Mt. Elbert (South) Trailhead

Location

RangeSawatch Range

Elevation10,500'

Lat/Lon39.09933, -106.36714

14ersMt. Elbert

Road Difficulty

3 Easy 4WD/AWD, good clearance

2WD paved to the lower (main) TH. Easy 4WD dirt to 10,400' at the upper TH.

Driving Directions

From U.S. 24 south of Leadville, take Colorado 82 west toward Twin Lakes. Drive about 4 miles and turn right onto the 24 road. Drive 1.2 miles up a hill to the main trailhead parking area (paved) on the left. This is the lower trailhead and 2WD vehicles should park here. Continue 50 feet past the lower TH and turn left on Forest Service road 125.1B (4WD). From here it's 1.8 miles to the upper trailhead. Walk or drive up the 4WD road to reach the start of the trail.

Along the 4WD road there are several pull-offs and camping spots. Near 0.5 mile there's usually rough section of road but most 4WD vehicles should be able to get past it. Near 1.6mi, cross a small stream. Continue to a parking area with information kiosk at 1.8mi. This is the trailhead.

On-Site Info

ParkingParking for about 20 cars at the lower, 2WD trailhead. Some pull-offs along the 4WD road and then parking for maybe 15 vehicles at the 4WD trailhead.

CampingDispersed camping along the 4WD road and a campground down the road from the 2WD trailhead.

Restrooms?No

Fees?No

Photos

Winter Access

Closed at the start of the 4WD road.

Trailhead added by BillMiddlebrook

Status Updates
Map


6/7/2025 Posted On: 6/7/2025 By: Rampaging Baloths Info: The update from May 15th is pretty accurate as to the conditions. There’s the one ‘bad’ section, That being said made it fine in a stock Subaru Outback.
5/12/2025 Posted On: 5/12/2025 By: darkhelmet1983 Info: 4x4 road to the upper TH is easily drivable for real 4x4s and most AWDs should be able to handle the rough part as mentioned by others about .6 miles up. It's a couple badly located potholes and a diagonal ditch with several decent sized rocks inconveniently placed in the mix. I marked the line I took with no problem. The pictures don't well show the depth of the ditch and holes and the rocks could damage underneath if hit. I'm an experienced of road driver and my car is a Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk running premium 31in AT tires (street pressure). I was 4 low and rear locked allowing me to creep through the indicated line with little risk. There were a couple other spots some vehicles might lift a tire momentarily but shouldn't be a problem with a couple mph momentum and a shallow creek crossing followed by a kinda steep climb. Rest of the road was mildly bumpy at worst and pretty smooth for parts being mildly rocky right at the upper TH.	2	5
10/4/2024 Posted On: 10/4/2024 By: wanderlust073 Info: Road closure on Halfmoon forced us to divert to the trailhead for East Ridge route. The 4x4 road is in great shape. Lifted 2500 made it up with no issues, maybe just a few kisses from passing branches in some of the narrower spots.
9/20/2024 Posted On: 9/21/2024 By: Willy the Kid Info: We made it up to the 4WD trailhead in a Rav 4 (8 inches of clearance), scraped once. There are two rough spots: one half a mile from the 2WD trailhead and one right after the creek crossing, which is where we scraped. It is definitely doable without scrapes with some careful driving. The rest of the road is rough 2WD. There's a bunch of dispersed camping along the road, but no overnight parking at the 4WD trailhead.	1	4
8/19/2024 Posted On: 8/19/2024 By: RickyDavis Info: Very mellow road in a Silverado w/ stock suspension on street tires. Saw an older CRV at the top.
7/18/2024 Posted On: 7/18/2024 By: weathermansam77 Info: Made it up the 4wd road in a FWD Hyundai Kona with 6.9 inches of ground clearence, didn't scrape once. If you have expirience driving on these roads you can get up here
5/24/2024 Posted On: 5/25/2024 By: ladenedge Info: Road and trailhead are totally clear of snow, even after a night of flurries. We made it in a stock RAV4 with some careful driving.
5/22/2024 Posted On: 5/22/2024 By: gregpeak Info: The road is clear all the way to the 4WD Trailhead. There is plenty of parking there now.
5/19/2024 Posted On: 5/20/2024 By: Firefly337 Info: 4WD road clear of all snow, able to reach the trailhead in my crosstrek, overall road in descent shape if you have a vehicle with some ground clearance
5/18/2024 Posted On: 5/20/2024 By: ztweb Info: Road is completely clear of snow all the way to the upper trailhead.
5/11/2024 Posted On: 5/11/2024 By: Ssgustafson Info: Drove to the 4WD TH on Fri 5/10 in my lifted Tacoma. There was continuous snow from the lower TH and about 5-6" at the upper TH. Very slippery getting down!
5/4/2024 Posted On: 5/5/2024 By: starfishprime Info: Drove all the way to the 4wd TH in a stock 4runner, there was a tiny bit of snow/ice/mud near the top but nothing significant.	1
4/21/2024 Posted On: 4/21/2024 By: d_baker Info: We drove within half mile of upper 4wd trailhead today, no issues. A Subaru was up that far as well.	2
4/9/2024 Posted On: 4/10/2024 By: RWSchaffer Info: The 4WD road started melted-out with intermittent stretches of snow (Photo 1). Icy vehicle tracks reached roughly a half mile up the road until they ended in a mess of deep tracks (Photo 2) and occasional got-stuck debris. From there, nearly continuous, packed snow reached the upper trailhead. There are a few spots to pull off of the melted section of road, but most drivers should still plan to park at the paved lot.		2
3/17/2024 Posted On: 3/17/2024 By: aholle88 Info: We made it to the first big open camping area on the left a half mile up from the TH. Another Tacoma (2WD maybe?) got stuck getting out of that area and left their vehicle partially blocking the road and almost making it impassable. Lets call the road impassable at all right now and park at the paved TH. Conditions may change in the next few days but you still wont be making it beyond that first pull out.	3	2

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