Matterhorn Creek Trailhead

Posted On: 7/14/2025 By: paigemoney
Info: From Lake City, when you turn left onto Henson Creek Road and (per 14ers.com) start measuring mileage: at 9 miles, you’ll turn right onto North Henson Road, where there’s a sign that says “4WD recommended.” The road gets significantly worse at this point. 14ers.com notes it’s rough 2WD up to 10,300 feet. In my opinion, minimum AWD is necessary, good tires are helpful, and some comfort with rough roads is important. At the 10.2-mile mark, there was a Honda CR-V parked. That spot has two deep potholes. If you can make it through those, you can likely reach the junction at 11 miles, where the 4WD road begins (per 14ers.com). From the junction at 11 miles, the road becomes substantially worse. In my opinion, the difficulty is underestimated by 14ers.com. While the challenging section is under a mile, compared to other roads I’ve done: the last 0.7 miles is similar to the first section of the Antero road. It’s significantly harder than the upper trailhead to Huron and more difficult than Nellie Creek (post-construction). I had to pick a good line in several places in my Wrangler, both on the way up and down. There are a few spots with significant steepness and large rock obstacles to navigate. On the descent, I was watching the roll/pitch on my dash and saw I reached at least 17 degrees of roll. That being said, I would not attempt the upper trailhead without high clearance, good tires, 4WD, and comfort with off-road driving.

Posted On: 7/7/2025 By: ochres
Info: made it to the upper 4WD trailhead in the dark in a stock 4Runner with AT tires in wet conditions. nothing too harrowing if you can pick a good line. we thought it was a lot easier than when we did nellie creek back in 2021 when that road was in terrible condition. one tundra at the top and a newer bronco showed up the next morning. you should be fine if you have 4WD and good clearance.

Posted On: 7/7/2025 By: anthonym32
Info: Made it to the upper 2WD TH oon 7/3 in a stock 2023 Subaru Outback on all-season tires. This was probably the diciest road I've made it up on in my Outback- 4-5 spots during the final 2 miles up that had me puckering. Driving up in the dark definitely made it more difficult and I honestly hated it, but it is Subaruable. I got stuck briefly in one spot where AWD was necessary, and I was able to make it up and down with no damage. At the 2WD TH, I saw one other outback and multiple 4runners. I didn't see a single sedan. For the 4WD TH, I only saw a lifted Wrangler coupe. There's not really a point to drive up there as it barely saves any distance, and the road is significantly worse. Silver Creek/Grizzly Gulch was considerably easier than this for reference. Obviously, everyone has their own risk tolerance, but anything with under like 7-8 inches of clearance I'd be hesitant unless you're willing to send it.

Posted On: 6/22/2025 By: 5ClimbingCooneys
Info: The road to the turnoff for Matterhorn Creek is a bit rough, but should be drivable by most vehicles with good clearance and 4-wheel drive. There are a few spots here and there where bigger rocks are starting to become uncovered and present more of a challenge, but not so much that cars like Subarus should have much problem. Low-range 4x4 is definitely preferable, as several spots are just steep and loose and the low range means you don't have to rely on momentum to make it up (further destroying the road). Getting up to the Matterhorn turnoff the night before, we walked up the road a bit to preview it. I opted not to drive my Nissan Xterra up that portion. The vehicle would have been capable, but there's a few spots you need to be spot-on with your wheel placement going over tall rocks to avoid damage, and for the extra 0.65 miles, I just didn't seem worth it to risk a daily driver style SUV. Jeeps and such shouldn't have much trouble.

Posted On: 6/13/2025 By: HokieTom
Info: Hey everyone. I posted a trailhead update yesterday about how a 4WD is not needed the first one or two miles. I drove it this morning at 3:30, and it scared the heck out of me. Although, I made it to the middle trailhead parking lot, I would not drive the road again, unless I had a beefy 4WD. I am sorry for posting the report before I actually drove it.

