Stewart creek TH camping and critters

[schumi248]

I know Stewart creek is pretty remote, so is the TH the best place to camp?? If so, are the critters as bad as they are at Redcloud/Sunshine TH??

[huffy13]

We camped at Stewart Creek a few years ago and we did see more wildlife there than we've seen the three times I've been to the Silver Creek/Grizzly Gulch trailhead. Had lots of ground squirrels, tree squirrels, deer and even a small black bear showed up at about 1 AM sniffing around camp. We saw lots of bear scat on the trail shortly into the hike, saw but didn't see a lot of evidence that animals really hung around the camp area at the TH, so my suggestion or advice would be to camp at the trailhead. We had no issues with any critters messing with our car or camp during our hike either, but my experience is that wildlife is more prevalent at Stewart Creek than it is near Redcloud and Sunshine.

[arianna2]

We were just there and didn't see or experience any trouble. There is one campsite tucked away at the main trailhead that seemed like a cool spot if you could get it before others did

[bergsteigen]

I've camped at the trailhead a couple times. There are a couple good spots before, along the road too, if you want a bit more privacy or quiet.

[sjverhaeghe08]

Quite interested to know if there were any problems with critters and the cars at this TH? I thought I read something earlier in the summer that Stewart Creek TH had some problems with marmots but just wanted to double check...am planning on heading down there next weekend.

[arianna2]

we were there not long ago, you could see our trip report. No critter problem, camping limited, plenty of space to car camp

[rpdawes]

Why dont you camp at West Willow Creek Trailhead assuming you plan to summit San Luis Peak? I was there last month.

[sjverhaeghe08]

Do you suggest Willow Creek over Stewart Creek for any number of reasons? We'll be sleeping in my car at the TH so it sounds like there's plenty of room for that. Just curious to know why you suggest Willow Creek over Stewart Creek!

[rpdawes]

If you want your feet dry all the way to San Luis Peak, West Willow Creek TH is the best place to start. It has enough parking space for about 5 cars. You can do either car camping or tent camping. Also the TH is only 10 miles away from Creede whereas the dirt road to Stewart Creek TH is about 25 miles long. I have not seen any critter around while I have been there twice. Only animal I saw was a doe.

Please read the latest peak condition report on San Luis Peak.

[SkiBikeClimb99]

I was at Stewart Creek a few weeks ago. Nothing like the brake line chewing porcupines at Grizzly Gulch/Silver Creek, but a few small black bears showed up around dusk. I didn't bother to put any chicken wire out around my truck and I was fine. There's a couple places alongside the road before the TH where you can camp with some privacy. I just camped right at the TH as it was midweek and nobody else was there anyway.

[kaiman]

I've been to the Stewart Creek area 4-5 times over the past 10 years and never had any problems with critters. As others have pointed out there is some camping near the trail head (at or around the turnoff from the main road), and I've also camped down the road from the trail head (closer to the Hondo Creek trail head area) in a flat spot near the road above the creek. There's also camping spots along the road before you reach the trail head if the spots at the trail head are taken, but I've never seen anyone else in that area when I was down there (even while hiking San Luis Peak), so I wouldn't worry about overcrowding too much.

Kai

[flagship47]

We were at the Stewart Creek TH for 2 nights last month. We camped just down the road at Eddiesville South TH and though there was a few ground squirrels in the area we had no trouble. The biting flies and mosquitoes are a different matter - bring bug spray!!