Hackett Gulch

Snow melt to the road to Hackett is one just water/mud puddle. The trail itself was dry and fun. Only 3 actual legal obstacles if you stop at the county line. All of which are easily done. Easy enough for my 17 year old daughter with a JL on stock tires.

The rating really needs to be updated. I have been running this trail for a few years, and it is no longer difficult. And even moderate might be a push. The trail had maintenance done to it, took the teeth right out of the major obsticles. In the right conditions this trail might be able to be done in 2wd. As someone else put it, the way the dirt was piled up in spots, pretty much made ramps, to just drive up and over the previous difficult obstacles. The views are still great, but the 2 major obstacles that I used to look forward to are no longer as fun. I would suggest Longwater or Metberry 1st.

Much easier than a 6 unless you have an under equipped/stock 4x4 vehicle. Any lifted vehicle with larger tires should not have a problem at all on this trail making it borderline easy. The hill climb/descent is the only section some may have an issue with as it gets to roughly 29 degree incline. There are some great views and plenty of obstacles to make this a trail to repeat for sure though. Only downside is it is heavily trafficked with SxS and most did not know/care enough to practice any sort of trail etiquette.

This trail was easy. Much easier than a 6. A previous reviewer mentioned that some of the harder parts have been filled in with dirt. This was my first time on this trail, but I'm inclined to believe them because there were no obstacles that were anywhere near 'hard'. That said, it was still fun.

Wow! This was a fun trail! Started it late in the day. Cool and cloudy but no rain. This thing starts in quick and keeps throwing it at you. My CJ5 short wheelbase made some of the climbs and off camber areas even more interesting. The loose gravel like surface causes some slippage and fun! We got to the river at dusk and did the whole out in the dark! That made it all the more fun picking lines.

I came up Hackett and met a bunch of folks as I was doing some videos. :) This trail never disappoints when it comes to challenges and I had a good day climbing out of the canyon.

Boulder obstacles 1 and 2 have been filled in by a large amount to the point they are no longer obstacles. The scenic overlook is now blocked by tons of trees pulled straight out of the ground and laid so the ugly root ball is facing you. To people who have been there before, it will be a total disappointment.

We had a great day up there was very beautiful the trail for difficulty I don't think would be a 6 I would rate it more as a 4.5-5. There are a few technical spots that you really have to pay attention but other than that it's just like a roller coaster dirt road. If you have no experience off-roading though I would not take a stock vehicle up there if you have years of experience you might be able to get a stock vehicle through there without hurting it.

Long drive from Denver. Overall not too bad of a tail. A few technical spots but stock wranglers and a Silverado made it just fine. Very pretty area with a little waterfall. Beware of ticks.

The trail was free of snow and mud; i.e. it was dry. It has seemed to spring new spurs on the West end of the trail (near the stream) likely due to over-ambitious off-road vehicle activity. Be careful which paths you choose, some of the new trails look more difficult and some appear to be clearly off-trail. Also, be careful if you want to enter the stream at the end. It is very deep in many places and you can swamp your vehicle if not careful. I highly recommend you wade into the water to verify water-depth before fording the stream. (Enter at your own risk and hopefully you have winched vehicles that can recover your vehicle should you misjudge the conditions.)

Great trail to test your rig, but I recommend at least one locker or have a winch to pull through some of the tough spots!

I ran Hackett gulch with 3 rigs on Friday. I was extremely impressed with the area. We had John with Outlaw 923 youtube channel in his built Rubicon on 35s and a Toyota FJ on 33s. On the way back up the FJ tore a sidewall. In about 20 minutes we were able to change the tire and head upward. My lifted F-150 on 35s did not like the super dugout and flexy areas and I winched 2 areas vers tear up the rig. It was not pretty but we got it done that day and got home. I enjoy challenging days anyway. Best way to test your skills. Great trail and I will run the 2 other gulches soon.

Just posting as an update. This trail seems to get a little worse everytime i go but the current rating is spot on in my opinion. Stock Gladiator Rubicon

Ran this on 10/17/2021 in my lightly lifted long bed third gen taco. I have new scratches on my sliders and I almost left my rear bumper behind on the large rock obstacle because I decided to take the hard way down. This trail is beautiful and is manageable. I highly recommend going with a group as there is no service. I can see this trail being exponentially more difficult in the wet or when it has snowed.

First Person View :)

Did this today in Polaris RZR was great 3D over view from our ride command. https://bnc.lt/RFZm/tScPGPQFxib

Ran Hackett Gulch for the 3rd time this past weekend, with a 2021 Ecodiesel JLUR Wrangler on 37" tires with full skid plate system. Had no issues running the trail, including pulling a side-by-side that died back to the trail head. Trail was in good shape. Lots of bike traffic.

Not incredibly hard if you have a locker and small lift.

By far the hardest trail I have run in Colorado. With that said I am running a 2005 Xterra with full skids/sliders, a small lift, and 32" tires. I certainly struggled in several spots, and I had to use the winch twice, and locker more times than I can count. I also used my rock sliders several times. I came across two people driving lifted XJ's with open diffs, they said they were able to make it all the way down and back without issue. There was no snow on the trail but a decent bit of water on the way in. There was enough points to pull off at to let people go by. In total we passed eight vehicles, three cars and five rzrs. Everyone was super respectful.

Good short trail with two significant challenges, and a few other challenges. Ran in new stock JLUR with no issue, but two scraps. We did witness a significant issue that needed to be winched out on obstacle 1, so stay alert all the time!! Ran this the same day as Longwater Gulch (both out and back trails.

