Clohesy Lake

Water at the river was half way up my tires (15-17"?) but we went slow and steady in my stock '18 Wrangler Sahara - once out past the water it was a calm trail through the forest and well worth the 2+- mile drive to the lake where the weather turned and there was a little snow. Aspen changing colors, sun, rain & snow made for a great afternoon adventure.

I did not take this trail on but wanted to provide a picture of the rock climb out of the second water crossing, we walked this a ways but didn't have the time to do this trail. Water shallow at this time and the second crossing was not moving to fast. Defiantly on my list to tackle as lake looks awesome.

Trail is fully open for summer!

****** has dammed the first water crossing.

Had some difficulty with this trail a year ago, particularly climbing out of the creek (see 9/30/20 trail review). Upgraded my ride since then, and the rear locker on the newer 4Runner made the creek-exit obstacle a non-issue. Still enough of a challenge to keep it interesting. Hungry little brookies at the south end of the lake. And yes the dirt county road leading to the trailhead seems to not be maintained anymore shortly after passing the reservoir. Enough of an annoyance that we stayed aired-down for that section on the way out. Even so this has become one of my favorite trails in the area.

This trail guide says the road ends at the orange gate (waypoint 8) but there are 2 signs at waypoint 7 that say no motor vehicles allowed. I looked at the MVUM which seems to support that. Please park at the meadow where there is a rusty regulations sign and do not continue past that. You will see the signs I’m talking about. Overall the trail was easy for me and took 40 minutes one way. Unfortunately both on my way up and down I encountered cross traffic in the exact same spot which was difficult for passing, but we figured it out. The trail is pretty tight in places so I wouldn’t recommend a full size. You’ll also get some pinstriping most likely. One last note is the county road to get to this trailhead is notably worse than just 2 months ago when I drove it. The county road is becoming an off-road trail itself with the number of pot holes on it.

Great trail. The first half mile is fun and challenging with the water crossings, the exit from the creek, and the narrow climb. But then the rest of the trail is a nice traverse up the valley and through the woods.

Drove this trail with an Off Road Group I had recently joined. The dirt road leading to the trailhead in some places looked like a parking lot with a lot the campers and people visiting the mines and the Museum. We got to the trailhead and there was a large family camping at the entrance to the first stream crossing. The stream was maybe 10 to 12 inches deep an was easy to cross. We stopped for lunched between the two stream crossings and then proceeded across the second stream. The far bank of the second crossing was a bit steep and had two imbedded rock obstacles as you exited the that caused some issues with a couples of lower riding vehicles in the group. The rest of the trail was not hard, but very rough and bumpy, with many large "whoppie do's" that caught my center sked plate several times. At the end of the trail there was a very large amount of timber that had been cut down making parking and turning around for our large group a bit if a challenge. The views at the end of the trail and the lake were fantastic. Over-all this was a fun trail.

Fun trail. Creeks were maybe 15 inches deep in their deepest places. Coming out of the 2nd creek is probably the most challenging aspect of the trail as it has gotten fairly rutted out. Lockers would make this section easier, but I got up without using any.

Trail is fully open for the season.

Open to Waypoint 4, then deep snow blocking the trail.

Trail was completely dry after the creek crossings. Water was low and slow in the creek - perhaps 10" at the most. Even so there was some difficulty coming out of the second crossing in stock 97 4Runner. Knowing that similar vehicles have made it was very helpful, so thanks for that. Another rock obstacle about 3/4 of a mile up was also a challenge. These two obstacles seemed even more challenging on the way back down, but I'm a novice offroader so your mileage may vary. Lake was beautiful - no beetle kill yet. Fishing was difficult due to massive amounts of algae - go to the south side for less algae and eager fish.

Be aware of boulders in the creek. a Lift kit helps for sure

I'm sure Marcus will update the main entry soon, but CORE cleared the last avalanche slide at the top of the trail on September 12. You can now drive all the way to the gate at the end of the road, where we cleared a parking/turn-around area that can accommodate around 5-10 vehicles. There was about a foot of snow at the top yesterday morning and the last half mile of the trail was quite icy. We had to recover a truck that had slid off the road the night before. By mid-afternoon a lot of the snow had melted and most of the remaining snow was just slush. It will probably all be gone in a few days.

As noted, you can't quite make it to the old gate anymore. Avalanche from 2019 wasn't cleared for 2020 season, though there's a short well worn hiking trail to hoof it in. Minimal turn around spot at the very end, so keep that in mind if you have a particularly long truck. Trail was about a 3-4 difficulty in a trail width (50") stock SXS on just 11-12" of clearance. Bumped the skids a couple of times, but no marks. No traction issues, though as noted if you have low clearance and open diffs the initial steep/rocky climb out of the stream crossing at the start may give you trouble. In mid August, there was maybe a foot of water at the deepest points, a little bit sloshed up to the floorboards of the RZR when going at decent pace. You probably want 32-33" tires on highway legal vehicles just due to all the steep erosion control ridges that are a constant on the road to avoid dragging, unless you're particularly short wheelbase. Probably about a dozen off-road vehicles were camping over the weekend, which isn't bad at all for Colorado during C19. Great views of the lake at the end, we just hoofed in our gear the last 0.2 miles or so. Take is pretty algae-filled and mucky along shore, but great fishing and boating opportunities! Handful of rarely used dispersed sites around the lake, both exposed and in the treeline.

fun trail, unique water features, and beautiful lake. its amazing that no one seems to know about this trail. open all the way to #7, new parking area before short hike to lake. pretty easy trail in an 07' lancruiser w/ lift & 33's, but also challenging in a couple spots. most difficult spot for me was exiting the water crossing - pretty steep, wet rock face while making a right turn up the hill. took a couple tries but got it once atrac kicked in.

Trail is good all the way through until the waypoint 7. Water was low, great camping!

Trail is still closed just past waypoint 7. River crossing was below the body of my Tacoma even with the significant amount of rain received this weekend.

The trail is open to just past Waypoint 7.

As Marcus mentioned the trail is opened just past waypoint 7. After the meadow the trail is covered in snow, and there is avalanche debris just before the gate. Great trail, ran it in a lifted Tundra w/ no issues. A stock F-150 and stock 08 4Runner accompanied me, they had a tougher time but made it just fine.

Broke trail through snow drifts almost the entire way up. the last clearing before the lake is where it got too deep to continue, going to need a few weeks before its accessible all the way to the lake by vehicle, but you can hike to the lake from that point at least.

CORE has cleared the trail to very near the top. Massive avalanche has blocked the parking area at the top, but a new parking area is being established. For the time being, park in several turn offs just before the slide to hike to the lake. And be careful as walking over the fallen trees can be very hazardous

Avalanche debris at waypoint 4 still blocking the trail. Some progress has been made, but still several trees blocking the very end of the debris field. If you have a low profile rig with front and rear lockers you may be able to make it over the fallen trees and snow pile.

Trail is only currently open to Waypoint 4. At that point the trail is blocked by a large avalanche field 200yds across and nearly 25' deep. It will be a quite some time before the trail is passable at this point.

Snow has fallen closing the trail for the season.

Did this one to fish the lake. The only challenging part was the first ascent out of the creek, but after that my stock F150 did fine.

Trail is entirely open, some small snow drifts near the end but they are passable. Creek is at a lower flow than usual due to the lighter than normal winter.

Snow has fallen making this trail impassable until next season