Hancock Pass

Official Crew

32850

Partially Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 05/21/2023

Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

To can get to the trailhead with deep snow on the road. Going to be several weeks before you can make progress up the pass.

Mike C

800

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 09/12/2022

Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

Very rocky! 2dr Rubicon, 35" tires, 2.5" lift. Fun trail

Joseph W Sheffield

800

Open

Visited: 09/03/2022

Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Very rocky, you will get bounced around a lot.

Gregory Wall

200

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 08/20/2022

Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Drove this trail from the Pitkin side. Trail was damp from rain the previous night, which kept the dust down but made the one steep section above the switchback a little harder and required rear locker. Overall, the trail was great; based on the rating descriptions, I would say it is as advertised It was definitely harder than Tincup Pass which we did after this. Only saw one OHV and no other vehicles, which was nice, given the tight trail and blind corners. TRD Offroad w/3" lift and 32" tires; glad to have both.

Michaela Kral

500

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 08/19/2022

Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

Traveled from Pitkin to St Elmo. I was the only Jeep on the trail at the time, but passed a lot of OHVs. I suspect the OHV use is degrading some parts of the trail, making this more difficult than rated. Headed up the switchbacks from the Gunnison/Pitkin side, there's one steep and narrow climb on a switchback that, at least on a drizzly day, required low gear, engaged lockers, and a lot of faith in your driving ability. I'm mostly a beginner and expected this trail to be on the easier side and almost turned around at this point, but gave it my best efforts and made it over, which boosted by confidence. It's a dangerous section where OHVs kept coming around a blind corner at full speed, so not only did I need to navigate up the slippery, narrow rock face, but I was concerned about the safety of oncoming traffic, seemingly unaware that Jeeps are even allowed on the trail. I imagine I could have done this trail in a stock Jeep, but I was thankful to have a 3.5" lift and 35" tires on a Rubicon.

Jake weikert

4000

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 07/29/2022

Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Great but rainy day of wheeling! Running up the old railroad grade was interesting with lots of old structures. The Sherrod loop was interesting as was the old Williams tank. Couple of tricky spots where it was wet near the pass but overall not a very tough trail.

Ken dueker

200

Open

Visited: 07/29/2022

Did this segment on trail with un-lifted 4runner with full skids and sliders. We took driver's side line and had some skid action. I think the buggies have dug things out some to make it closer to a 5/10. Of course, i only had 9.3 inches of front clearance, a rig with 11 inches would not need to skid.

Josh Spring

13550

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 07/17/2022

Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

I’ve ran this trail many times and it’s one of those trails where each time you drive it, you feel like it got harder since the last time. Who knows if that’s actually the case or not. Beautiful day out there but very busy today

Marcus Trusty

Official Crew

32850

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 07/01/2022

Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

No snow left anywhere. The west Alpine Tunnel road to Pitkin is now open.

Marcus Trusty

Official Crew

32850

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 06/26/2022

Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Fully open, no issues. You still can’t get to Pitkin yet due to rock scaling.

Kevin

3100

Impassable

Rated 5/5

Visited: 06/18/2022

Closed at 1.8 miles from the turn from hancock lake. Deep snow for about 50 yards. Maybe another week to 2 weeks still

Marcus Trusty

Official Crew

32850

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 06/17/2022

Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

If you can handle deep snow on the St Elmo side, the pass is open. However, you can’t get to Pitkin because the Alpine Tunnel road is closed to rock scaling.

Marcus Trusty

Official Crew

32850

Partially Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 06/02/2022

Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Open to treeline, Waypoint 2. Deep snow on the road, will take several days for our tracks to melt out.

Andrew M

400

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 10/18/2021

Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Started about 9 am from St. Elmo side. Snow from earlier in the week still on the trail. Ran into one short hill that required a couple tries and some spotting due to loss of traction but otherwise fun trail run up and over the pass. The descent down the switchbacks was mostly clear of snow and dry.

Matt Ewalt

Official Crew

1400

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 07/17/2021

I loved this trail! Traveled from the East to the West. As others have noted, the trail has been chewed up and I would say the minimum rating should be upped to a 5. Everything was super green and lush from all of the rain; and the wildflowers were on point! I was surprised at how little traffic was on the trail for a Saturday.

