Hancock Pass

Marcus Trusty

Official Crew

40300

Impassable

Visited: 10/29/2023

Winter has fallen on the Colorado Mountains, closing the trail for the season.

Matthew Corbett

400

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 09/08/2023

Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

Ran the Hancock Pass trail from St. Elmo to Pitkin with a Bronco Nation group from Super Celebration Colorado. My Outer Banks with a 2" lift and 35" tires and rear locker had no issues, though I bonked the bash plate a few times here and there on the large cobbles/boulders along the trails. We had a few folks with the unmodified Badlands Broncos on 33s that did just fine as well, though they definitely had to watch their driving line to keep the differential from scraping. Based on the ratings above I'd have to say it was a little harder than advertised; the mile on either side of the Continental Divide has some washed out spots with really large boulders or ledges to navigate around and it helped to have a spotter to make sure you don't end up on your rocker panels. Beautiful scenery with lots of old Railroad and mining history around. Makes for a great loop from Buena Vista if you go through Tin Cup and Cottonwood Pass after.

Trail Review: Hancock Pass - Matthew Corbett

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Tyler Genevish

Official Crew

14400

Open

Rated 4/5

Visited: 09/08/2023

Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Ram Hancock Pass with a group of Broncos from Bronco Super Cel. The group consisted of a variety of built Broncos, with my stock Badlands on 33s being the least built or all of them. We ran the trail in reverse order. The trail is pretty slow going since it’s covered in large rocks about the size of basketballs. We rubbed our skid plates quite a few times but we were able to complete it without any issues. Definitely more difficult than Tin Cup Pass.

Trail Review: Hancock Pass - Tyler Genevish

Iceman 99

4450

Open

Rated 3/5

Visited: 08/28/2023

Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

This trail is a rock garden from hell. I was coming from down tomichi pass then up to the pass and out to Saint elmo. The trail up to the pass was fun but dropping down into Saint elmo I hit my plates several times which is not common. I'm on 35s and 2.5 lift Ford F-150. Stock vehicles on street tires forget about it unless you want the vehicle destroyed and that would be a serious fool. This one is for UTVs or big ass vehicles as for me I won't be back. It's not all that I can think of 50 trails that are better in the front range.

Jax

1200

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 08/22/2023

Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

Excellent conditions, moderate mid-week traffic and challenging spots. It's a bit harder than Ten Cup or Taylor so the rating seems low: beware. Bonus points for the refurnished railroad water tank and historical information.

Edward Jenner

900

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 07/31/2023

Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

Great trail, but what...the.....actual....... on the 4 rating. Ran from the east and did really enjoy it until a switchback down on the west side (Waypoint 5, just before the actual left turn, not pictured, is the 'interesting' spot). That was the straw that was the 'OK, I'm done, just get me down already' moment. Probably the hardest trail I have run and I have done a number of 5-rated trails. IMO not even comparable to Tincup or Hancock Lake which are both absolutely trivial in comparison. Was expecting comments here to say it is more like a 5-6. As an FYI, amongst other trails, I did Kite Lake (nice, tricky in spots, was wet, I'd give it a hard 4 in the conditions), Burns Gulch, Tincup and Hancock Lake (all straightforward 4's) as other potentially comparable trails on this trip (i.e. same rig, same mental state). EDIT: just saw a photo of one of the tougher spots from 07/21 and it does not look like that now. But maybe someone will pull some of the new boulders off the trail at some point.

Andrea Phillips

400

Open

Visited: 07/16/2023

Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

No pass was required. There was still a small area with some snow that got a little slippery but passable. Awesome trail with great views.

Trail Review: Hancock Pass - Andrea Phillips

Marcus Trusty

Official Crew

40300

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 07/13/2023

The trail is fully open for the summer!

Trail Review: Hancock Pass - Marcus Trusty

Duane Bazis

200

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 07/10/2023

Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Deep snow drift rutted at top. Got through with locked Rubicon lifted with 35s. Would not have attempted with stock.

Marcus Trusty

Official Crew

40300

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 06/11/2023

Deep snow on the road but made it to almost waypoint 2.

Marcus Trusty

Official Crew

40300

Partially Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 05/21/2023

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

1400

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

Official Crew

5700

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.

Trail Review: Hancock Pass - Jake Weikert

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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

Official Crew

15550

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

Trail Review: Hancock Pass - Josh Spring

Marcus Trusty

Official Crew

40300

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 07/01/2022

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

Marcus Trusty

Official Crew

40300

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 06/26/2022

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

Kevin

3550

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

40300

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 06/17/2022

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.

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Marcus Trusty

Official Crew

40300

Partially Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 06/02/2022

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

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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.

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Kevin

3550

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

4400

Open

Rated 4/5

Visited: 07/10/2021

Rocky and slow, but scenic!

Josh Spring

Official Crew

15550

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.

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Stefan

2400

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

40300

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 06/20/2021

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

Marcus Trusty

Official Crew

40300

Partially Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 05/31/2021

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

Justin Gentile

4400

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.

Trail Review: Hancock Pass - Justin Gentile

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Trint Ladd

Official Crew

51400

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.

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Marcus Trusty

Official Crew

40300

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 06/29/2020

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

Ryan Boudreau

Official Crew

141850

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.

Trail Review: Hancock Pass - Ryan Boudreau

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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

40300

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

40300

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

40300

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.

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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

141850

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.

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Marcus Trusty

Official Crew

40300

Permanently Closed

Visited: 11/14/2017

Snow has fallen making this trail impassable until next season

Tim Palmer

Official Crew

47900

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.

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Ryan Boudreau

Official Crew

141850

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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