Log In 

Angel of Shavano Trailhead

  
Posted By: rcpelikan
Info: Most of the road is paved, and only a small portion of the road up to the trailhead is dirt. There’s no issue with either part at this time.
I took this TH up to Shavano and Tabeguache because the Shavano/Tabeguache trailhead is reporting a strong need for a high-clearance vehicle. In previous years, I was able to use my stock 2WD Ford Focus to get to the Shavano/Tabeguache trailhead, but it required delicate driving. Not wanting to deal with the stress for the third time, I did a lot of research on this trailhead, but was confused with the identically named campground and its associated fees.

Note that the "Angel of Shavano Trailhead" is a turnoff to a loop on the right side of CR 240 as you ascend. There’s parking for a good handful of vehicles here. It’s actually signed as CR 240C, while the "Angel of Shavano Campground" signed CR 240A and "Angel of Shavano Group" are both on the left side ascending, and will probably be gated off as you arrive in the early morning.

Using this trailhead over Shavano/Tabeguache added an additional 3.5 miles to the round-trip time (1.75mi each way), with an additional 643 ft of elevation gain as measured by my Garmin watch. This made quite a slog out of the Shavano/Tabeguache combo, but at least the added distance is mostly flat, on a comfortable trail and in the shade.
1
1 
Posted By: Eagle Eye
Info: CR 240 is plowed and nice all the way to the TH. Only the road is plowed, and a snowplow turn-around area just past the TH. (no parking signs)
Beside the plow turn-around there is a small space, for maybe two vehicles. Other times I’ve been here you could turn (right) off CR 240 and drive (very short distance) to a small parking area where the big wooden A of S trailhead sign/actual trail is, but it hasn’t been plowed this season.
 
Posted By: lkk8815
Info: Plowed and almost entirely dry all the way to the TH/campground. The Colorado trail from here to Blanks Gulch TH is packed, my watch said 2 miles and +750/-150.
Parking here for Shavano seemed like a better option to me than stressing about getting my car stuck trying to drive up CR250/252.
 
Posted By: Kiefer
Info: County Road 252 is completely dry to the trailhead. Trailhead is likewise dry with ample parking. This is coming from Blank’s Cabin approach.
 
Posted By: 123tqb
Info: Completely dry, and completely empty! Apparently nobody wants to add another 2 miles to their ascent of the Angel...
 
Posted By: Mark 13+14er hiker
Info: Open, but 240 closed beyond there (solid metal locked gate) due to extensive avalanche debris, mainly large trees, completely blocking the road further uphill, just above 10,400’ elevation. This added nearly 8 miles round trip and nearly 1600 feet of extra elevation gain and loss to my ascent of Carbonate Mountain on 7/24/19.
 
Posted By: Eagle Eye
Info: Seeing no updates during 2017 I’ll add this not-so-recent update. While trying to reach Jennings Creek TH, I easily drove past the Angel of Shavano TH/start of the 4WD road. The road to that point only had a thin layer of snow on it & appeared to be plowed. I believe there are residences close enough to the A of S TH that it is often maintained.
 
Posted By: zombiewolf
Info: Drove all the way to North Fork Reservoir in my Ford Explorer. The only open water was at the inlet in the campground. There was one 3-4 ft. high snow drift right at the entrance to the campground blocking access to it. Caught about 10 nice rainbows on a San Juan worm, 5/6 reel and 9 ft. fly rod. What a nice morning.
 
Posted By: zombiewolf
Info: Was able to safely drive 1.2 miles past the campground. Probably could have gone a
bit further, but did not bring enough gear to feel good about continuing alone and
without provisions or water. Plus, it was late in the day. That said, a high clearance
4WD vehicle can make it early in the day, I was there late in the day and the snow
you had to go through was getting real soft. Driver beware.
 
Posted By: mbourget
Info: About 6" of wet, heavy snow fell at the TH Sunday afternoon. Was able to drive all the way to TH in standard 4WD pickup. Snow line was near the FS 250 and FS 252 fork, below that was rain. Snow continued Sunday night/Monday morning.
 
Posted By: zombiewolf
Info: Went up today to see how far I could get after yesterday‘s successful attempt at
the Blank Cabin TH. I made it a half a mile past the AOS CG and TH before the snow
was too much to continue. I had to back down the road about a tenth of a mile or so,
as there was no room to do a turn. Still a 3 mile hike to the other TH up the back side of Tab.
Sorry, no photos today.
 
Posted By: KTC88
Info: Road is clear all the way to the TH. There are a few places you can pull off the road if you want to car camp. The Colorado Trail to the Shav/Tab TH is a mix of snow, dirt, and mud.
 
Posted By: zombiewolf
Info: Drove up CCR240 yesterday and the road was plowed all the way to the Angel of
Shavano TH and CG. After that the road has no maintenance and is snow covered. I
saw where others tried to drive up it and got stuck, as the quality of snow under the crust
is very "sugary". I tried to go but was thwarted back (stuck) after about a 100 yards.
Easy to escape though with a little snow removal from the tires. There is no parking
at the CG and the TH was not plowed, so park on/off the road. My advice if you want
to access the West Ridge Route of Tab/Shav, time to walk or ski. According to the
route description on 14ers, it is 3.8 miles to the old SW TH, which is the west ridge
route as well.

Climb-on!!

Z-Man
 
Posted By: jeffth5
Info: No snow on road to the TH. Campground gate is open, but parking lot has snow. Any vehicle can make it to the TH. Watch for wildlife on the road. (Note, do not confuse this TH with the standard summer TH called "Shavano")
 
Posted By: bergsteigen
Info: Road plowed to just beyond trailhead. Trailhead parking lot is not plowed. Parked along road.
 
Posted By: Yikes
Info: FS road pretty much closed at the campground (snow bank). Snow is 4-12" from campground to Jennings Creek.
 
Posted By: dehrlich101
Info: The road to the Trailhead is open and accessible to any type of vehicle. The Colorado Trail has some snow/ice on it. Micro Spikes would be helpful, we didn‘t go up far enough to see if there was deep snow higher up.
 
Posted By: Joe W
Info: Trailhead is open.The Colorado trail now has a trench all the way to the Mt Shavano trail.
 
Posted By: san juan johnny
Info: Blank Gulch still closed. Angel is pretty much done for skiing.
 
Posted By: mountainmicah83
Info: Road is dry to campground.
 
Posted By: BuckytheGREAT
Info: Parking lot clear of snow. Trail a bit icy on Colorado Trail. Area has some snow spots.
 
Posted By: jwproulx
Info: The Blank Gulch access road is open to the TH. There was a wooden barrier across part of the road at an intersection; I think it‘s there because the road is one lane after that for a short bit due to a drift, but that drift is melting fast.
 
Posted By: thebeave7
Info: The Angel of Shavano CG trailhead(CT) is 90% snow free and only requires boots/shoes. The Blank Gulch TH may be drivable as there is minimal snow below 10K in the region(Note: we did not drive this, so drifts may exist, simply hypothesizing).
 
Posted By: Bixley
Info: Free and clear. Drove in with a passenger vehicle.
 
Posted By: ktiffany
Info: Free and clear! 5-26-07
 

This page can only be accessed by registered 14ers.com users. If you don't have an account, you can register in the forum.

Log In_