Billings Lake

Black Friday trail run! Trail is in good condition. No gates closed. We made it to WP 8 until we were stopped by a lot of snow. I’m not sure how much further we could have made it. I definitely recommend chains. There’s a lot of ice between WP 6 and 7. I couldn’t make it without the chains but there were tracks ahead of me. I was the farthest tracks so no tracks from WP 8 onward. Very beautiful.

Closed for the season! See you next year!

Maybe its all the rain this year, but there are some obstacles which are definitely a ‘3’ and plenty of rocks making it a bumpy ride. Did see a family of 3 moose not far off the road.

Considering it was one week after Labor Day I gambled on driving up from Cañon City late Friday, leaving at 4pm and arriving at 6:15pm, hoping to find a good spot. It paid off. The majority of campsites were unoccupied. As stated elsewhere, it's a pretty rocky trail but not at all difficult. A relatively easy ride when I aired down my 35s to 15 psi. Saw lots of stock pickups and SUVs on the trail and at the lakes. High clearance definitely helps, though. Driving up I only passed a few vehicles late Friday. More traffic on Saturday. Many dispersed campsites along the route, many of which are right on the North Fork stream—the sound of the water making for great sleeping. Tent camped one night along the stream. Drove up to North Fork Reservoir Saturday morning. Less than half the campsites were occupied. A LOT of beetle kill damage the higher you get. Very open and exposed campsites at the reservoir as lots of infected trees were removed while the reservoir was closed for two years. No trees around that majority of the campsites makes it pretty windy, but that also means there is a lot of firewood available. Went on up to Billings Lake. Was the only vehicle there at 9am. A few more showed up as I was leaving an hour later. The few trails around Billings are easily navigable but VERY narrow, enclosed by bushes on both sides. People who frequent the area told me the fishing at Billings wasn't really worth it and if you do catch anything not to eat them due to the mine tailings everywhere. The North Fork Reservoir, on the other hand, has a lot of fish and the water is amazingly clear. Lots of great fishing and swimming spots on the shore opposite the parking area and dam. People were catching a lot of fish when I was there. Given that the trail is relatively easy, campsites with firewood are plentiful, there's good fishing at the reservoir, a quick side-trip to Billings Lake, and with great scenery throughout I'm definitely planning on going back.

The trail is very rocky the entire way through. Aired down (but probably not enough...22 psi) and we still rattled around pretty well. Nothing a stock SUV / Truck couldn't handle, although I'd definitely recommend skids. I banged mine a couple times, although arguably that was my fault by picking poor lines. Super pretty drive though. You get to see an avalanche clearing area, and the scenery is gorgeous all the way up. Billings lake is serene. I'd recommend it if you're ok with bouncing a lot, are ok with taking it slow, and want to burn a few hours.

We stayed at the North Fork campground for a few days in mid-week, using it as a base for other trails in the area, so we went up and down this road several times. Probably because it's a dead-end and the reviews about the bumpy road are accurate, we had the campground to ourselves. There are a number of very nice dispersed camping sites to choose from, and they were all empty too. People come up to fish in the reservoir, but otherwise we pretty much had this entire basin to ourselves. The reservoir is quite pretty, and we scrambled up to an unnamed lake following the inlet on the south side of the reservoir, which was spectacular. The road got rougher after some rain created a few ruts, but you should be able to do this road in any stock Jeep, probably in 2WD. Air down to help with the bumps. For me, this trail is better viewed as the access road to a great basin with interesting mining ruins, fishing, camping and hiking, but not really a great 4WD track.

Really rocky/bumpy trail the entire way. I don't mind rocky sections but this one is very rocky most of the way and I had been driving trails all day. Made it to the dispersed camping section and turned around because it was getting late and i was planning on camping elsewhere. Not my fav trail but could have just been tired at that point.