Posted On: 5/19/2025 By: Jcinco
Info: Rough but clear to the 2wd TH. One of the rougher “2wd” roads around. The 4wd section to the upper TH has one significant snow back that probably needs a week or two to melt. A dirt bike did make it to the upper TH while I was on Wetterhorn, however.

Posted On: 3/31/2025 By: jacolc
Info: Henson Creek Road (CR-20) is gated 0.3m behind the Nellie Creek TH, ca 5.3miles from LakeC. It is dry in 99%. Looks like behind gate, well packed by snowmobiles.

Posted On: 10/16/2024 By: indyjmatt33
Info: I took a stock 4Runner to the lower 4WD Trailhead (0.7mi from TH). The 30min of hiking in the yellow aspens vs white knuckling on that terrible road for 30min was an easy choice. There were spots for 3-4 cars in this area. The upper lot had a 1 car--a very lifted F-150, with room for 5-6 cars to park.

Posted On: 9/16/2024 By: ColoNativeGal
Info: Lower 4w you could take your Subaru up, but I honestly would want more clearance to be safe. If you're skilled then go for it carefully picking your lines. Upper 4w need good clearance. Road is narrow, so I would not recommend for full size trucks. Saw a Tacoma at the upper 4w TH, and saw 4Runners along the 0.7 miles to upper TH. We made it no issue in a Jeep Gladiator with 4" lift to the upper TH.

Posted On: 9/3/2024 By: sccm
Info: Agree with previous users that the "lower 4wd trailhead" (0.7 miles from the upper trailhead) is Subaru-able. Having hiked the remaining 0.7 miles, I was glad I parked my Crosstrek at the lower 4wd trailhead. Travel time from Lake City was 1 hr 15 min.

Posted On: 8/22/2024 By: Linusmallett
Info: The section up from Engineer to the lower TH is definitely Subaru-able, but has a few spicy sections and takes some line-finding. The 4x4 road is gnarly and tight, I would not plan on making it up that unless you drive a HIGH clearance vehicle or dont care about your it.

Posted On: 8/23/2024 By: mountainero
Info: Drove a 2DR JK Rubicon on metric 33's to the upper TH. Definitely manageable, but had we known how tight it would be, we would have stopped at the turn off. For only half a mile, I'd rather walk it. Not to mention there's better camping below the turn off. I honestly found the upper road worse than Nellie Creek.

Posted On: 8/19/2024 By: masonzastrow
Info: When the road splits 2.7 miles from the 4WD trailhead, the road gets considerably worse. There's a sign there that only 4x4 vehicles should proceed. If you're in a low clearance vehicle, I'd plan on walking from here. With some skill, effort, and unavoidable scraping risk, you could get within .7 miles of the 4WD trailhead, but why chance it? From .7 miles, only high clearance 4x4s should proceed, road is very rough and narrow in places. Saw a Tahoe about halfway up the last stretch of road.

Posted On: 7/9/2024 By: dgriff
Info: The trailhead definitely has three sections to it: All the way up till 2.7mi from the true trailhead you can certainly get to in a 2WD / no real clearance. A nice dirt+gravel road that has a few bumps in it. At the end of this section is a nice parking area where you could certainly sleep in your car, not a lot of space to spread out for tent camping. Continuing up till 0.7mi from the trailhead, 4WD is important and clearance is helpful - we made it up slowly but without too much concern in a crosstrek but having previous experience on rougher roads was helpful. Nothing too serious but you do need to be able to pick a line. This is where we ended up stopping and there is plenty of room / room to set up a tent if you'd like. You could certainly make it up all the way to the trailhead if you'd like with clearance and 4WD but make sure you have som off-roading experience - looking at it on the hike you'll need to be able to pick and execute a line well.

Posted On: 7/9/2024 By: thebeave7
Info: Several rough spots with a few bigger rocks and one set of muddy rutted potholes after you turn off onto North Henson Creek. A carefully driven Crossover (my Rav4, but also Subarus) can make the Lower Matterhorn Creek TH/turnoff, but it definitely takes some navigation and careful driving not to scrape. Took a 4Runner to the upper TH without much issue, definitely wouldn't take anything with less clearance to the upper TH.