4 Posted By: nohandz Info: Drove up to 13,700’ in a stock GX (Land Cruiser) and camped the night, 45 mins hike from the summit of Antero. Despite being an experienced offroad driver, I did test the skid plates a few times. Generally I agree with the previous post, that it is reminiscent of South Colony Lakes, but that had a few gnarly obstacles that I got out and looked at. This had continuous rough road and tire placement required, but also pucker factor. I did most of the route around 5mi/hr, the whole 7mi taking about 1.5hr. There were several camping spots on the corners of switchbacks along the way, or up at the saddle where we were. You could even drive up/camp on top of the 13,800’ unnamed peak. I would not take a Subaru past the 2wd TH - you need 4LO IMO. Stick to Wranglers, Broncos, 4Runners/Land Cruisers. Tacomas and other trucks would work, except higher, on the tight switchbacks. Even I was having to do 3 point turns on some with a shorter WB. | ||||
Posted By: Pedro F Info: Drove a stock Wrangler with road tires to the signboard at 13,100’ near where 278 splits into A/B. Concur with other’s comments that the most difficult portion is immediately after starting up the 4WD portion: if you can make it past there you can make it the whole way. But this is not to say that it’s totally smooth sailing thereafter...rather, the whole way it toggles between easier sections where you can drive at 10mph and rougher stretches where you can only crawl or do 5mph. Struck me as similar flavor to the 4WD portion of the South Colony Lakes TH road. Took 30 min to get from the 4WD turnoff to the 10,850’ stream crossing. A good dozen spots along the way to allow for opposing traffic to pass by. Higher up, the switchbacks from 12,100’ - 12,700’ are pretty tight and might give you some grief if you have a longer wheelbase vehicle (there are generally landing pads at each switchback though so it might be possible to do a 3-point turn if you need to?). Other vehicles at 13,100’ = a Bronco and a Cherokee, neither of which was lifted | ||||
Posted By: maylemay1 Info: Drove my 4runner up to the 13,100 turnoff without too much trouble. There are definitely some spots you have to be careful and it is a long bumpy ride, but much better than hiking the road in my opinion. Made for a nice short jaunt to the summit. Tried to get to Baldwin lakes but that road is much worse so we turned around after only a short drive up that direction. | ||||
Posted By: matt9094 Info: Any car can drive to the 2WD trailhead. I only saw Jeeps, and SUVs do the 4WD trail. I saw them all throughout the trail, either camping overnight or stopping along the trail to hike. A Hummer H2 went all the way up to 13,700. I feel like a Subaru could also make it, but did not see any today. There are not that many spots that require the clearance or a truck or SUV. Most of the Jeeps went all the way up to 13,700 with no issue. | ||||
Posted By: bigfoot1 Info: Dirt portion of the road is perfect and only like 2 miles! This is how all dirt roads should be. Plenty of parking along the side of the road before 7am and at noon. Saw a lot of cars driving up 277 and 278 as I was heading down, and saw an ATV at the top lot at (38.668445, -106.248126). Also saw a car parked at the highest trailhead for Mt White. Pictures attached show a bunch of cars parked at the various trailheads. | ||||
Posted By: R7777777 Info: This might be one of the worse roads I have driven on. I would not recommend going on this road without a Jeep or some 4x4 car with high clearance. The road is also narrow which makes it hard if vehicles are coming the other way. The road is not just rocks but big boulders. There are tons of camp sites after the big creek pass at around 10,800. And the campsites go all the way up to around 11,800. | ||||
Posted By: Patrickk Info: Drove this road to 13,400 in a stock Toyota Tacoma TRD Off Road. The first mile and the road above 13,400 are the worst parts. Really have to watch your lines on this road. I only saw trucks, jeeps and atvs above the 2wd trailhead. Lots of sharp rocks so I’d have good AT tires. Took about 2 hours up and 1.5 down. | ||||
Posted By: Dbrink Info: Drove a tacoma up to 12,743 at which point you can park 4-5 vehicles at that switchback. Saw a stock 4runner and tacoma up there as well. There is a snow bank covering the road after this. No point in going much further because as someone else noted there’s a boulder at 12,969 (38.66539, -106.25447). Photo #2. If it weren’t for the boulder you could park at the large parking area at 13,095. | 4 |
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Posted By: Jajohnson11 Info: Snow blocking the road at the top of the switchbacks right around 13k. There is parking for 2-3 vehicles at the switchback at 12600. Parking for maybe 5-6 vehicles at the top of the switchbacks at 12800. Made it easily in a stock ranger tremor aired down. The worst of the road is before Baldwin gulch imo. | 1 |
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Posted By: Ed_Groves Info: I drove a stock 2022 Toyota Tacoma V6 4wd to approximately 10,900 feet just beyond the creek, and I could have driven higher but I wanted the elevation gain for the hike. The road was rough with rocks that could damage the bottom of a vehicle. I made it up and down without incident. The road is very narrow in most places and I met one 4Runner and a few 4 wheelers on the way down. Fortunately, I was in areas where we could maneuver around one another. The road does keep one on your toes for sure. I have 9.4 inches of ground clearance and I don’t think I would want any less for this road. | ||||
Posted By: Bob Mitchell Info: Went up to about 12,000 ft. in my 2017 stock Tacoma. Went slow and it was fine. The road was very busy but everyone on it was very respectful and made it easy to get up and down! | ||||
