Caribou Creek (North)

Made it all the way to the deep mud pit near waypoint 10. There is a bypass but it’s only impossible in a bigger pickup (ram 1500). I was able to turn around with a little effort. The rest of the trail was great. The mud was very deep and it was a lot more wet than expected compared to the rest of the surrounding area. Brought the kids and wife with me and fun was had by all (until my wife thought I was going to try going into the boggy abyss). Fully recommend lift and bigger tires. I didn’t leave 4wd high and never felt like I had clearance issues with 34” tires and a small lift

MOST of the pictures, and review of this is spot on. Difficult in my Stock 4runner, even with good tires. However, there's an obstacle between 10 and 11 that's SUPER soft sand, and we couldn't get through it when we ran it. I forgot to note the coordinates, as well as take pictures.

great time. the trail has plenty to offer for all levels i think. the fact that the ravine has a bypass is easy to miss.

Awesome trail. Great mud. There are two nasty spots. One washed out ravine. And one muddy/boggy area. Both would be very difficult for a stock vehicle. The ravine is a Mandatory 5 now; especially stock. The muddy/boggy area has a bypass.

Ran this solo today and was a little nervous about all the rain we’ve been having. The mud puddles were big and there are lots of them! You can’t see what’s under them either but I just crawled thru and had no issues. The biggest one was one of the last ones going north and it is big. I tried to keep driver front on the side and passenger in the mud but slipped down into the deep rut but had no problem crawling out the other side. Didn’t need lockers but I’m on 37” mud terrains and they had no issues. Fun but short and quick trail, I finished in less than an hour

Ran the trail yesterday and really enjoyed it. However rutting is worse than described. If you have lockers, use them on waypoint 8 and 9. The mud holes on Waypoint 8 were as deep as 2.5 feet. I could feel my wheels spinning at one point but powered through it. I ran lockers through the rest of the mudhole without issue. I also highly recommend MT tires. As someone else has pointed out, waypoint 9 can be dangerous. It can be pretty off camber and potentially cause a rollover. There is also a spot where you can potentially bottom out with a pickup or Wrangler Unlimited with stock tires and no lift. If you pull to the right, there is a fairly steep climb you can use to get out of the mudholes but that's where you can get off camber a lot. The other bypasses are still blocked off with logs. Between waypoint 10 and 11 are some very deep ruts that you'll want to straddle as much as possible. Even with a 3" lift and 37s, I ended up dragging my rear bumper at one point.

This is a mellow trail, but the mud holes were very large and incredibly slick due the recent rain. It's worth checking recent rain because a stock vehicle likely cannot make it through the holes in wet conditions. The bypass still requires crossing into one of the mud holes. If the bypass gets closed in the future many vehicles would struggle in the holes, especially vehicles with a long wheelbase.

Ran this trail from the north gate to the first mud-hole at waypoint 9 to recover a vehicle. The river is pretty deep right now with a lot of melt runoff. Between the river crossing and waypoint 9, there's another nicely rutted out area that should probably be added as another 'mud-hole' location. its not terrible but it would eat most vehicles if they landed in the ruts. Waypoint #9 is very dangerous when wet...be careful. The vehicle we went in to recover had rolled onto its side due to slippery slop. FYI - The north gate is open and unlocked but forest service LEO is unsure if it has been 'officially opened' by the forest service. We had approval to enter the trail if it was closed but thankfully the gate was opened.

I just called the ranger district. They are still working on opening up this trail, and say it might be next week before this trail opens but told me to check the website as they are going to update it as soon as they verify it is safely passable. The ranger I talked to was very nice and apologized for the delay. Apparently, they are understaffed and are working as fast as they can to ensure these trails get opened in a safe manner. We will also update Trails Offroad as soon as we see the status change to OPEN. https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/arp/recreation/?cid=stelprdb5339508

Ran this south to north after work yesterday, just as the sun was about to set. I think this coming weekend (Oct 2-3) will just about be prime aspen leaf viewing for the area! Someone has filled in the ruts at waypoint 9 with a fair number of logs, which kind of helps. I'm not sure what the etiquette is but it's hard to distinguish the trail from the bypass, and there's a real risk of throwing a log up into your undercarriage. Once it gets a bit of snow it might make it borderline dangerous if folks don't know there are logs under there. I'll run it again before the gate gets closed and check it out.

