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Huerfano/Lily Lake Trailhead

  
Posted By: HikerGuy
Info: I made it easily to the trailhead in my Hyundai Santa Fe with all-terrain tires. This is my fifth time up the road and it was in the best condition I’ve seen it. The culvert pipe could be an issue for low clearance vehicles, but should be no problem for SUVs and above. There was a minivan at the trailhead though.
 
Posted By: samfarmer789
Info: The road is in great, summer conditions. A couple steep spots past the landslide, road is a lot longer than it seems - takes a while. There are some weird dips and humps that slowed us down. We took a stock subaru outback and it was fine. We got to the TH and my buddy had made it up in a 2WD low clearance kia .. we were shook. Said it took him 3 hours though.. Law enforcement truck actually came by Sunday afternoon.. probably to scare people lol - stay safe out there!
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Posted By: Mountainqueen
Info: Made it to TH just fine in my 2018 Subaru Forester.
 
Posted By: Yossi
Info: Overall access to the trailhead is fine for a high clearance 4WD vehicle. I think Medium clearance could make it and whether it is 4wd or 2wd may not be as critical. We were in a stock 4Runner with no issues.

There are pools/large puddles of water covering the road and none of them were muddy or caused issue.

As others have mentioned, there is a culvert exposed which requires some navigating. It wasn’t so difficult for the 4Runner but it definitely requires about 6 inches of clearance.
 
Posted By: two lunches
Info: the culvert is handedly the worst obstacle on the road. there is a LOT of road rutting immediately in front of and behind it, due to vehicles approaching and spinning tires and there’s really not an "ideal" line to get over it without spilling your coffee. if, if you’re in a 2WD, plan to do some road-walking. (but the good news is there is an abundance of excellent campsites before hitting private property.
 
Posted By: Istoodupthere
Info: A handful of rough spots the last 3 miles to the 2wd parking area west of the landslide. This includes a culvert that is sticking up maybe 6 above the road. Plus there are holes on the downhill side of it from people spinning their tires to get over it. I had a rental Acadia and somehow didnt scrape. Also, I parked at the flat area on the left, just past the landslide area, before the steep hill. I thought this was the correct spot? I didnt notice until the way back that there was a no trespassing sign there. There were 2 other cars parked there
 
Posted By: kyrawhitworth
Info: Zero snowdrivable to the 4WD lot. Theres a puddle and a drainage pipe sticking up a bit that might pose a challenge to lower clearance vehicles but otherwise road is in great shape. Trail to Lily Lake itself has snow up high but is doable without snowshoes or traction.
 
Posted By: Themanisme
Info: 5-13 California Peak
Parked about 2 miles from the upper TH
Road is great to there.. then it’s about 18" deep puddle and another mile before it is not drivable . I hiked out on the actual trail and past the upper TH it still has plenty of snow
 
Posted By: Veory
Info: Road is acessable but icy in spots up to a few hundred feet before the lower trailhead, where there was a puddle ~2 feet deep covered in 4 inches of ice (See picture). On my way down I saw a large 4wd truck drive through it, but then quickly returned so I assume the road isn’t accessable much higher up. I did have to move a downed tree out of the way on my way up.
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Posted By: Crestoner
Info: All downed trees are removed from the road. Trailhead is fully accessible.
 
Posted By: Oldguywithdogs81
Info: To reiterate what the previous posters have said, access right now is good past the Raspberry/Huerfano TH, but the road is blocked maybe 0.4 mile beyond that. Thus the trail to Lily Lake or Mt Lindsey is longer and more difficult due to the fallen timber. Summited Huerfano on 6/4. And the deadfall along the Huerfano Trail was pretty bad in spots, and worse in the Dutch Creek Basin. It’s also bad right along the Huerfano River on the Lily Lake and Lindsey Trails. Expect a little additional mileage and at least an additional hour for route finding if you’re up in the basin.
 
Posted By: bdwyer
Info: Hiked the "new" bicentennial 13656 this weekend from Lily Lake T/H. Cannot get up to T/H in a vehicle as of Saturday. Parked, camped almost a mile down. Forest Service has cleared to that point, it seems, but for now if you go, expect to add 2 miles to any hike into that area.
 
Posted By: 14er Fan
Info: As of Saturday, 5/28, the road to the trailhead was impassable about 1.2 miles from the Lily Lake Trailhead due to a fallen tree. Following the road closure, there were multiple fallen trees blocking the road to the trailhead. Once you arrive at the Lily Lake trailhead, there are additional fallen trees across the trail. Before the final stretch, it was evident crews/volunteers had sawed multiple trees to make the road passable as far as it was. Thank you to these people!
 
Posted By: Teresa Gergen
Info: The blowdown has been cleared from the road to at least the vicinity of the Raspberry Trail (about 0.6-0.7 mi south past the USFS boundary). I didn’t go farther than that. There is still a lot of small-branch-type debris covering the road, easy to drive over unless maybe your tires are bad.
 