Posted By: ochres Info: Made it up the 4WD road to ~11200ft in a stock 4Runner with AT tires. Took 1hr up and 1hr down. Road is in good shape and could’ve made up to 12000 or higher, just wanted to get at least 3000ft of gain in. Was surprised to see a Rav4 parked before the stream crossing. Not sure I’d feel comfortable driving in low clearance vehicle--guessing they probably scraped a little on the way down. We didn’t run into anyone on the way up but ran into quite a few vehicles on our way back down. There are a few narrow spots but no terrifying shelf roads with sheer drops offs like the road to Lead King Basin from Marble. Easier drive than South Colony Lakes or Nellie Creek imo. No significant obstacles, just a couple shallow stream crossings and A LOT of bumpy rocks. Dramamine recommended for passengers unless you’re able to air down. | ||||
Posted By: Shaller13 Info: Reached the end of the road up above the 2nd set of switchbacks in my stock Jeep Cherokee. Took me 2 hours going up and a bit under 2 hours going down. Similar times to one of the previous conditions report The 4x4 road is not the worse road of what I have done in terms of technicality(climbing rocks, clearance issues, etc) but it’s not an easy road by any means. I would say Nellie creek was the hardest of the 14er 4x4 roads I have done so far but Mt. Antero was more difficult mentally and trail wise over Mt. Princeton, South Colony and the other few. Low gear range is a must(unless you like to cook transmissions) high clearance is highly recommended. If your vehicle has a similar cooling system like my XJ then make sure that is all in working condition. Road is in summer conditions. No mining work was being performed where I parked | 1 |
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Posted By: ZooDude Info: Took my stock Chevy Colorado 4x4 to 12,000 feet. Some nice campgrounds down a small valley to the right you get to 12k, that’s where we camped for the night. Took about an hour and I tell you what, it took my truck to the limit. Had a couple of minor scrapes here and there, but this is a legit class 4 and is no joke for non lifted trucks/Jeeps. Totally worth it in the end as hiking up that road would have been super painful.... | ||||
Posted By: GaryBroome6 Info: Think my wallet fell out of my car on the 2WD trailhead road. Please reach out if you find it. Thank you! | ||||
Posted By: angry Info: Parked at 12k in a stock Tacoma. There is road work happening above this point and a large cat truck excavator that will be there for the next 3 weeks according to the operator I talked to. Wouldnt recommend trying to go higher because you cant get past the cat and there isnt anywhere to turn around. | ||||
Posted By: LetsGoMets Info: At least to the 277/278 split its normal high clearance 4x4. Clear of snow all the way. Creek crossing at the split is manageable if you continue on 278 (to Antero). 277 (towards Mamma) is free of snow for a couple miles. | ||||
Posted By: trek_with_jess Info: Was able to get to 11,800 in a lifted wrangler before blocked by snow. Road is bumpy but no major obstacles. Note that one of the stream crossings is running pretty high and fast right now. As long as you’ve got decent clearance and 4wd, you should be fine. | ||||
Posted By: Ssgustafson Info: The road is almost entirely free of snow and drivable to 11,880’ where there is also room to execute a (maybe 6 point) turn around. The highest available parking is at 11,770’, but there are plenty of other parking / dispersed camping locations all the down to the river crossing at about 10,800’. Above 11,880’ there is still a lot of snow blocking the road and some damage to the road that looks like it will take some time to get reopened. | ||||
Posted By: CheapCigarMan Info: You can drive 1/3 of a mile up the 4wd road before being stopped by a snow drift. | ||||
Posted By: kyrawhitworth Info: 2WD road easy dirt. 4WD turn off covered in snow not likely to melt out enough to drive up for a while. Evidence of tire tracks but only for a couple feet before it looks like they backed up. A few spots of ice flow on the 4WD road (one we had to avoid by hiking around it in the trees). | ||||
Posted By: Weekapaugn21 Info: Not so much a status report as a warning to fellow newbies like me: I made it to 13.3k in my stock 2 door wrangler and never bottomed out. But unless you are actually into off-roading, and accept the potential to damage your ride, I’d recommend hiking longer than driving up this. It wasn’t enjoyable in the slightest and I cannot believe that I got down with four still-inflated tires. I’ve done Huron and Princeton, this is a significant step up and made me aware that off-roading ain’t my thing. | ||||
Posted By: CommanderDawn Info: Drove up to 13800 in a 2000 Wrangler 2 door with a 2 inch lift and had zero issues. I am not an experienced off-road driver, so given the ease with which I did this, I think any 4wd truck or suv with decent clearance and a competent driver would be fine. Beyond the tree line, a long wheelbase vehicle will have to make 3 or 5 pt turns on tight switchbacks. Even I had to do one. Also tracked excavators can make the top, dont ask how I know this. | ||||
Posted By: MaryinColorado Info: Oof! I think I’d bump the rating up to a 5! Drove up to 12K in a Wrangler with 10" clearance and hardy tires. Even with a capable vehicle, this road comes down to quality of driver.(she says, sort of complimenting herself but also speaking the truth). The road was new to me but not to my significant other in another vehicle who said the road is way worse than it has been in the past. This seems to jive with my overall impression since some of the research I did about the road dated back 2-3 years, but compared to that research, the road was far worse than what I was expecting. It was navigable but VERY slow going, and I had to get out about four times to scope out obstacles for a good line. The creek crossings were among the easiest endeavors, actually. Ultimately, made it up and down without incident, but it was among the most stressful off-road driving I’ve ever done, and I consider myself to be fairly skilled (not a newb). In summary: really need to consider the vehicle’s own capability, and definitely a fair amount of nav skill is needed to ensure you don’t leave a trail of auto parts. |
