Chinaman Gulch

Fantastic January day on Chinaman. A mix of snow, ice and dirt. 6 rigs in our group, didn’t see anyone else.

Trail was clear with very little snow, left line on whale tail has a small amount of ice on it but we’re able to make it up no problem!

What a trail!! How this is not a jeep badge of honor trail i don't know. We ran the trail on an an overcast and rainy day which kept the dust down but made the rocks quite slippery. As mentioned previously, this trail is fairly unrelenting with plenty of minor rocks and ledges between the big obstacles to keep you focused the entire way. Definitely agree with the difficulty rating on this one. This trail should only be attempted by experienced drivers with modified vehicles or be prepared for some body or mechanical damage. Overall, great trail and i can't wait to come back and run it again.

Terrific trail, fairly unrelenting. Morning sun this time of year is brutal but makes great scenery pictures. Hard to beat clear fall morning skies in CO. We did not encounter much traffic, only one group which we let “play through”. The trail was dry and obstacle 1 and 2 look much more difficult than they are. Good ground clearance and line make for difficult, but not impossible ascents. Obstacle 2 on the way down for a 2 door makes for significant pucker given the pitch, role and slide on the loose dirt as it feels like you’re going to flop the Jeep and lay it on its side. Didn’t have the ‘jonés to try the biggest boulders on the left side of the Rock Pile but the line directly left of the tree provided enough fun for a couple of goes. You’ll need sufficient clearance or expect to pinch your track bar and drag link. Pics don’t do Whales Tail justice. Intimidating but it isn’t difficult, traction was good and a proper line makes for an easy climb, definitely a highlight of this awesome trail. The Stairs obstacle is getting really dug out at the base. The line to the right is the easiest way up, but presented some traction issues for my fellow wheelers in 4 doors. Once past the step, the obstacle doesn’t stop, there are more diff and skid plate grabbing boulders making this little section quite fun.. Heed the advice of the TrailsOffroad crew on the Chutes, straddle the gap. The 4 doors in our group did not which tested their belly skids and they struggled to get up. Between the named obstacles you will encounter some steep descents and some fun flexy sections. Overall a great trail, too bad this isn’t a Jeep Badge of Honor trail, it’s definitely worthy.

Absolute banger of a trail, and very doable with open diffs, I have a 02 4runner on 315/75/16s, midtravel suspension set up and this trail definitely tested This truck but was still able to take very fun lines. WARNING!! it’s very dusty haha

Moab ain’t got nothin on Buena Vista. Chinaman is my favorite trail, I drive down from Denver and spend the weekend running this trail two or three times a year. Over the past five years the trail has changed significantly. In 2015 I could run it in a Cherokee XJ with open differentials. Not so today. The Whales Tail, Staircase and Escalator are all many levels of difficulty above what they used to be, And the series of ledges at the entrance have become gatekeepers in their own right. Still, if you have lift, lockers, and upsized tires, this trail is all kinds of fun.

Chinaman Gulch is classic rock crawling fun. There are obstacles to satisfy every itch, from mild to crazy. It's just a lot of fun!

Great trail. Last fall I was looking for a good hunting road and drove the loop, not knowing its difficulty. I've a '06 TJ with a 3.5 lift and 33" tires. I didn't have much difficulty with the trail. On my way out I had to winch a vehicle back level at a tight switchback. And then ... I went up with my wife and daughter on May 8. On the initial climb (even prior to the loop start) I arrived at the spot where I had winched the other vehicle. I promptly landed wrong on a rock and broke my rear transfer case yoke and the attached universal in half. The universal was lying on the trail, and the rear driveshaft was flailing from the rear differential. I removed the driveshaft (a Woody with a SYE) and drove out using the front wheel drive. Yesterday I took the broken yoke and driveshaft into Tom Woods, Ogden UT for a rebuild. They looked at it and said that it would be covered by warranty and that they would repair it at no cost - and free shipping. What a great deal. They are at (801) 737-0757, https://4xshaft.com. What great customer service. I expect I'll give the trail another go in two weeks.

Trail is mostly snow free, except shade areas and the creek leading up to the whail tail.

We spent a month in the Buena Vista area and sadly we were only able to run this awesome trail once. The entire route has challenges for stock modified rigs. Truly a great trail that will test your limits on the optional lines you can run on the big obstacles. The video pretty much shows how the entire trail is from beginning to end.

