4/25/2024 Posted On: 4/25/2024 By: AlpineSplit Info: Road is drivable until just after 10K where it dips down and drives onto the north side. Large snow drifts exist all the way to the lake but it is mostly dry and walkable. | ||||
3/29/2024 Posted On: 3/30/2024 By: daway8 Info: Road basically dry to the large pull-outs at 8,800ft. Just past that, in the first little dip in the road, on Friday it was half filled with snow, then intermittent snow/mud for a little bit before becoming solid snow. Decided not to risk driving solo past 8,800ft. By about 9,850ft was punching through snow halfway to my knee. Got much worse among the trees above the switchbacks. By Saturday afternoon the lower elevations were melting rapidly and someone got a small off-road vehicle to ~9,300ft (which is where I finally removed my snowshoes on the descent). Given limited parking along the road probably best to stop at 8,800ft until things melt out more (it's going fast down low but there's a lot of snow up high). | 4 |
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1/21/2024 Posted On: 1/24/2024 By: Kiefer Info: Bottom of road is snow free. Snow starts around 8,600' but is very spotty. Road is still drivable for an additional 200' or so, but make sure to have 4wd. Past 9,000', snow is continuous. Snowshoes (or skis) aren't necessary until .4 mile before the creek crossing in Chokecherry Canyon. The creek is not flowing btw. | 6 |
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9/30/2023 Posted On: 10/9/2023 By: coopergould Info: Drove my stock SR5 taco to a flat parking/camping spot at ~8850ft. Its slow going due to the baby heads but not technical at all. Right after this, there is a ~200ft long steep/rocky section that I didnt attempt. However, posting this to let others know that if you've made it this far you can absolutely make this steep section, and its well worth the efforts. Found out while hiking the road the next morning that the road substantially smoothens out after this short steep section, and you can easily get to the switchback at 9850ft with a stock truck/4 Runner/Jeep (think the feature right after this switchback is referred to as Jaws 0.5?). Hopefully this can be some helpful encouragement for those with a similar vehicle planning on stopping at the usual 8800ft mark - send it through the short steep/rocky section and save yourself 1000vf of hiking the next day! In the diagram, first star (with no words by it) indicates 8800ft on como road. The portion highlighted in red is the steep/rocky portion. Everything after that up to the 9850 mark is much easier/smoother than even the road to 8800ft | 4 |
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9/8/2023 Posted On: 9/11/2023 By: bassplayer7 Info: Drove my Grand Cherokee Trailhawk (10.2" clearance) to 8800' but wished I would have tried going further. Pretty sure I could have made it to 10k or at least to the switchback that has a large rock just above it. There were ~2 parking spots there (didn't get the elevation). I saw a lifted Tacoma around 10300. The road matches its hype but in my view, virtually all of that started after Jaws 1. And I can confirm, this road isn't fun to hike. ;-) So, I suspect a good 4WD with AT tires and decent clearance should be fine going to 10k and there are parking spots along the way. Might come away with a couple scratches/dents, though. | ||||
9/6/2023 Posted On: 9/7/2023 By: shapovalovm Info: Parked in a Honda Accord at ~ 8040 only to realize that I could've made it to ~8100. Definitely not past that. Saw a 4Runner park at 8800. The road gets worse starting from there really fast. Starting ~10k, I'm not even sure why you would call it a road. If you don't have a vehicle that can make it at least to 10k, just do Blanca and Ellingwood from Zapata. Walking that road sucks and Zapata approach is way more scenic. | 2 |
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8/30/2023 Posted On: 9/1/2023 By: alpinenut Info: Road still sucks. Drove a stock Rubicon to 10K. I could maybe make it up the next hill but just didn't want to risk it. I think if you have 35s you could. Then you could make it all the way to just below Jaws 1. There is room for 3 maybe 4 vehicles if everyone is considerate about where they park. | ||||
8/22/2023 Posted On: 8/29/2023 By: deepdarkseas Info: Got my stock Outback to 8500' before being spooked by some big ruts. The road to 8800' is like driving on a dry creekbed. A very ambitious Subaruer may be able to make it to the switchback at 9900', but as others have said parking and flat tent sites are very limited past 8800'. | ||||
8/5/2023 Posted On: 8/7/2023 By: seanhouseworth Info: Right after the 8.8k ft mark will test longer wheel bases, but 10k ft was manageable in a leveled full-size truck, A/T tires, and choosing proper lines. Have plenty of new dings on the skid plates, pinstripes, and cuts on tire sidewalls. Fun if you're prepared to give your vehicle a good workout and prepared for contingencies like popped tire/overheating/reverses to pullouts, etc. | ||||
7/7/2023 Posted On: 7/9/2023 By: sfreytag Info: Drove up to Lake Como in a Jeep XJ with 35"s and 2 lockers. I would not recommend driving this road ever. It was much more stressful and dangerous than the Hourglass. Four wheeling is another hobby of mine and driving this road was something I wanted to do long before I was interested in 14ers. The obstacles themselves aren't that bad, but the off camber nature of the trail especially around Jaws 1 and "Tippy Spot" is terrifying. The Jaws 2 is pretty mild now with the bypass. | ||||
5/14/2023 Posted On: 5/14/2023 By: bryanpeck3 Info: Pretty much clear. A couple short stretches of snow at the top. | 2 |
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4/30/2023 Posted On: 5/2/2023 By: interloper Info: I hiked as far as Camp Commodore and encountered practically no snow prior to this point. After Camp Commodore / Jaws 1, the trail quickly became completely snow covered. I turned around here, but based on the snowmelt and weather patterns here in the SLV, I imagine that the road to Lake Como will likely be completely dry within the next 2 to 3 weeks. Road conditions: The straight baby-head section between 7800' and 8600' seems looser than in previous years, very unsettled rock. There are very large ruts at the very start of the baby-head section that may deter some from wanting to go further. There is also a severely rutted-out section that prevented me from going further than 8500', but anyone that can should definitely try to go to at least to the relatively 'flat' section around 9600' as there are some good pull-offs up there. The switchback at 9800' is severely eroded with exposed rock slabs and I would not recommend trying to go past it without skid plates / armor. As always, the switchback at 10,000' is the last place most sane drivers will want to stop. | ||||
1/28/2023 Posted On: 1/29/2023 By: JasonCrane Info: I parked at 7.8k feet & booted Lake Cuomo Road up to almost 11k, 4.5 miles each way. Lake Cuomo Road is 2WD to about 7.7k, where the road deteriorates into a bed of baseball-sized rocks. Road is dry and/or patchy snow up to 9k. Above 9k, there's about 2 feet of snow. A foot trail is trenched up past the relic log cabins to where I turned around at ~11k. Due to storm clouds & severe winds, I opted not to continue higher. Saw a Suburb Outback made it a ways up the road parked at one of those switchbacks near 9k feet. | ||||
12/11/2022 Posted On: 12/12/2022 By: yared0319 Info: My AWD Honda Element made it to 8300 ft, though a standard AWD vehicle / truck with a little more clearance could have made it to 9000-9500ft. Road was dry to 9500ft. | 1 |
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9/18/2022 Posted On: 9/18/2022 By: Dignus Info: Lane 6N closed. I had the misfortune of coming ftom the south then heading north for my hike, so I was not aware until I arrived. Signs near junction of 160 only indicate "weight limit." Turns out the limit is 0 pounds. Gotta take the long way around if approaching from the north. |
