailhead... very stuck, and it will probably be there until the road melts

Posted On: 5/2/2025 By: kendricb
Info: While I skinned up the road from the bottom due to the new snow which made it hard to tell where old snow and drifts were in the morning, by the afternoon the new snow had melted on the road and I ended up walking and skiing on thin stretches of snow. Several vans made it to the Grizzly Gulch junction that day, and it should be drivable to that point with care. There aren't major ruts, drifts, or obstacles if you stick to the drier side of the road. That said, you could certainly get yourself stuck with a bad line into the drainage "gutter" on the uphill side of the road. You'll see sticks littering that side from where others missed. Beyond the junction, there's snow off and on, and I would not recommend driving any further.

Posted On: 4/23/2025 By: jmanner
Info: Skied Kelso, but the normal dry spot at the base of Kelso is drying out. Only other spot was about 20’ of dirt .85 mile from the winter TH. Seems reasonable that it’ll continue to be undrivable for a while longer.

Posted On: 4/11/2025 By: Carl
Info: Road is snow covered the entire 3 miles. Starting to melt out half way up but able to snowmobile it today without any dirt. Tacoma with NJ plates stuck about 1.25 miles up, waiting for recovery. Driving the road in any non tracked vehicle is definitely a roll of the dice right now.

Posted On: 12/27/2024 By: Willy the Kid
Info: Reminder that the road is closed and impassable past the winter lot. Helped an SUV get unstuck about 0.2 miles up the road today. Went up Grizzly Gulch, so not all the way to the summer trailhead, but it was packed and bootable to the split.

Posted On: 11/9/2024 By: walks_a_lot
Info: Multiple days of snow have closed Stevens Gulch to wheeled vehicles for the season. All parking is now at the Winter (lower) Trailhead near I-70 in the "Chimney Lot". There is enough snow for tracked vehicles, skis, and snowshoes to be used from the Lower Trailhead to the Upper Trailhead. It's officially winter into The Gulch.

Posted On: 11/2/2024 By: two lunches
Info: made it to the 4WD lot without issue in my 4runner. the road is mostly snow-covered but there is very little ice. coming down in early afternoon was a little sketchy with the slush. new storm system starts tomorrow so not sure how long this will be helpful.

Posted On: 10/22/2024 By: daway8
Info: There were a couple inches up snow on the upper half of the 4WD road this morning but already lots of tire tracks put in so there was no real issue getting up to the 4WD trailhead beyond the normal rough road issues. Lots of melting by afternoon which might actually make it worse for the next couple days until things dry out a bit.

Posted On: 9/22/2024 By: maria_rd
Info: Upper trailhead should only be attempted by high clearance SUVs (or similar to Mazda CX-50). There were plenty of ruts that turned cars around. Arrived at the trailhead by 4:45am on 9/21/24 and got one of the last three parking spots.