Yankee Boy Basin Trailhead

Posted On: 6/11/2025 By: HikerGuy
Info: Repairs have been completed. Road is open!

Posted On: 6/2/2025 By: Cereal
Info: Ouray County opened the road to foot traffic on Sunday 6/1. The YBB "lower" bathroom was not open, and neither was the one at Virginius Mine (on the right, just past the Imogene Pass turnoff). They have been providing plenty of updates here: https://m.facebook.com/OurayCountyRoadandBridge/ Still closed to ALL modes of travel past Senator Gulch during the week

Posted On: 5/17/2025 By: Boggy B
Info: Still closed at Senator gate. Est. opening to vehicles June 6. Possibly open to foot traffic on weekends and holidays starting now.

Posted On: 5/6/2025 By: daway8
Info: UPDATE 4/30/2025: Rockfall mitigation on Camp Bird Road (CR-361) is now complete. Next, Ouray County Road & Bridge Department will commence clearing debris from the road surface – this is expected to take up to one week. After debris removal is completed, the County’s contractor will perform repairs to the hilfiker wall – this is expected to take at least one week. In order to expedite repairs, the road will remain closed to the public until all repair work is completed. Camp Bird Road remains closed at the Senator Gulch gate – no public access is permitted beyond this point. Please reach out to the Road & Bridge Department if you have any questions: 970-626-5391.

Posted On: 2/26/2025 By: HikerGuy
Info: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Temporary Road Closure on Camp Bird Road Pending Further Geological Analysis \\\\\ Ouray County, Colo – Ouray County Road and Bridge, in partnership, and with full support of the Ouray County Sheriff’s Office, will be temporarily closing Camp Bird Road (CR-361) 3.5 miles from US Highway 550 and roughly 200 yards beyond the Senator Gulch gate, for public safety and enforcement due to a significant rockfall incident that was reported on February 25, 2025. \\\\\ Early in the morning of Wednesday, February 26, 2025, the county Road & Bridge Superintendent met with representatives from the Revenue Mine and observed and documented the magnitude of the rockslide and the damage it has caused to Camp Bird Road (CR-361). A portion of the road is completely blocked and there is significant damage to the Hilficker retaining wall. \\\\\ A preliminary review of drone footage of the area was conducted by Buckhorn Engineering on the afternoon of February 26, 2025, and a certified professional geologist alerted the County that the area is not safe and is considered life-threatening and more rockfall is likely, due to fluctuating cool and warm temperatures. \\\\\ After extensive consultation with state emergency management officials, county administration, county legal counsel, road & bridge superintendent, sheriff, and public information officer, the decision to place a full temporary closure on this portion of the road, was deemed absolutely necessary for public safety as well as safety of mitigation crews. \\\\\ While this temporary road closure is in effect, the Ouray County Sheriff’s Office will be enforcing any violations of disregard to formal traffic control devices and road closure notices. Further on-site analysis by Buckhorn Engineering will be conducted tomorrow morning and upon analysis, further actions may be taken in response to the temporary road closure, including a possible Emergency Disaster Declaration. \\\\\ Please heed these critical safety warnings and stay clear of this area until further notice. Thank you for your cooperation.

Posted On: 10/26/2024 By: Boggy B
Info: Easiest conditions of the season to the outhouse TH. Eroded spots got bulldozed. Didn't look like anyone was going all the way up, though it's probably doable with the current amount of snow. I only drove to the Wrights Lake switchback.

Posted On: 10/9/2024 By: Yossi
Info: Any SUV, including small SUV's, can make it easily to the outhouse parking, you would just want about 6.5/7+ inches of clearance. It is not at all slow moving. Beyond the outhouse parking area it is a bit more difficult and high clearance is advisable though it seems many trucks made it to at least the first switchback heading to the final parking area just fine.

Posted On: 9/9/2024 By: punkcl1mber
Info: No major issues getting to the road split with a standard 4 door sedan. a few primitive camp sites are just below the road split. Up the rougher road at the outhouse lot, be prepared for the outhouse to be out of TP and it to be fairly dark in there. Come prepared.

Posted On: 9/4/2024 By: jberning30
Info: Maybe Labor Day weekend took a toll on the road? For the "can my Subie make it to the trailhead" crew...the answer is still YES, but my recommendation is, NOT WORTH IT. I am talking specifically about outhouse parking vs the 2wd parking. The road is in rough shape right now, and while I made it there, it was a stressful 20 minutes of moving at a crawl and picking lines, some sharp rocks and a few really dicey sections. I could've hiked the .6 miles from 2wd parking in the same amount of time, without the stress. Just my opinion, others may totally disagree. My stock Subie Forester made it there and back, ultimately fine, but I regretted not just parking and hiking the .6 miles extra from the 2wd parking /shrug

Posted On: 8/31/2024 By: Steelernation
Info: Parked a few tenths of a mile past governor basin in a Rav4. Most crossovers and even a couple sedans were parked there or lower. Any car can make it with some slow and careful driving. Saw 4 non-wilderness Subarus, a ford explorer, and a Mazda at the outhouse for non-true 4WDs. There was a big washout in the center of the road and some sharp, large rocks, but clearly crossovers can make it. After the outhouse, the road gets nasty and I only saw the usual trucks/4runners/wranglers/etc.

Posted On: 9/1/2024 By: Boggy B
Info: The road is in bad shape currently due to all the Wx. +1 difficulty to the bathroom due to ruts and talus encroachment. There were a few (nondescript crossover type) AWD's up there, with others parking down at the Governor junction. The morning's entertainment was watching a couple 4x4s (4Runner and a Wranglerish) square up on the washout just beyond the 11700' parking and then back down. It was early--I assume someone's making it up there today. Once/if it dries out it should submit to UTV traffic in short order.

Posted On: 8/13/2024 By: HunterGForeman
Info: Drove from Telluride --> Imogene Pass --> into Yankee Boy Basin. Easily made it to Mount Sneffels Trailhead. Started to get dark and rainy as we pushed past the end of the 2WD road. Continued a good bit up the 4WD road. Eventually we made it to the first switchback where Wrights Lake Spur & Trailhead is located but couldn't get past the second switchback. Really washed out and narrow road had to camp at the second switchback ~0.8 mi before Yankee Boy Basin Trailhead. '06 TLC, lifted, 34" tires.

Posted On: 8/8/2024 By: ssowalskie
Info: Made it to the outhouse parking area in my stock Subaru Outback around 5:45am. There were only two other cars parked at that area. No vehicles at the upper trailhead when I made it there. By the time I went back down the road, there were two vehicles (a Bronco and a Silverado) at the upper trailhead, and some 4Runners parked in pull-offs along the road. Got passed by lots of Jeep Wranglers as I hiked back down to the outhouse parking area. The road is pretty gnarly after the outhouse (saw someone lose a large part to their vehicle on the road), so definitely heed the advice to only go further if you have 4x4 with high clearance.

Posted On: 8/5/2024 By: Arand83
Info: Made it to the upper parking lot in a bone stock 15' Tundra crewmax with BFG KO2's. Others say that offroad experience is necessary, and they aren't joking. There were a few spots I almost regretted getting up that far, but made it with very minimal contact of my undercarriage. I probably wouldn't do it again without a little more clearance, and a short wheelbase definitely helps, but it is possible. I can't stress enough how important experience is on this road. Very dangerous and wouldn't be fun if recovery was necessary, not to mention how dangerous it could be.

Posted On: 8/8/2024 By: OldDude
Info: Those driving a Subie you can make up to the last outhouse with ease but no further IMO.