West Willow Creek Trailhead

Posted On: 6/14/2025 By: MidsizeAl
Info: Got the ol’ outback up to the 4WD TH with no issues. There is a large puddle that reached the bottom of the doors, so recommend having enough clearance for that.

Posted On: 4/21/2025 By: AlpineSplit
Info: Closed at 504/503 Junction. Dry until Equity Mine.

Posted On: 3/31/2025 By: jacolc
Info: Like supranihilest posted year ago. When I driving in at Jan 23, CR 504 was snow covered in 100% above Bachelor City, but plowed all the way to winter TH at connection with 503. TH plowed so-so, so I parked for 2 nights just at beginning 503. Yesterday after second night, at morning I notice the TH was plowed again and 4 tracks came with snowmobiles. When I start my approach at night Jan 24, road was well bitten by snowmobile only to Equity mine, above I see old track sometimes, was covered with snow. When the road take right side of creek above mine, entire slope was icy, so again seldom fallow any tracks. My skinning to CD takes me much longer then I expect. Using snowshoe instead of ski will be probably better option for me. On the way down, at night, I skiing only below mine.

Posted On: 10/15/2024 By: ColoNativeGal
Info: Definitely take 504 Bachelor Rd/Loop up, it's very smooth. It will be a left turn to connect to 503 4x4 section to get to TH. Not much to add since last report on 9/2 by Ed_Groves. Definitely need 4x4 to get to TH. I made it in my giant F350 no issue, but would not recommend for a dually or anything larger than my truck. Clearance is important for that one puddle, it is deep.

Posted On: 9/2/2024 By: Ed_Groves
Info: I drove my 4wd V6 Tacoma up Bachelor Road until it intersects north of Creede with Road 503. Bachelor is relatively smooth and nice. Road 503 had some bumps and rough spots but was 2wd capable until one reaches the left turn for the 4wd section. After that, ground clearance becomes important. There are a lot of large puddles on the 4wd portion but only one was fairly deep. However, that deeper puddle would give me pause if I had less than 8 inches of ground clearance.

Posted On: 7/12/2024 By: astranko
Info: 2wd to the Equity Mine. I made it in a prius. 504 to the junction is smooth sailing. Afterwards is a bit more. You could probably point and shoot and be fine. If you like your car there's like two spots to pay attention to.

Posted On: 7/8/2024 By: ChossyChimayo
Info: 503 is clear. If you can make the initial climb from the lower TH, you're probably good the rest of the way. Saw a subaru at the upper TH but there is definitely scrape potential if not picky about line choice, especially after the creek crossing. Just dandy in a tacoma. Camping kinda sucks but if you shop around a little, there is level ground to be found.

Posted On: 6/24/2024 By: Skimo95
Info: Took the 505 bachelor/rat creek loop today and was going to take the 503 down. There is a massive boulder blocking 503 and is not passable. 504 is easy going the whole way. 505 is a beefy 4WD road

Posted On: 6/24/2024 By: astromuni
Info: Lower road is smooth as glass and in great shape to the mine. Upper road was do-able in our outback, though we had a bit of scraping coming both up and down (probably could of been avoided with a bit more care). The water crossings were fine, as of Saturday morning, despite recent heavy rainfall. I really like this route, and the ability to visit/stay in Creede or South Fork. It's also slightly quicker to get to than the "standard" route, at least from Denver.

Posted On: 6/10/2024 By: supranihilest
Info: Clear to 4WD trailhead. The road beyond that (to the northwest) is still blocked by lots of snow.

Posted On: 5/19/2024 By: Sbenfield
Info: 503 is currently closed due to an excavation fiasco just outside of Creede. However, 504 is open from the other side of town and is in good condition to the 503/504 junction, circumventing the 503 road closure.

Posted On: 1/4/2024 By: supranihilest
Info: The winter closure for this trailhead is at the junction of 503 (the "normal" road through Creede to the West Willow trailhead) and 504 (Bachelor Road). 503 is not maintained in winter but 504 is plowed to the junction. While 504 is 2WD it is a mix of dry gravel, packed snow, and ice, so 4WD might be useful in certain conditions. There's room for a few vehicles to park at the 503/504 junction. No bathrooms or other facilities there, but there's some porta potties just north of town on 503.

Posted On: 10/22/2023 By: crispy_asparagus
Info: Road is clear to the upper trailhead and is easily passable with AWD and Subaru-level of clearance. Water in the crossings is low. Made it with zero issues in a Highlander. Taking the 503 road (due north from Creede) as described in the trailhead description on this site, passes the historical Emperius Mine in a canyon and taking 504 road (described in Roachs book) is a higher road and ideal for driving out of the area at the end of day to get a new and elevated view of Creede. Both meet at the Allens crossing junction before you reach the split that goes around the still operational Equity Mine. This split is where the road gets rougher. 3/10 is an accurate measure of the roads difficulty assuming stream crossings arent high.

Posted On: 10/15/2023 By: Kiefer
Info: From the Equity Mine, the road is passable with no major changes from last report. The puddles are frozen in the morning but melted out by afternoon. The stream crossing is likewise frozen and melted by day. Water level is only a few inches but running. No snow on the ground. I drove a Subaru Crosstrek to the upper 4x4 trailhead with no difficulties and even 350' higher up the 4x4 road towards the ridge. Pulled over at a very large plateau. Could have driven clear to the top of the ridge but wanted to stretch the legs. Probably one of the easiest 4x4 roads I've driven.

Posted On: 10/16/2023 By: gluckhikes
Info: Accessible in my Subaru, just a few large shallow puddles to negotiate.