Posted By: MBosch27
Info: Made to about 3 miles prior to the trailhead, (according to google earth, rough measurements) before we ran into a patch of blowdown, looked to be around 10 trees all jumbled and tangled across the road. Rough Coordinates: (39degrees,37’35"N /104degrees,27’49"W) according to google earth and 37degrees39’35.3"N 105degrees27’49.2"W according to Google Maps)

My piddly little hatchet would have taken days to cut through so that was the end of the road for us... About 300 yards before this point however, there is a large field with logs placed along the road, but there is a way through those, and if you want to overland, you could potentially cross said field, and regain the road, but the field is several hundred yards wide, and no telling what other rocks or ruts you would run across while crossing said field. Besides, being 3 miles from the T.H. - the road crosses many treed areas after this point, and I am sure there are more blowdown areas along the road over the next 3 miles (so probably not worth it). It is obvious that the entire valley most of the way back to Gardner had experienced this storm (10-15 miles worth, roughly???) and is very widespread. All the campgrounds along CR-580 were usable but looked in rough shape... so my conclusion is the remaining 3 miles have trees blown down all along the way...
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Posted By: Furthermore
Info: A huge tree blown across the road prevents easy driving ~150 yards just past the Aspen River Ranch. If one was to cut a few trees, it would be easy to drive an additional 1.5 miles up the road. Beyond that, it would take at least a day with a chain saw to remove all the downed trees on the road.
 
Posted By: Flyingfish
Info: Got a small layer of snow that made 4x4 almost mandatory to make the upper trailhead. Was mostly gone by the evening. I expect the road will be dry just in time for e the next front to move in.
 
Posted By: angry
Info: Dry to TH with the exception of one large puddle.
 
Posted By: jackjk1011
Info: Didn’t see the road damage on the 2WD part which was mentioned a few months ago. However, once past the ranches it’s pretty rough 2WD in places and sedans may have trouble. The 4WD part is crossover-able although it was slow and rough going in my AWD Kia Sorento. Outback or similar should be fine. Honestly the 4WD part isn’t much worse than the worst parts of the 2WD part, it just becomes more narrow and there are several humps you have to drive over.

This area is fairly remote and you should definitely write down the directions and not rely on GPS to get you through the maze of ranches and county roads in western Huerfano County. Google Maps got me *to* the TH just fine, but became confused when I attempted to drive out the same way and I had to figure it out myself. The 14ers.com directions start in Gardner which makes sense if you’re coming from Denver, etc. but if you’re coming from the south (US-160) you can take CR 572 (Pass Creek Road; intersects with US-160 between mile markers 276 and 277) north to CR 570, then take that north to CR 580 instead of first going out of your way to Gardner.
 
Posted By: Joelorado
Info: The road is fine except for the last few miles. 4WD not really necessary but good clearance is. Made it up fine in a Crosstrek with all terrain tires. Plenty of other Subarus up there as well. Don’t take your Prius or Accord up here.
 
Posted By: Phill the Thrill
Info: I did not see the road damage at 17.7 miles mentioned in the previous report. Road is clear all the way to the upper TH, but the last mile is quite rough and requires a vehicle with high clearance. I was surprised to see a couple of Outbacks at the upper trailhead. I’d recommend walking the last mile rather than risking damage to your nice new Suby.
 
Posted By: mmurphy8
Info: Ditto not seeing or at least noticing the damage mentioned at 17.7 miles. Rough, but made it fine in a Crosstrek. There are two larger puddle crossings and a metal culvert pipe that was a bit exposed. Saw several other Subarus parked for camping spots along the 4WD section near the TH.
 
Posted By: BillMiddlebrook
Info: As mentioned in the last update, there’s some road damage which likely blocks most 2WD vehicles at ~17.7 miles in. It’s a few deep holes made by vehicles spinning tires. I was there today and while it wasn’t a problem with my 4WD pickup, it’s obvious that 2WD vehicles have been trying to get through this area and it’s just getting worse. If you don’t have 4WD/AWD, travel with someone who does because there’s no place to park this low on the road.
 
Posted By: cisnerosab
Info: Some major divots in the 2WD dirt road to the trailhead as mentioned in previous posts. Also large rocks. Wouldn’t recommend for low clearance or 2WD vehicles. No appreciable difference between the 2WD section after Aspen River Ranch and the 4WD section beyond.

Closest 2WD parking seems to be at Huerfano State Wildlife Area, which would entail maybe 5 miles of hiking in on dirt roads to reach the TH.

TH itself is well signed and the drive/hike in is beautiful.
 
Posted By: cdgibbons
Info: Clear and dry to the trailhead. I found the large holes mentioned in the last post (about mile 17) challenging in an AWD with six inches of clearance. This location is still on private land.
 

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