Schofield Pass

Hiked up to Devil's Punchbowl today because I'm not taking my stock JL on this road. I've driven my SxS on it and would say to people that haven't driven this road that even though it's rated a 4, it feels much more difficult and dangerous than other trails of the same rating. I'd describe this road as: large rocks, moderate off camber (leaning you into the river), and about no spots to pull over, so be ready to drive in reverse over all of these obstacles while on a narrow shelf should you have to yield to traffic. Road is dry for the bottom half and I flew my drone up further and it looked just as dry.

Came over paradise divide on my motorcycle, had to cross a 3-4 foot deep snow slide. Made it to the beginning portion of schofield pass but was unable to continue due to the first main water crossing. 2.5-3 feet of water moving at a high rate. Couple more weeks!

Great trail from Crested Butte to Marble. Thank god for rock sliders - that one rock obstacle is no joke. I drove a stock ZR2 with 2" lift and 31.5" tires but still scraped on the rock. Other than the one obstacle, not too bad. Did not seem possible to pivot around the rock with a full size vehicle - definitely had to drive over it with the right tires. Very narrow road with not many places to allow a vehicle to pass. Luckily did not run into anyone going the opposite way.

Drove down Schofield Pass with a group of Toyota buddies from back east who visit each year. The rock obstacle at Waypoint 5 is the most difficult part of the road; for our buddy with no sliders, we stacked a rock or two (and then moved them aside after he passed). This is a great 4x4 road, I look forward to it each year.

Ran the trail as the route here describes, in a 4Runner on 33s. It is open from crested butte all the way to Marble. Trail requires full attention and having a spotter is extremely helpful. Waypoint 5 is is not merely a bump in the road, the rock is very much still there. After driving up the side and a multipoint turn trying to get around, I still had to put my rear tire on the rock to pass it. Overall a relatively easy trail with high consequences if things go south.

WOW that was one of the most interesting trails i have done. I went from gothic to crystal

Open all the way through. A crew has shoveled the remaining drifts and drove the entire thing yesterday.

Got a message from a friend who is visiting the CB area; he says Schofield Pass is partially open but impassible, same for Paradise Divide. He says it will be a few weeks yet before they are open to wheeled traffic.

Challenging trail. Fun, but not for the faint of heart. Some times the road is impassable all year long due to the snow bridge covering the road. It is located just past way point 6. Don’t ever try to drive over it! It’s better to turn around and head back to Crested Butte.

The trail is in good condition and I could not tell where the rock slide was removed. The dirt portions of the trail a VERY dusty I have never seen so much dust kicked up. It has not rained is so long the dust is a force to be reckoned with and the fire danger is VERY high so please be careful out there.

The Aspen-Sopris Ranger District reports, as of June 26th, that the Schofield Pass Road is open. https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd554376.pdf

The "Devil's Punchbowl" section of Schofield Pass is impassible due to a new large rock slide in the vicinity of Waypoint 5. This information and a photograph were posted to the Crystal River Jeep Tours Facebook page by "Dave Phillips" on June 13, 2018.

White River National Forest says travel on Schofield Pass is NOT RECOMMENDED at this time, even though seasonal closures ended as schedule (May 21, 2018). WRNF states further that snow still remains in spots above 9,500' elevation so be aware of runoff and muddy conditions. Snow is probable to remain on the (western) Devil's Punchbowl segment of Schofield Pass due to terrain/the trail being shaded from direct afternoon sunlight. https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd554376.pdf

Jeep XJ, 4.5" RE lift, 33x10.50 KO2s. Drove in the uphill direction, from Crystal City to Crested Butted. The narrow sections weren't all that bad, however the large rock obstacles proved challenging going uphill in the rain. At one point we were stuck at the 30" rock obstacle, unable to proceed or back down for a second attempt. With some rock stacking and we were able to get up and around it, but not before our nerves were tested. If you do not have lockers, do not attempt the uphill in anything but perfect weather. Storms roll in quick and if you get caught in a down pour on the worst section you may not be as fortunate as we were. Overall a very fun and beautiful drive.

I ran the northern portion of Schofield Pass from the intersection with Paradise Divide (FS Road 734) down the Devil's Punchbowl to Crystal. It was a Monday evening, and traffic was very light. There were three vehicles in the Maroon Bells hiking trailhead lot, and one vehicle at the yellow warning sign at the north end of Schofield Park. Approaching the Devil's Punchbowl, the trail seems slightly narrower than last year due to the vegetation (willow) growth. I was in a small Isuzu Trooper and still brushed some pin-stripes. I stopped at the top of the Punchbowl to walk down and inspect the rock obstacle (Waypoint 5). It appeared less formidable than last year, and I crossed it without dragging or scraping. I did bump my skid plates a few times down the remainder of the road. A little slower and more attention to line selection would have avoided that, but I was being hasty because dusk was approaching. The only other vehicles I encountered were four ATVs; because my track is so narrow, passing was not a problem.