Drove in from the West, fished, then decided to drive around and check the trail from the Rainbow Lakes side. Aside from the ruts, the trail is very mellow. The ruts get bigger every year. The images are shown from East to West.

The wildflowers are peaking right now! We tried to take the trail in my wife's stock Gen 2 Toyota Sequoia with 33" Falken Wildpeak AT3W's and eventually had to turn around because the mud holes were too deep and we were dragging the undercarriage over some big (often hidden) rocks. This wouldn't have been an issue for my built 80-series Land Cruiser, so I think the trail is closer to the high-end rating at the moment.

This trail is open according to the Boulder Ranger District

Closed gate. Was not able to access the trail from the south end.

Ran the trail and re-mapped the entire thing south to north. Trail was surprisingly dry for this time of year and in good shape. There was a vehicle I quickly came across that had blown a rear tire. He did not have any tools so I helped him change the tire and he turned around and headed back out. After that I was the only other vehicle along the route. The mud holes were frozen solid but were still very deep. The creek crossing had a lot of ice, but was not deep with water at all. The gates were still open on 11/23 per the forest service, so I assume they will remain open through the end of the month.

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.

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

Awesome day out in this area! We got some typical Colorado fall weather (sunny morning, snowy afternoon). There is a mudhole between WP 2 and 3 which is the hardest obstacle on the trail (this trail was mapped long ago, and there is no mention of it). That being said, I would not run this trail alone and/or without some sort of recovery gear. It is in the trees and has the tendency to be very muddy with a steep approach/exit. A stock vehicle with road tires would have quite a bit of trouble completing this trail at this point, so come prepared. For reference, the JL is 4" lift on 37s, the Tacoma is 3" lift on 33s.

Ran this trail today in some light snow, great time of year to be up high. The mud bog section on the north end of the trail was definitely a challenge for my Tacoma, used my locker for the last mud hole. It was slick and muddy, but no deep standing water this late in the season. Fun trail, highly recommend for a quick trip close to the front range.

So pretty! Saw an awesome moose!! Bottomed out and high centered in the mud bog after the water crossing. Super fun.

Ran Caribou creek with another member, looks like all the deep water has dried up and the stuck truck has been moved however there are a few obstacles that you may bottom out on, go slow and all should be good.

Went from what was the town site of Caribou to the Rainbow Lakes campground road. The trail is easy except for the 4 or so mud holes, which were still present when we went. These mud holes alone, I would rate as difficult. 11 inch clearance and still scrapped the skid guards. Very beautiful scenery but nothing dramatic.

Ran Caribou yesterday afternoon and encountered a disabled Dodge Ram just after the first deep mud hole from the north end of the trail. Gentlemen backed up and off the trail in an effort to allow someone to pass and wound up bending his steering linkage - needed another winch and more man-power to get him out so they planned to return this afternoon to recover it. Also put him in touch with 4x4 rescue and recovery so hopefully the trail will be cleared again soon - still passable just very tight between the two deepest ruts. Good luck driver! Awesome trail for us, will be back again soon for the mud! Also saw a large black bear at the northern trailhead about 200yds from the dispersed campers along the road leading to Rainbow Lakes campground. Be safe out there, the bears are for real and they’re close.

Fun trail, not all that technical. there were a few water holes that initially caused me concern but they weren't very deep and seemed to consistently have a sand bottom rather than mud. I ended up turning back between points two and three (I ran the trail backwards) because of a large mud hole that I didn't want to attempt while my winch was down. not much scenery but it does open up in a few places. The large ruts that were mentioned by someone previously have been filled in and it is now passable.