Kevin

3100

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 07/17/2021

What a great day on the trail. Minimal traffic as in none!! Very rough from st elmo side. Left a few battle scar on my skid plates. We ran from Tomichi Pass to St Elmo side. ***Tomichi Pass is Open***

Justin Gentile

3800

Open

Rated 4/5

Visited: 07/10/2021

Rocky and slow, but scenic!

Josh Spring

13550

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 07/03/2021

Ran east to west and took just over an hour. East side is much more rocky than the west side. Some bigger rocks to navigate through.

Stefan

2000

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 06/25/2021

Another great day on the trail. Trail was rough but no surprises. Views were spectacular and a lot of cool history when coming down the west side. We camped right before waypoint 2 and it was the last spot below tree line. There is another camping spot above tree line after waypoint 3 that would be nice in good weather.

Marcus Trusty

Official Crew

32850

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 06/20/2021

Drift on the east side is passable! Hancock is open!

Marcus Trusty

Official Crew

32850

Partially Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 05/31/2021

Open on the St. Elmo side for 1 mile with deep snow.

Justin Gentile

3800

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 09/05/2020

One of the our favorite trails in the Buena Vista/St Elmo area. We caught on the Hancock Pass from Tincup so it was quite a long day in the seat. But the views were very much worth it. Can be long and rocky in some places but nothing technical.

Trint Ladd

Official Crew

37200

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 08/11/2020

We ran Tin Cup, Napoleon, and Hancock passes in our RZR. Hot, dry day. Trails were busier than I expected for a Tuesday. And these trails are rough! Big rocks! But we had a blast.

David Lestage

300

Open

Rated 4/5

Visited: 08/05/2020

Did Hancock from East to West in the morning. Pretty easy drive, however, the trail was surprisingly very rough and bumpy on East side due to large bowling ball sized boulders exposed from road use. Nice views at top of surrounding very high peaks. Traffic was light, with only a few vehicles coming from opposite direction. Alpine Tunnel on West side still closed to vehicles, as was Tomichi pass.

Jacob Adkisson

2500

Open

Visited: 07/30/2020

Ran this with a group along with Pomeroy Lake. Most of Hancock is fairly easy until you start getting above tree line and some spotting was needed for a couple of our rigs. Great trail and wasn't too much traffic for a Thursday.

Kevin

1350

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 07/25/2020

Just ran the pass. Wide open. Only a few side-by-side vehicles- no other cars/jeeps. Was muddy, wet, and slippery- so needed some 4 low. Otherwise easy. Extremely bumpy and rocky around tree line - will beat you up a little and slow going. Took 2.5 hours to get over to Piktin. Then 1 hour to over Cumberland to Tin Cup. Then 2 hours over Tin Cup to St. Elmo. Full circle - about 5 hours.

Marcus Trusty

Official Crew

32850

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 06/29/2020

The pass is fully open for the 2020 summer trail season.

Ryan Boudreau

Official Crew

103400

Open

Rated 4/5

Visited: 10/05/2019

Trail is still currently open 100%. Not sure what this weekend's weather will bring. It was extremely dry and dusty. The trail is extremely rough and rocky on the St. Elmo side, but not difficult for a modified rig. Just rough and slow. An aggressive stock rig with good tires could easily do this trail. The Pitkin side of the pass is a whole lot smoother with some rocks here and there and some mild washout areas and they the tight switchback at waypoint 5 which in my opinion would be incredibly difficult for a low clearance vehicle, but no issues at all for any kind of high clearance vehicle. I watched numerous Jeeps go through no issues, down and back up.

Lance Wade

200

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 08/20/2019

Ran Hancock Pass from St. Elmo to Pitkin after completing Tincup. The trail is starting to move toward difficult from moderate after the last winter and spring. After the turn from the road to the Alpine Tunnel hiking trail, it is immediately rough from washouts around the boulders. It is a slow crawl up to the ledges at higher elevation with the off camber portions getting more pronounced. The ledges are much more pronounced than they have been in past years and you need to pick your lines carefully. Downhill past the Alpine Tunnel trail is still pretty rough, down to the water tower, but not nearly as bad as the upper portion near the pass. The trail to the Alpine Tunnel is still closed on the west side of the pass as is Tomichi Pass.

