Baldwin Gulch Trailhead

Posted On: 9/28/2026 By: ayance88
Info: Drove a stock F350 Crew Cab and parked shortly before the stream crossing. I could have pushed it much further if desired. Personally, not a fan of this road and found it to be more challenging than driving up to Pearl Pass junction for Castle Peak and the 4WD TH to the Crestones if that helps for a reference point. Maybe the first quarter mile is rougher, but i found it to feel rather sustained for most of the drive up. A vehicle with some clearance and suspension will ride much smoother. Posting this mainly for the folks with a vehicle you feel on the fence about (like a big heavy truck that rides like a tank) or limited experience on these roads. I don't really want to drive this road again, if I did, I would air down the tires a decent bit next time in hopes to be a bit "smoother"

Posted On: 9/22/2026 By: Singles85
Info: Parked just before the 10,800 turnoff in the last pullout. Rough going up in a Tundra with a small lift but doable. Would have been easier without running boards or with sliders that had step pads. Smacked a running board a couple of times on the way up and once on the way down coming down on a rock. Jeeps, other smaller wheel base vehicles, and narrower trucks would have a much easier time. Could definitely have made it further up the road closer to 12k after hiking up. Bronco Raptor breezed up from what I could tell and was parked at the top of the road at 13,600 when I made it there.

Posted On: 9/6/2026 By: Craig Barlow
Info: Drove to Spot Elevation 13,089' in a Jeep Wrangler. Could have driven to the end of the road at 13,700'+ but wanted to do a little bit more of a hike. The road is rough and slow and it took us 1:12 from where we turned off FR-162 to where we parked. I was shocked to see a Subaru Crosstrek at the intersection of FR-277 / 278. If they got there without serious damage to their undercarriage, mad props. The switchbacks from 12,100' to 13,089' are actually the best part of the road. A couple of the switchbacks are a little tight, but plenty of room to do a 3-point turn if you don't have a short wheelbase. The end of the road had a couple of Jeeps parked and a pretty beat up looking 4Runner. A Land Cruiser was driving up to the end as well as we were hiking down.

Posted On: 8/2/2026 By: kkulling
Info: Made up Antero all the way to 13800 in a 2025 4dr Bronco Badlands/Sasquatch. We definitely had the clearance but from previous reports the "short wheelbase" recommendation had me a bit worried. However it wasn't an issue. A couple switchbacks needed a 3 point turn, but it never got hairy.

Posted On: 7/25/2026 By: trevorispetty
Info: Drove a Tundra Crewmax TRD (11ish inch clearance) to the 10,800 pullout just across Baldwin Creek. As others have said, first section (.25 mi or so) may be roughest. A few spots challenged clearance but no problems, thought I might run into issues with length/width but that wasn't so. I'd say appropriately rated here, more difficult than Princeton. Took about 40 min going slow and steady on the 4x4 road. Don't think I'd want to Subaru this one. Probably the most I'd do in a Tundra unless other mods. Vehicles with lift kits will prolly just bounce over everything without much thought. Found the trip down harder than way up (harder to see drops).

If you feel good about the drive once you get to the creek, the next stretch didn't appear to be any worse. Wider, maybe looser rock though. Another pull off and dispersed camping around 11,500 just before tree line, and another right at tree line before the trail gets narrow, rougher, and eventually switchbacks. Would have been comfortable taking my truck to either of those and stopping, don't think I'd feel good in it past 12K. Plenty of ATV's on trail, some 4runners and jeeps up top. Someone had a generator, and some folks were shoveling away at the side of the mountain which was interesting. My garmin measured 10mi from creek round trip, 3475 gain, I'd give it 6-7 hours at average hiking pace.

Posted On: 7/9/2026 By: codyli34
Info: Drove up the road to 12000' in my Nissan Frontier with 2" lift and stock tires. Definitely rough and slow at a few points but was able to make it up with no problems. Took 1.5 hr but I'm a slower driver. Creek crossing was not a concern whatsoever. I stopped at 12000 under the assumption that it gets worse, but if you made it that far, getting to 13000 would not be an issue. 2wd trailhead was a smooth dirt road. No cell service at the 2wd trailhead nor at 12000.

Posted On: 6/14/2026 By: sethsawant
Info: Road is subaru-able (barely) to the creek crossing at around 11k. Luckily this is one of those roads where the crux section is the first few hundred feet so you can have nice hard think about whether to commit or not. Be warned that without low gearing you most likely will have to use momentum to clear some of the steep and loose sections, and there are is a healthy amount of tire popping sharp rocks on the road. Was happy to have skids and light ATs for this one...

Posted On: 6/7/2026 By: Sphenna
Info: I parked at the bottom for this one, but did see that a Rav4, Subaru Outback, and some kinda Mazda crossover made it up to just below the creek crossing. Only saw trucks, jeeps, atvs and dirt bikes above that.

Posted On: 3/31/2026 By: fitchmt
Info: Only made it about a quarter mile up before the road is impassable due to ice and snow fields covering sections of the road.

Posted On: 12/31/2025 By: JerJerBinks
Info: Giant ice globs a short distance up are not passable and no one has tried. Plenty of places to park at the start of the road.

Posted On: 6/28/2025 By: infinitealpine
Info: I didn't attempt to drive up this road, but I did want to mention that a RAV4 made it 0.65mi up the road and parked at a pull out. To anyone that is looking to shave mileage.

Posted On: 5/26/2025 By: TakeMeToYourSummit
Info: Road is snow free up to the unnamed creek above Baldwin Creek. Some ambitious driver left marks in snow drifts as high as 11,300ish feet. Some snow patches between 11,100 & 11,300 will stop most drivers. Road is in pretty standard shape & I'm glad this visit ended much better than my previous trip a few years ago.

FYI- Cronin is still in for a summit descent but the basin is quickly becoming hot garbage.

Posted On: 1/9/2025 By: elevatedtv
Info: Plowed to the beginning of 4WD road (CR 162 & FS 277). Still a bit slick tho.

Posted On: 10/8/2024 By: NativeTransplant
Info: Stock tacoma made it to 12,000' easily. Could go higher to 13k if desired

Posted On: 9/15/2024 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.