5/21/2025 Posted On: 5/21/2025 By: rachel Info: Gated at the winter closure. "Closed to all vehicle use from 3/15 to 6/30" | 1 |
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7/1/2024 Posted On: 7/1/2024 By: SherpaSara Info: Gate is open now. | ||||
7/1/2024 Posted On: 7/1/2024 By: SherpaSara Info: Gate is open now. | ||||
1/21/2023 Posted On: 1/22/2023 By: daway8 Info: For reference, the winter closure for Frenchman Creek Trailhead is at approximately 38.93624, -106.19441 This is less than half a mile off the highway along 386. Road was pretty clear to the first gate with a little parking available. Snowy but passable to drive another hundred feet or so around the corner to the other gate where there's no good parking except right in the road. | 2 |
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7/3/2022 Posted On: 7/3/2022 By: amnesia Info: Open for the season and clear to the trailhead. | ||||
8/8/2021 Posted On: 8/9/2021 By: cjdbury Info: FR386 Frenchman Creek is clear all the way to the start of the Frenchman Creek hiking trail. TH is at 10,375'. Parking space for 3-5 vehicles. Some nice flat camping spaces along the way. The road isn't too technical, but there are some steep sections of loose dirt that 4WD helped with. Scraped a bit on two or three drainage berms but they were all dirt, no rocks sticking out to do any damage. Vehicle was a Silverado with 2" lift. Shorter wheelbase vehicles shouldn't have any scraping issues. | 1 |
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6/10/2021 Posted On: 6/10/2021 By: Mtnman200 Info: Forest Road 386 is gated, and a sign says the road is closed from March 15 through June 30 | ||||
7/18/2020 Posted On: 7/19/2020 By: geojed Info: There is a large boulder sticking out in the middle of the road on a quite steep section 1.6mi before the TH @ 9500 elevation. We tried to get around it in a Subaru Outback but couldnt quite do it due to not being able to maintain speed and losing traction so we walked. If we had made it we would most likely have been able to make it the rest of the way. More aggressive tires wouldve helped. | ||||
4/6/2019 Posted On: 4/11/2019 By: JoeLeach Info: Gate still closed. Floatation required after about 1 mile. Snow is Deeeppppp. | ||||
12/4/2018 Posted On: 12/4/2018 By: dennywitte Info: As of December 1, CR386 is gated just after you get off US24 (8500 feet). I hiked and snowshoed 3.3 miles back to the end of the 4wd road (10,400 feet) at the wilderness boundary. There is now a good trench in place up to the end of the 4wd road. Snow shoes are highly recommended. | ||||
11/15/2018 Posted On: 11/17/2018 By: dennywitte Info: I made it up to 9200 ft on FS386 in my 1996 Ford Explorer until the steepness and snow depth forced me to turn around. | ||||
6/2/2018 Posted On: 6/3/2018 By: Silence_Dogood Info: Frenchman Creek Trailhead is closed and gated 0.5 miles off US 24 at 8,570 ft until June 30 for elk conservation. This appears to be a new policy, as evidenced by the alteration to the Forest Service sign (see photos). The road itself appears to be in great condition all the way to the 4WD trailhead aside from a few downed trees that could be moved by hand. I suspect most moderately capable SUVs could make it to the 4WD trailhead once the gate opens, although that would depend on the driver comfort and experience levels. | ||||
9/9/2017 Posted On: 5/15/2018 By: cshanek Info: The 4WD section is pretty sporty, but I was able to make it up in my stock Forester (8.7 inches of GC) on 3 occasions. | ||||
7/3/2016 Posted On: 7/6/2016 By: Deege Info: Routing is as described in the Roach book. 2wd TH (approx. 1.4 miles from US 24) is easy and passable with most vehicles, probably including sedans. However, the 4wd TH is NOT accessible with anything other than high clearance 4x4s. At about 2.1 miles from US 24, there is a steep, 45 deg. turn to the right with large boulders center and right that was not passable in my vehicle (AWD Acura MDX). Beyond that, there were about 4 additional sections where large rocks and boulders are exposed that would pose a similar challenge. Two vehicles at the upper TH; both were ORV-modified Toyota pickups with ample clearance. As of 7/3/16, the 4wd TH will abuse any vehicle without 4x4 traction and clearance. Previous posts suggesting otherwise are stale. For comparison purposes, similarly rated Silver Creek/Grizzly Gulch (Sunshine/Redcloud/Handies), Culebra, Princeton towers, S. Mt. Elbert, or upper portion of West Willow Creek (San Luis) did not pose anywhere close to the same challenges as the handful of sections on Frenchman‘s Creek 4wd TH. | ||||
9/19/2015 Posted On: 9/19/2015 By: RockCaCO3 Info: Dry and passable up to 4wd TH. |