Doug

400

Open

Visited: 08/03/2019

Fully open from Pitkin to St Elmo, with zero snow. As noted in some reviews below, this is a "moderate+" trail. Lots of variance in the moderate tag, but the needle is on right. One spot in particular on the west side is a no-joke, need serious depart/approach angle ability to get up a steep rock section.

Marcus Trusty

Official Crew

32850

Partially Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 07/07/2019

The trail is open to just before waypoint 2. As you come out of the trees snow is blocking the shelf road above timberline. It will be some time before enough snow has melted to make the trail passable.

Marcus Trusty

Official Crew

32850

Impassable

Visited: 07/02/2019

This trail is still impassable due to a heavy winter and avalanche issues. This trail will be updated when the status changes.

Marcus Trusty

Official Crew

32850

Impassable

Visited: 11/01/2018

Snow has fallen closing this trail for the season.

Joe

1600

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 08/18/2018

Being used to the "4" rated trails around Colorado Springs which are mostly 2's with one or two brief segments bumping it up, this was a little bit of a surprise being that most of the St Elmo-end of the trail earns the 4 consistently, but as a result it was a ton of fun. Met a stock TJ at the Pitkin end that had to get winched up on one of the ledges, so I wouldn't recommend trying it in something with less clearance than a stock TJ, and airing down will make the trip much more pleasant. Stunning view at the top was a great reward for the effort. All in all one of my favorite trails.

Patrick Murphy

100

Open

Rated 4/5

Visited: 08/15/2018

This route /might/ be doable in a stock vehicle with very careful placement, but my stock 4Runner had trouble. Had to turn around at some pretty big rocks with no easily discernable line a bit below tree line. The route was fine until that point but it seemed foolish to try to get past with the amount we were scraping. This route was a lot more difficult than I was expecting from the description and reviews.

Ryan Boudreau

Official Crew

103400

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 07/14/2018

Ran this trail as part of the Set Them Free event. Overall, I think the east side of the trail is a little rougher than the "3 rating" leads on to be, but it's still suitable for a stock high clearance vehicle. The trail was very dry and really no mud to speak of at all. The west side in my opinion has way better views, but that could have also been just because I was facing the views rather than them being at my back. Good trip though for any beginning wheeler or anyone looking for some remoteness.

Marcus Trusty

Official Crew

32850

Permanently Closed

Visited: 11/14/2017

Snow has fallen making this trail impassable until next season

Tim Palmer

Official Crew

39650

Partially Open

Visited: 07/02/2017

I joined the Set Them Free Off-Road event and drove the Hancock Pass trail. We were able to complete the first half of the trail making it to just below the summit on the East side. A large snow field still adorned the trail near the top making the route impassible. The snow field sees direct sunlight as the passage is above timberline. Even so, it will probably take another week or two for the snow to clear from the trail. The lower part of the trail is dry and in good condition. The day was exceptionally enjoyable wheeling with new friends I encountered during the off-road event. We took time to explore the Mary Murphy Mine and Arial Tramway. This is some real Colorado history along this route.

Ryan Boudreau

Official Crew

103400

Partially Open

Visited: 05/13/2017

It was an extremely warm day around the Collegiate Peaks. 4 of us on 37s+ with dual lockers and around 5lbs of air in the tires, headed up Tincup from St Elmo. Just past the entrance to Iron Chest, snow started appearing on the trail. At the 1.8 mile mark, before you reach the trustle, the trail becomes nothing but snow 2'-3' deep. With our low tire pressure, we were able to continue on the snow past Hancock ghost town, the bridge, and up towards Hancock Lake. Once the trail started inclining, we were forced to turn around due to lack of traction. One of my photos shows the very top of a carsonite sign as a reference for the depth of the snow we were traveling on. There is a TON of snow up on the pass still. We were able to make it as far as we did because the snow was still very hard and our single digit tire pressures allowed us to float on top of the snow. Because of the amount of snow, I would not recommend traveling alone on this trail for the time being. Bring shovels and be prepared to get stuck as the snow softens with the warmer weather. Please stay on the trail and do not avoid snow drifts. If you cannot get through the snow on the trail, turn around and try a different day.

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Hancock Pass

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