Just did this in my stock 5th Gen TRD-ORP 4Runner. Mostly easy with one glaring exception. There is a big hole right as you descend out of the woods (I ran in the opposite direction, downhill from Caribou townsite) but before you go through the boggy area and arrive at the stream crossing. I ran into a guy who spotted for me which was confidence-inspiring. I dropped into 4 Lo and engaged the locker. 4 Lo was probably mandatory, not sure about the locker. The angles were really pushing the limits of the stock 4runner because after a steep downclimb into a muddy hole, you almost immediately begin a steep climb out of it before then descending again. Fortunately, there is no rock; it's all soil. I definitely scraped the engine skid a bit and the hitch receiver dragged a bit as well. Shorter vehicles or lifted vehicles probably would have no trouble. FWIW, The mud in that hole was slick AF, and my stock tires were unresponsive to steering adjustments once in the hole. If I had somehow managed to screw up once in the hole, I'm not sure how things would have turned out. I imagine having real AT tires would have made a big difference here - alas I'm pretty committed to getting my money's worth out of the stock tires.

trail was in good condition. No super deep ruts, but there is a few sections where the water is deep and is very muddy. Super fun trail! I did it in a 5th Gen 4runner with a 3in lift, and it was no problem. I would say if you have an off-road worthy 4x4 the trail the trail conditions would be marked easy to moderate.

Open as of July 20, according to an email from the caretaker listed in the next review. Haven't run it yet, just posting that info. Ruts were graded.

Caribou Creek is temporarily closed due to damage in the muddy area that makes driving hazardous. 3 ft to 4 ft ruts are present and make the route impassible. Section is property of Boulder Watershed and they are trying to get it open. Contact NORAC4X4 at norac303@gmail.com for updates.

Review of this trail last weekend shows there is still a lot of snow. The group that adopts this trail hopes to get it open in 4 weeks.

Trail was a lot of fun. Took my buddies fairly stock jeep and we had a great time. Would definitely recommend to any beginner to intermediate off roader.

We had not been up to Caribou Creek in a few years, so Calvary 4-Wheelers headed that way on Saturday, August 4, 2018. We had three rigs along for the run: me in my lifted XJ, Karen in her stock JK and Rich and Jon in their lifted XJ. We started from the Rainbow Lakes end and bumped our way down to cross Caribou Creek. The muddy section just south of the creek was not too bad and we all made it through with no trouble. Some of the perpetual puddles have started eroding into small mud pits but all were passable.

Just passed the muddy section we met a Subaru coming down from Caribou. He asked if this was the way to Rainbow Lakes. We told him yes, but do you know what you are getting into? He didn’t and, after a little description, he decided it would be a good time to turn around.

We took a little side trip up Pomeroy Mountain (505.2A) to the Pandora Mine and found a very scenic overlook and some interesting old mining equipment. I found it amusing that the miners apparently shopped at Harbor Freight as the old compressor had “Chicago Pneumatic Tool Company” forged on its side.

After our detour, we continued up to Caribou for lunch and to check out the old ruins. When we had finished lunch, we continued onto the Eldorado Mountain section of the trail and took it over to Eldora. We had one somewhat close call on our way down to Eldora. In the middle of the narrow shelf road an overly aggressive dirt bike came flying around a blind corner at about 20 mph. Fortunately, it was at one of the few wider sections and he had just enough room to skirt by me on the drop-off side. If I had been another 100 feet down the trail he probably would have been a hood ornament or gone off the side.

The weather was beautiful with sunshine to partly cloudy in the morning and temperatures in the mid to upper 70s. It clouded up after lunch and we got a few light sprinkles off and on but no heavy rain.

Ran from south to north in a stock 3rd gen Tacoma. Little hairy in a few muddy spots but got through without any damage.

Ran Caribou on 8/26/17. 2 stock 3rd gen 4Runners (one with a locker, one without). 3-5 rating is pretty accurate due to inclines getting muddy and the very narrow section in Eldora. A couple spots offered some nice 3 wheel action and 1 - 1.5 feet water. Scenery is gorgeous! There was some disagreement as to which end to start at as we ran in to 1 vehicle starting from Eldora (he had to reverse dow to let 5 down). The narrow section down into Eldora has NOWHERE to turn around or back up if you are going down hill. It would be nice to have a sign to tell people where to start. We ran from Nederland to Eldora and it was awesome until the traffic jam. Camping: there are designated, dispersed camping spots (beautiful ones).

A great trail for fall colors. It was a pretty easy ride for the most part on an ATV, but we haven’t been back since 2015 because we felt like there were a lot of fist-sized rocks that kinda jumbled and beat us up with the constant bumble once we dropped into the trees on the other side.