Mad Creek

800

Open

Visited: 10/23/2023

Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

Fun trail, a lot of it is washed out so higher clearance stock SUV is needed. For the most part the trail was quiet and had some great camping spots.

Drew Shope

400

Open

Rated 4/5

Visited: 07/02/2023

Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Basically a dirt road. Some wash out that will be easier with some clearance and 4wd and a narrow loose shale stretch with a very steep drop off on one side, but both are very typical of any Colorado forest service road.

Robbie spil

1950

Open

Rated 4/5

Visited: 06/24/2023

Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

Not a hard drive but it's no longer a 1 rating. The section immediately preceding the first camp site is rutted to the point where a sedan couldn't make it through and with the pitch, it's harder than a standard subaru could likely do without some lower gearing. Stock jeeps, trucks etc won't have any issue whatsoever but this I harder than the other 1's around the area.

Rony Mejia

100

Open

Rated 2/5

Visited: 06/03/2023

Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

It is va passable now

Christopher Smith

400

Partially Open

Visited: 04/29/2023

I think I made it to almost waypoint 6 before encountering an untracked 8"+ deep snow drift that I didn't want to try solo with no lockers. There was even more smaller drifts as far as you could see after that. There was also an untouched drift right below waypoint 3 that I had to make two runs at. Thankfully I had a good turnaround at that spot and went back to 3 to enjoy a beer and scenery. Good day between getting shut down here and Bard Creek.

Benjamin Allison

2700

Impassable

Rated 5/5

Visited: 01/27/2023

Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Huge drifts, impassable.

Benjamin Allison

2700

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 12/21/2022

Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Awesome trail, wish it was longer! Pretty easy, snow adds a bit of extra difficulty, would be doable by almost any stock SUV when it’s dry. Some moderately rutted areas and small rocky areas but nothing close to an obstacle. The spur is rockier and super fun, not too hard but more difficult than the rest of the trail. Switchbacks at waypoint 2 and 3 are extremely icy so air down and go slow. I’d recommend airing down either way but in the snow it’s a must. Snow gets significantly deeper about 2/3 of the way between waypoint 5 and 6 but I made it to the end no problem with my 32’s aired down to 15psi.

Trail Review: Mad Creek - Benjamin Allison

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Matthew

300

Open

Rated 4/5

Visited: 11/21/2022

Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Decent easy trail with a family of six today, only moderately sketchy parts were descending where it was icy. Snow covered half of the length of it in the typical Colorado sun vs no sun sections. We hiked the spur that went up hill, that looked like fun and I will drive it next time. That seemed to approach a level 3 in a few spots.

Lisa Downey

1000

Open

Visited: 10/02/2022

Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Fun and highly recommended for fall leaf peeping! Nothing hard but worth checking out for a fun bonus trail, some smaller campsites, and no trail traffic, super bonus! There's a lot of trails nearby so this and the spur were are great place to call home for the weekend, very convenient location. Close to Empire and easy to find.

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Roger P.

7600

Open

Rated 4/5

Visited: 08/06/2022

Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

I've driven through Empire many times and didn't know this trail existed until I subscribed to Trails Off Road. Nice little trail. One rocky stretch. A couple stretches with no turnouts. Luckily we didn't meet anyone on the trail. There weren't any great views on this trail, but it was fun.

Heather

400

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 07/30/2022

Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Great little beginner drive.

Joe. No...... the other Joe

3900

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 06/13/2022

Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Neat trail for views and exploration. Checked out some camping spots near WP3

Jason Wise

400

Open

Visited: 04/16/2022

Clear of snow till about the halfway point. We broke through a drift then went a ways till we hit a decent snow field, The last quarter of the trail had snow with three really big drifts at the end. It took some work but we made it all the way to the end.

Jason Lewis

1500

Open

Rated 4/5

Visited: 12/24/2021

Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Ran this on Christmas Eve with 37s aired down to 11psi, but I feel like 33's fully inflated would have been adequate this year. I don't think the snow depth ever hit the rim of my wheel . We did have to clear a couple of trees out of the road due to the recent windstorm I assume, but overall easy and mellow. It was snowing so I can't speak to any views but I think I'll try it one more time this year on a more clear day.

Craig

1100

Open

Rated 4/5

Visited: 06/12/2021

Mellow, short, and scenic! No airing down needed, but it would make for a smoother ride on the latter portion of the trail.

Ryan Boudreau

Official Crew

137550

Open

Rated 4/5

Visited: 05/23/2021

100% clear and open.

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Ryan Boudreau

Official Crew

137550

Open

Visited: 11/10/2020

Stage 3 fire restrictions have been lifted as of 6am, 11/10/20. The forest is no longer fully closed. Areas within fire perimeters remain closed. See closure maps here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/arp/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD844558 Expect winter conditions on trails. Some trails may be impassable due to snow.

Ryan Boudreau

Official Crew

137550

Temporary Closure

Visited: 10/20/2020

Due to dangerous fire conditions, Arapahoe National Forest has closed the forest to all visitors. This decision will be re-evaluated daily as conditions change. See the order here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/arp/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD831612

James Snow

2000

Open

Visited: 05/29/2020

Beautiful views from this trail! I only filmed about halfway up and then up a spur road.

Benjamin Nickerson

300

Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 05/01/2020

Made it to waypoint 2 before stopping due to some snow. There were other vehicles that made it through, just didn't want to risk it by myself.

Trail Review: Mad Creek - Benjamin Nickerson

Dan Lee

3700

Partially Open

Rated 5/5

Visited: 03/28/2020

Can get roughly a mile or so in to the split between the burn area to the north, and the main trail that continues WNW further into the woods. Both directions quickly turn into inconsistent sugar snow that can go from a few inches to a few feet deep without any indication from the surface. Guessing another week or so of mostly sunny weather should open it up to good ATVs and built rigs.

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Ryan Boudreau

Official Crew

137550

Impassable

Rated 5/5

Visited: 03/22/2020

Made it just shy of a mile along the trail, and it was an extremely hard, fought for mile. About 10" of fresh snow, deeper in some drifts, on top of a hard, frozen layer, made traction extremely difficult. But totally fun!

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Ryan Boudreau

Official Crew

137550

Open

Visited: 03/18/2018

Hit the trail on March 18th, just before a winter snow rolled in. The beginning of the trail barely had any snow, and what snow there was was a pretty thin layer. About a mile in we started hitting large snow drifts and some pretty consistent snow fields. From this point there was a lot of winching and a lot of kinetic rope pulls. 2 miles in, nothing but snow. We made it about 50 yards shy of the end of the trail where the snow swallowed 37s and made them disappear. After bashing the drifts here for awhile, we called it quits and turned around as the snow started to fall. Fun day, great views, great snow bashing trail.

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Ryan Boudreau

Official Crew

137550

Partially Open

Visited: 04/30/2016

We ran the trail at the end of April, all vehicles very well equipped on tires from 35s to 42s, lockers and winches. Because the snow was extremely deep, a heavily modified rig was a must. We were able to push through till the very end, but there was a ton of snow bashing and the recovery strap was used multiple times. Overall, a great day to be out on the trail in the deep snow. I hear they are still getting snow, so could be awhile before this trail is passable by stock vehicles.

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Mad Creek

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