This is a right-of-passage trail and a must due for some serious off-roading. Two of us ran the trail on a Friday morning and had the trail all to our selves. Two jeeps: one a JL with a 3.5” lift on 37s the other a JK with a 3.5” lift on 37s. What a great opportunity for comparison. Video coming soon...stay tuned.

This trail was more difficult than I expected, but I had a blast. Made it thru solo in my cj7 , which is heavily modified, without any major difficulties and picked all the lines from the driver seat. It’s really cool that Colorado has this type of terrain to play on. I drove down from Wyoming, which despite having killer terrain, sadly does not embrace this type of off road activity and only has dirt roads for four wheelers to go fast on. Can’t wait to try some more Colorado trails. Thank you Trailsoffroad.com. for your site.

Trail is in great shape. Obstacles are all challenging and require solid tire placement an good spotter. The is an all day adventure. We saw 4 Buggy's on the trail all day.

Calvary 4-Wheelers ran Chinamans Gulch on Saturday, June 29, 2019 as one of our "challenge" trips for this year. We had 3 people in 2 rigs, me in my green Cherokee and Rich and Jon in their red Cherokee. The trail has gotten a little harder since the last time I ran it 5 or 6 years ago, especially the rock obsticles before the Squeeze. It was a challenge for our Cherokees on 31s but we made it through without having to strap or winch and with no breakage. The views of the Collegiate Peaks are as increadable as ever.

Snow, sleet, rain and thunder made for an exciting trip! Trail is 100% open with no ice.

No snow, ran it with a rig on 40s, jk on 35s and a 16 tacoma Trd on 33s. It was a work out getting the Tacoma through the trail with out caving in rockers. Sliders are a must. Jk on 35s made it no problems

Ran the trail today as part of a trail patrol group with Colorado Off Road Enterprise (CORE). Coming into the parking lot there is some snow and ice to deal with on the access road. It drys out at the parking lot. The first mile didn't have really any snow on it with it being a southern facing slope, but from there there was several inches of snow with some slight ice on the declines. Once you get into the wash around the 2 mile mark, there is problems 6"-8" of icy, thick packed snow. This made whales tail interesting and fun. It also made the hills running up towards the stairs very interesting. Looks like a group from the day before slid off the trail a few times attempting those hill climbs.

Love this trail it’s fun kinda challenging and always ready for a winter run snow adds a little more challenge

I had a blast on this trail. We arrived friday night and camped out in the staging area, wheeled on saturday, camped again and left sunday morning. With a crew of 4 jeeps: 2 grand cherokees, 1 cherokee and 1 cj7. The entire trail is a blast. Every obstacle has an easier route if you so choose to take it making this trail fun for most any type of rig. My 31s and open diffs proved a challenge on some of the obstacles but overall I wasn't "afraid" to hit anything. I would recommend going in a group with at least one other rig for recovery purposes or at least have a winch and hi-lift. Overall I would reccomend this trail to most anyone of any skill level.

The trail appears to be in pretty much the same condition as it was this past fall. Snow conditions were pretty dismal, even for this trail. The first couple obstacles above the hill climb remain relatively difficult but were snow free. Once beyond the Carnage Canyon exit, a few inches of snow covered the ground. Once down in the wash, there was a bit more snow and a lot of ice in the shadowy areas. Rock Pile is a pretty sunny spot, so not a lot of snow there, however, Whales Tail was extremely icy denying anyone that tried a line other than the far right. Once up above the wash on the ridge, the snow dried out a little bit again.

Chinaman Gulch has gotten worse over the past 2 years is an understatement to say the least. What was passable with maybe just a small lift and some slightly bigger tires I would recommend at least 35" tires and lockers would be a great help. The first obstacle is maybe the worst and it doesn't have a name because its usually not an obstacle. As mentioned in the previous trip report they have closed almost all the bypasses, that being done I would rate this trail a very solid 7-8 and expect it to get worse because the big rigs keep making the holes deeper and washout continues as normal.

Led a trip through Chinamans for the first ever 14er Fest. Due to the significant hard rains this summer, the trail was extremely eroded away in sections and new boulders have now been exposed. The trek up the hill to the Carnage exit was extremely rocky. Also, the wash section after Whale's Tail was also extremely eroded with a number of new, large boulders to play on. The stairs seem to get deeper each year at the first stair, but this is due to vehicles throwing dirt out and not from natural erosion. This may fill back in one day.