Drove this for a second time and grew to like it a little more than my first experience. Still took about 50 minutes for me but if you’re aired down a lot I’m sure you could go slightly faster. Myself and 3 other vehicles did get stuck behind an extremely slow moving stock SUV with fully aired up street tires trying to dodge every single rock in the road. They also refused to pull over and stop jamming up the road. Although I was able to make it happen anyway and pass them, I think this trail does attract vehicles that probably shouldn’t be on it, and you may get stuck behind one. There are maybe 2 places where scraping is guaranteed in such a vehicle.

Trail is impassable just after the fork. 36-40” of snow. Turned around there.

Snow and icy conditions may exist. Travel on 4x4 roads this time of year is not recommended. Expect winter weather at high elevations.

Great views. Easy fun drive. I aired down to 15psi and it smoothed it out right quick. 2000 Frontier, 33's, 3" lift, 2019 Tacoma, 31's, no lift. The Tacoma handled it fine. No clearance issues. RESERVOIR IS CLOSED to vehicles and camping, although foot traffic is allowed - USFS closed it for all the dead-standing trees being a fall-hazard. We moved a couple fallen trees off the trail ourselves. Keep your eyes open for falling trees if it's windy while you're up there! The Pride of the West Tunnel smells like sulfur - we didn't venture down it because it could be a suffocation hazard without proper air supply. Keep that in mind that gasses in the tunnel could possibly displace enough air to make you pass out.

Ran this for my first time and didn’t have the best opinion of it. Definitely want to air down for this one. One way drive time was just over an hour for me. The views at the end were very nice and I enjoyed hanging out at the lake. It's a real trade off in my opinion between crappy drive but great views at the end. Views along the drive are mostly in trees with nothing to see.

Went up to check the trail on my motorcycle. Although the route was rocky in spots its pretty consistent with how the route had been in the past. Camped out in a nice little spot on Friday night. North Fork campground was still closed, however Angels of Shavano campground was open. The avalanche debris was impressive!

Open all the way to the top, although North Fork campground is currently closed due to needing tree-removal work done. The road is not in great shape, I'd say this could probably use an upgrade from a 2 to a 3.

According to the US Forest Service Website Covid 19 restrictions expire in the area May 31st. That does not necessarily mean that all restrictions are lifted there however, there just isn't any more information posted at this time. I will update as information becomes available. The trail is open to North Fork Reservoir, but I am unsure of the conditions up higher.

Snow has begun to fall in the Colorado high country making this trail impassable until next year. If travelers find gates open in this are please travel at your own risk.

The road just opened last week and we spent the day between North Fork Reservoir and Billings Lake yesterday. Wildflowers are just reaching their peak up at Billings Lake - spectacular!

Road closed sign between waypoints 1 and 2 at 240A campground turn off. We went back over to run something else. Jeep went around sign and was heading up trail. Maybe they were official... maybe just not obeying signs. There was a sign stating that the road was closed until danger from avy debris was not a threat to the public.

Per the Us Forest Service: North Fork Reservoir and higher on the trail is currently inaccessible by vehicle due to avalanche debris on Road 240. Opening may be further delayed pending removal of potentially hazardous beetle-killed Spruce trees.

I drove this with my father in a 1956 Oldmobile 63 years ago and in a 68 VW with my wife 50 years ago. From the pictures and descriptions it hasn't changed much. Both times in automobiles we routinely bottomed out and walked the last section of narrow road. Will drive this year in a Subaru Crosstrek with Primitive Racing skid plated.

Easy trail but very bumpy and rough. One could do the trail with a stock vehicle as I saw many stock trucks, SUVs (BMW X-3), and a couple cars, however I would not recommend this. As stated in the trail description the first couple of miles is paved road but that ends and it is dirt and rock the rest of the way. The last section, once you reach Billings Lake and head around it, is only wide enough for one vehicle and there is very little room to move to the side to let other vehicles pass. Once you reach the end of the trail you can walk a short distance to an old tunnel that goes into the mountain. The tunnel was built in the late 1800's. There is a sign warning you not to go into the tunnel. Many places to camp along the trail, the scenery once you reach Billings Lake, is outstanding.