West Willow Creek Trailhead

Posted On: 5/31/2026 By: katarinaa452
Info: Drove to the upper 4WD trailhead via West Willow Creek Road. The road is in good shape overall- recommend good clearance 4x4 past the Equity Mine as you turn left up the road. A few creek crossings are flowing, with the final and largest crossing (approximately 15–20 feet wide) carrying around 6 inches of water at its deepest point. It was easily passable in a high-clearance 4WD vehicle.

Posted On: 5/17/2026 By: chris75025
Info: Was just up there at 5AM, May 17. 4WD road from Equity Mine appeared open. However we hit a decision at 37.941216, -106.962489, where the road crosses Willow Creek (flowing from L-R going in). The Creek crossing looked about 15-20ft wide, but we had no idea how deep it was with snow melt (4in - 2ft?). It was still kind of dark and hard to see through ice crust on the water. Given Mountain Forecast for the day and our physical condition from previous hikes (long story), it was enough to turn us around. It would have helped to have water proof boots and a stick. :-)

Posted On: 5/11/2026 By: Marsh
Info: FS Road 503 still closed for mud season at 503/504 junction (37.90715, -106.95539). Summer conditions to there. I called the forest service (719-657-3321), they said it was scheduled to open May 15, 2026.

Posted On: 4/27/2026 By: CraigE
Info: There's a Road Closed barrier on Willow Creek Road right after the 503/504 junction, nearly 4 miles below the 4WD trailhead. I didn’t see the barrier on my way up, so I think it was new today (April 25th). But maybe I just missed it. It was knocked over, and I didn’t set it back up : )

I drove a little way past Equity Mine this morning, and I parked about 1.3 miles short of the 4WD trailhead because I wasn’t sure about the icy creek crossings near the end of the road. But the road was passable — there was a full-size SUV parked all the way up at the 4WD trailhead.

Posted On: 1/11/2026 By: backcountrybrodes
Info: Me and CaptainSuburbia attempted a San Luis winter climb and were able to drive 1 mile of the West Willow Creek Rd from the Bachelor Rd/Willow Creek junction (i.e. FR 503/504) before getting stopped by snow and ice. There were no (safe) turn arounds, so we had to reverse down the entire road at the end of the day which took half an hour. Guessing we cut off about 2 miles total both ways, so was it really worth it? You get to decide haha

Posted On: 10/6/2025 By: txrambler
Info: Yep, Subaruable to 4WD TH. Made it just fine in my stock CT.

Posted On: 9/4/2025 By: sethsawant
Info: Made it without much issue to the 4WD TH in a stock height Crosstrek with light AT tires and skids. As the other comments suggest, the first section forking from the 2WD TH is definitely the roughest but was not a problem going up or down with X mode enabled and taking it relatively slow, no spotting or anything required and no scraping. A couple of stream crossings later but the water levels are low enough that these are a non issue.

Posted On: 8/24/2025 By: TommyF
Info: Drove to the 4W trailhead on 8/23. Two door Jeep Willys Wheeler, 2 inch lift, 33 inch tires. Took Bachelor Loop Road (504) to 503. 504 is in great shape. A few uphill sections with slight wash boarding. Fine for any vehicle. Once you make the left onto 503 to the 2W trailhead, a bit rougher, but nothing a passenger car would have trouble with.

The first 1/8 mile or so once you make the left onto the rest of 503 to the 4W tailhead was probably the worst. Pretty rough and rocky (loose), a few deep potholes, and a few pretty deep woops perpendicular to the direction of travel. Vehicles with low approach and departure angles would probably scrape. Past that section, any AWD/4WD vehicle with decent clearance - 8 to 10 inches probably wouldn't have a problem, The rest of the road had a few deep potholes/puddles/rough. There were a handful of full size pickups and a four runner at the 4W trailhead. Honestly, it looked worse driving up in the dark than it did coming back down in daylight. As a comparison, South Colony Lakes was in worse shape when I drove that last fall.

I wanted to get some pics of the 4W road on the way down, but was trying to get back down prior to the afternoon thunderstorms rolling in.

Posted On: 8/21/2025 By: Neil14707
Info: After talking with 3 separate people on San Luis Peak on 8/21/25 about how awful the lower section of W Willow Creek Rd (503) was, I figured I’d post an update here. Both myself (in a Mazda CX-5) and another group (in a Jeep) were turned around at about 9500’ on 503 due to some pretty large ruts on the steepest section. After talking to someone in Creede, I drove up Bachelor Rd (504) with no issues whatsoever. 504 was incredibly smooth the entire way up. Once 504 intersects 503, I had no issues up 503 to the 2WD TH. I’m glad I left the Mazda at the 2WD TH, there were a few rutted sections on the 4WD road that I don’t think it could make it past. At the 2WD TH: Mazda CX-5, Kia Telluride, and a Volvo. At the 4WD TH: A few trucks, a 4Runner, and the same Jeep that couldn’t make it up the “2WD” section of 503!

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.