7/16/2025 Posted On: 7/16/2025 By: CraigE Info: The summer parking lot was mostly empty at 5:00 this morning (Wednesday). By the time I got back down at 9:30, the lot was full but there was still plenty of room further up the road past the restrooms. The road is a bit rough as usual. Some of the old ruts have been filled but new ones have formed. AWD crossovers can handle it fine — there were plenty that made it to the upper trailhead. | 1 |
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7/6/2025 Posted On: 7/6/2025 By: walks_a_lot Info: Just a reminder that the Stevens Gulch Road from I-70 to the upper (summer) trailhead should only be driven with a HIGH CLEARANCE vehicle. Someone punctured the oil pan on their sedan this morning (see image). This area is a fair distance from towing/recovery options so they are $$$$, and cell service in Stevens Gulch is very spotty at best. Have fun out there, but be smart about what you are doing. | 1 |
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7/5/2025 Posted On: 7/6/2025 By: RobMcG Info: Trail Head parking filled up early on a holiday weekend Saturday. I got the last spot in the lot at 4:40am. When we returned from the hike at 11:00am, there were cars parked along the road for a 1/4 mile down hill. | ||||
7/2/2025 Posted On: 7/5/2025 By: JPE1971 Info: Camped at trailhead overnight and was awakened by a porcupine chewing on wiring underneath my vehicle. | ||||
7/1/2025 Posted On: 7/7/2025 By: aroooooon Info: The road to the upper trailhead is in pretty rough condition and gradually gets worse as you get closer to the trailhead. There are 3-4 medium divots on the way up and then one huge one right before you get to the parking lot. Definitely don’t even try on a low clearance 2WD and you probably want a 4x4 to be safe. I parked at the lower lot and got a ride up and back down. | ||||
6/21/2025 Posted On: 6/22/2025 By: Lrsnsam Info: I arrived at 4:45am on a Saturday and there wasn't parking left in the official lot, but there was plenty of space beyond the bathrooms near the campsites. Though if I didn't have AWD I doubt I would've made it past the bathrooms in my SUV. On my drive back down I saw cars parked on the side of the road for about a half mile or more, making it a one lane road. None of them had tickets when I was leaving around 12:30pm but I believe that area is private property given the signage. | 1 |
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6/20/2025 Posted On: 6/20/2025 By: kilimannejaro Info: My Wilderness Forester Subaru made it to the trailhead. I would advise caution (don't go) with low-clearance, non-AWD/4WD vehicles. When driving up the road, there were a couple of times where the AWD was necessary to get rear wheels out of ruts. There are some tallish rocks could cause trouble for low clearance vehicles. There is still the big obstacle right before the upper trailhead. Someone has generously filled in part of the trench with rocks (thank you!) Stay on this, western side of the road. | 1 |
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6/14/2025 Posted On: 6/14/2025 By: carmitz001 Info: Upper trailhead was packed at 9 am, with most of the overflow parking spots full as well. Not surprising since this is the first Saturday of the summer with good trail conditions. The road has no snow. | 1 |
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6/14/2025 Posted On: 6/15/2025 By: Caitlin123 Info: Road is clear to the upper trailhead. Subarus were making it up without a problem. The parking lot was around 75% full at 4:45am. Someone has kindly put some rocks in the big ditch that was near the top of the road last summer. That said, I thought that overall the road was in worse shape than last year, though I could be misremembering! | ||||
6/12/2025 Posted On: 6/12/2025 By: yardman Info: The snowdrifts have now melted and one can drive to the trailhead. There are a few rough spots, but they are easily negotiated. | ||||
6/8/2025 Posted On: 6/9/2025 By: Cruiser Info: Road up from I70 is in good shape this season. Totally subaruable. Someone kindly added some rocks to the obstacle between the cabins just before the summer trailhead which makes it much easier to get across for folks with less clearance and suspension articulation. There were a couple of snow drifts blocking the road just before the trailhead but there were tire tracks through them and I had no trouble following those to get up to the th. Lower clearance vehicles might have some difficulty with the drifts but I was able to zip right thru without even putting it in 4wd. Several trucks and SUVs at the summer th tho no cars just yet. Melting fast... | ||||
5/31/2025 Posted On: 6/1/2025 By: SWINTJJ Info: I was most of the way up the road to the summer TH on 5/31/2025 in my Expedition. Cars were parked in the middle of the road just before the point where others seem to be describing it as impassable. I did see car tracks through deep snow just before the summer TH parking lot, but did not see how far they went and did not make the summer TH lot. There was a sheriff deputy up there in his SUV. I did not talk to him and did not see him issuing tickets. There were several cars parked along the road, but they were in the areas that allowed two cars to pass. I do not know if this was on private property and I am not sure if this will prevent ticketing. I was up the road last fall and it seems worse this year. | 1 |
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5/30/2025 Posted On: 5/31/2025 By: carmitz001 Info: Snow starts in patches around 10,600 feet and becomes impassable for vehicles around 11,000. One group of hikers had to shovel out the snow beneath their 4WD that got stuck. No vehicles at the upper trailhead. | 1 |
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5/28/2025 Posted On: 5/28/2025 By: walks_a_lot Info: I met and spoke with two officers from the Clear Creek County Sheriff's Office this morning in Stevens Gulch. They received two Polaris quads this summer to use for parking enforcement and will be in the area "much more frequently than past years." The county considers Stevens Gulch to be a 2-lane dirt road and if it can not be used as such because of parking obstructions (CCCMTC-1204) tickets are going to be issued. Anyone parked on private property (see image attached) in Stevens Gulch will also be ticketed and/or towed. Once the 40 car lot at the upper (summer) trailhead is full, you will need to return to the lower (winter) trailhead near I-70 to park. This will add 3 miles each way (6 miles roundtrip) to most routes. | 3 |
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5/28/2025 Posted On: 5/28/2025 By: jmanner Info: Road is drivable to within a mile of summer trailhead and then another 1/3 of a mile is also drivable without obvious parking that doesn’t block the road. .6 mile it’s essentially continuous snow to the summer trailhead. Seems like 10-14 days before the summer trailhead is accessible and parking will be available without pissing off a land owner. Included a photo with the FS map and the land owners blots. Looks like lots of places don’t have private owners. | 1 |
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