Expecting rocks and challenges, we were not disappointed in Chinaman Gulch. With all the rain that the Buena Vista area has received over the past few weeks, the trail was a bit more difficult than usual. Much of earth that typically holds rocks in place was loosened making many of the obstacles very difficult. There were two stock Rubicons in the group that could not finish the trail without a tow-strap assist in a few spots. The trail caused a couple of vehicles to receive bumps and bruises along the way, but nothing that required under-the-hood surgery. The trail seemed a bit more difficult than it has in the recent past.

I had not run Chinaman Gulch in two years, so when I saw that 8Koffroad was going to be there, I decided it would be a great trip to join and get to know them. The trail has changed quite a bit since I was last there; the first two obstacles are more difficult/more rutted, and I kissed my rear quarter panel on the rock at the first obstacle! Hoping that this was not an omen, I continued up the trail. We had a blast taking turns climbing obstacles like Whale's Tail, the Stairs, and the Chute. It is fun to watch different builds tackle different lines. I ended up with a few scratches, but no real damage. I drove home to Colorado Springs without incident, another fun trail weekend in the books!

Chinaman Gulch made for quite the difficult but yet fun trail to run. The weather was nice and hot. Which made for quite a dusty ride. For which took us about 4hrs to complete with 7 rigs. A lot of the difficulty that I experianced was the result of my vehicle. As obstacles on this trail require great approach, break, and departure angles. As well as a few of them needing tight turning radiuses. I was able to complete this in a 2nd gen Tacoma with 31" tires and a 3" lift. However I did not complete it unscathed. My sliders took a great beating along with my skids and rear bumper taking a few hits as well. So I would say this trail is not intended for the overlander, such as myself, amongst us. But even with the damage it still resulted in a trail worth doing. That offered both challenge and some amazing views.

With all the recent snow that had hit the central and northern mountains, we decided to head to Buena Vista for the day since they hadn't received any snow. There were only 3 of us in today's group and we started the trail about 10:30am. The trail was dry pretty much the whole way through with the exception of Whale's Tail. There was a little bit of snow and ice at the base of the obstacle but nothing too crazy. Traction was still very good there. Please remember that this is a one-way trail, counter clock wise. If ran the wrong direction, there is very little room to bypass oncoming traffic. The first climb from the parking lot I don't feel has changed much over the past year, but if it's been a few years since you last ran Chinaman's, then it's going to surprise you how much more difficult that section has become. The rock garden to me seems the same as it's always been, with many different lines varying in difficulty, it was nothing new. It was perfectly dry in this area. No one in our group tried the far left side of Whale's tail, but it hasn't appeared to change much either. The easiest line is still to the far right. At the stairs, the base has really been dug out so short wheel base vehicles are going to find the only real line for them is to the far right, or the far left cutting it by the tree. The v-notch, which is the last real obstacle, has changed quite a bit. 1 or 2 large boulders have moved making the obstacle not as difficult as it once was. Overall, the trail was in great shape and the conditions were certainly ideal.

The weather held out for us yet again! Normally it's pretty chilly by now but with a high of 59 degrees and the sun shining made for a great day. It also made for some beautiful landscape photos with the snow covered mountains for a background. We were the first to arrive in the parking area and as we unloaded trailers and waited for others in our group, more and more people started to arrive. We had about 8 vehicles in our group ranging from Toyota pickups, Tacoma's, and 4Runners of all years! There were even more people from another group so total there were about 20 rigs, which made for a long day, but gave us plenty to watch and people to talk to! Most of our group decided to take the harder route on the first optional obstacle. It proved to be a challenge for anyone without a front locker as you get high centered. Most needed a slight tug to get over. The trail is pretty washed out from when I last ran it, so there are a lot of new rocky areas. The gravel hills were pretty washed out too providing a tippy challenge to go down. Our group stopped and played around on the Rock Pile for a while and then continued on to the Whale's Tail. A few rigs tried the harder left line, but only one was successful. The area below was very muddy and it took a few shots to get everybody up. Further up the trail we stopped and had lunch at The Stairs while a few people played around on them. It also was muddy at the bottom and was pretty dug out so most needed a tug to get over. We made quick work moving through the trail, one area we did have to take extra care as it can get a bit tippy and lean you into a large rock. Normally the trail is done in a few hours but since we had such a large group it took most of the day. But it was worth it!