I always research a trail before riding it, but none of the material I found mentioned how narrow this is or how many serious accidents have occurred there over the years. However, the rating (5-6) is about right on a dry day, and it's really beautiful with some amazing landmarks as well. Schofield was definitely one of my favorite off-roading experiences.

Ran Schofield Pass from the Crested Butte side down into Crystal City on August 6th. The trail was wet from rain all morning, and the prior day, but luckily it didn't rain on us while we were coming through. There appears to be a rock slide near the top portion of the canyon that I don't remember from a few years back. It didn't necessarily make the trail any more dangerous or difficult for our Jeeps both running 37s, but I could see this slide section being a challenge for a vehicle on smaller tires. The warning signs at the beginning of the trail, are not a joke, and should not be ignored. The trail certainly is narrow and requires 100% of the drivers attention throughout the entire thing. You also have to make sure to make mental notes of areas where your vehicle could pull off in case you run into oncoming traffic. Luckily, we didn't encounter any other traffic that day. Overall, the trail appears to be in good condition, and not really any different or narrower from previous years. It is still dangerous and should only be attempted by experienced drivers.

Though my first car was a ’42 Ford military Jeep, I didn’t ever get it up in the Colorado mountains for some real four wheeling. My parents would take our ’57 Bell Air wagon places that people said were impossible, and Mom was always curious what was down some new road, so the spirit of adventure was born in me at a young age. My childhood friend Bruce had a Jeep with a Chrysler hemi in it that would scoot us down the road far faster than was safe, or legal, but Bruce’s Dad had taught him how to properly drive on back-country mountain roads. Bruce shared his lessons with me, even teaching me to double-clutch. Fast forward twenty-five years to 1995; I had my first Cherokee, and was anxious to take my wife and boys four wheeling. I had driven the stretch from Glenwood Springs through Carbondale, and up McClure Pass, to Paonia for years to visit family, and we would occasionally take an excursion to Marble. One summer we took a Jeep tour from Marble to the north and east going up towards the south side of Snowmass Mountain and then on till we could see the back of Maroon Peak. I decided I had to had to return to the area and started studying Topo maps of the area. I found Schofield Pass that ran on from Crystal City above Marble to Crested Butte. After prepping the ’93 Cherokee for the trip, and making reservations in both Redstone and Crested Butte we headed out to hopefully conquer Schofield Pass. Rated at 5-6, but with occasional closures, even in the summer, we were excited and concerned about possible conditions on the trail. Above Marble and near Crystal City you can see the burned out hulk of a vehicle that rolled down the mountain. Not far along the initially easy trail your will pass the famous Crystal Mill on the south side of the river. Just as everyone else has, we stopped and took numerous pictures. Not far from the mill, we ran into a sign saying “Attention Drivers – Extremely rough road ahead. Vehicle traffic discouraged. 4X4 with experienced drivers and narrow wheel base only.” The scenery of along the Crystal River is beautiful with rivulets running towards the river and tiny waterfalls cascading into space before finding a place to light on their way to the river. Emerald Lake was beautiful, and the ambience of the whole area is serene. At one point we came to a rock ledge with little clearance on either side and an appreciable drop off on the driver’s side. My wife order the boys out and the three of them walked to the end after I successfully navigated the ledge. Well over an hour into our crawl along Schofield, we came to an open spot with nearly a dozen vehicles stopped. A CJ had slid down the mountain side and Bronco was pulling him out with a long tow strap. The strap was too long and the CJ was being pulled backwards at too high a rate of speed. I was certain he was going to roll as the Bronco whipped him around. That bit of excitement over we saw why everyone was stopped. Though mid-August, an avalanche of snow had come down completely covering the road for a hundred yards and no one was attempting it after apparently watching the CJ slide off of it. The slide had sideways slope of probably ten degrees and there was a real risk of sliding off too. I pulled up to the snow slide and my wife asked “what are you doing”? I told her that I was going to check it out, and if I felt I could do it safely, would take the Cherokee across. Once again she and the boys bailed out. I walked the length of the slide, stomping on the crusty snow occasionally to determine how I might get stuck in it, and picking up handfuls seeing how well it packed and how much ice was in it. It was corn snow, was just at the temperature were it was melting, and had a surface crust. After walking back to the Jeep, I had made me determination and decided that trying to power over it would put me at risk, but if I could carry enough speed to just get across while maintaining control, I could do it. Backing up maybe a hundred yards, I smoothly built up to the speed I thought would take me across. With the gas pedal at that magical spot where you’re neither accelerating or decelerating, just keeping up my momentum, I easily traversed the slide then stopped while my family ran up to jump back in. We took off for Crested Butte and were there in no time with the rest of the trail being quite tame. Looking back in my rear view mirror, the jeeps and trucks were all lining up for their shot at the slide. I had conquered Schofield Pass, and it remains one of my favorite four-wheeling memories. In 2005, we went back with a friend in his 2000 Cherokee. After the Crystal Mill we ran into and much larger avalanche with an approach too high to climb. We had to turn around and take the long way to Crested Butte, but witnessed a gathering of small planes who annually fly into and out of remote areas. It was really cool to see them up in the mountains with us.