Great trail but you can no longer do the river section at the bottom. I turned around at that point. Was full of rzr yahoo’s drinking and driving and breaking every rule there is surprise surprise Overall great trail. Could be done in a stock rubicon with some skill

This was my first time hitting Hackett. It was a very fun trail, with some beautiful scenery and challenging obstacles. There are easier and harder lines for most of the obstacles, I chose the easier for the most part. Next time, I will be trying out the harder lines. We had a stock height 4Runner SR5 with us, and they were able to make it up and down just fine, so I agree with the trail rating here.

Love this trail, especially in the early season of wheeling. Did it in my 4Runner with 3" lift and 33.5's. Would recommend having at least sliders, skids would be a nice bonus. Some awesome views are to be had at the top and there's a few decently challenging obstacles to test out your rig. Only reason I'm giving this 4 stars is because the SXS people out here ABSOLUTELY SUCK. We let every sxs group past us at the next available pull off spot and were extremely courteous to them, only to have multiple people curse us out and even had a guy's wife take pictures of our rigs as we were pulled over letting them pass. The SXS culture is extremely cancerous and this would be a highly recommended spot by myself if it wasn't for them.

Second run of this trail in its in entirety. This is hands down my favorite true 4x4 trail closest to Colorado Springs. This trail changes a lot, and has become more difficult, the holes in front of the obstacles are getting deeper! I scraped a bit here and there but nothing too crazy, some off camber spots can be sketchy with IFS. The camping spots near the river are really nice, and there isn't too much traffic due to the difficulty of the trail!

Still a great winter spot. The legal end to the trail is still unknown though I would personally call it at the river. This is a single track trail, I advise against a group any bigger than 4 as pullover spots are few and far between. The obstacle currently is dry but there is mud at the bottom of the slab and it is getting washed out. Descend at your own risk. There is also gravel covering the slab making it very slick. The ledge at the top is very fun, not TOO challenging, ample articulation or a locker is suggested but probably not required. Not too much gravel covering it and the moisture at the base wasn't too bad. I did not go further than the obstacles due to time There's a bit of snow on the trail but it's compacted as of this review and is perfectly safe if proper judgement of speed is exercised.

Trail head starts at Cedar Mountain Road and goes west. Nice tight and steep trail with beautiful views. This is an out and back trail. But if you start at FSR220A (Old Stage), then you can make a loop out of it. The last quarter mile of Old Stage is one way, so you can't go up it from the end of Hackett Gulch. This is a very rough trail and you should be prepared for breaking down or self recovery.

Just went to the first big overlook on the trail and back out. The metal signs are still there as of today.

Pretty fun trail and probably my favorite of the 3 gulches (Longwater, Metberry and Hackett). I am running a lifted, 35" tire JKU Rubicon. Trail was very crowded with side-by-sides and the water at the optional river crossing at the end of the trail was as tall as someone's 37" tire (at least the path they chose), so be very cautious if you plan on trying to cross. Otherwise, take it slow and exercise caution on the rock slabs.

This was a fun trail to run, the obstacles were a little challenging but nothing too crazy, it has a couple strep rock climbs. I do wish it was clearer where the trail is supposed to end, our group stopped just before the creek but some others went past us, all the way to the river, I suppose. I have a 2011 4Runner with a 2” lift, I scraped up the back bumper a little coming back down but otherwise it handled fine. The scenery is pretty good but still suffers from the fire.

I throughly enjoyed Hackett. It’s a good trail to test your vehicle, but I’d recommend running it with a buddy. Here’s a detailed video guide/review I made with some friends using trails offroad data. I’m an idiot and didn’t review trails offroad prior to running it so we went to the river (but didn’t cross it). I’d stick with the notes here, however locals told us you could go to the river. I don’t know if that’s actually true though. There is no signage so your only way of knowing is if you zero your odometer at the start. I hope the confusion on this gets resolved with the hope that the loop with Longwater will return (less environmental impact to the trail while still benefiting Teller and Park counties economies since off-roaders spend money).

Trail is clear of snow and ice for the moment and there is very little mud. Enjoyed the views but not the traffic and etiquette of impatient SXS (one of which rolled) and dirt bikers going off trail to get around other vehicles without waiting for a safe spot to pass.

NOTE: There have been reports of various people receiving tickets for traveling beyond the county line into the closed area and crossing the river. Authorities are actively patrolling the area. Please do your part to help us in getting the entire trail reopened by adhering to the partial closure and do not travel past the county line or cross the river.

Good trail for some puckering effects. Ran the trail in completely dry conditions with no issues. Stock H3 with 2 in lift and 2016 4 runner with 3in lift. Trail after the Hackett Rock is pretty washed out going down to the river. Lockers were a major help!

Snow on trail, but the rock had no snow and the slab before Hackett rock was wet. There is a long steep hill about 3/4 of the way through the trail. It was very shaded and very icy. We had 4 trucks, all slid down the hill and couple of us slid backward trying to get out. Highly suggest chains for that section.

This was a perfect trail for our first-time four wheeler friend. We had my XJ, a modified T100 pickup, and our first-timer's stock Xterra. His running boards fell victim to the trail (we had to remove them at the end), but otherwise he had no clearance or traction issues. The trail is snow covered in some places but we had no serious problems. Very picturesque here. There is a primitive camp site at the end of the trail on the river.

Great day running the gulches. It really feels like the amount of whoop de doos and man-made speed bumps has gone up since the last time we were there. Minimal ice and snow and what we did encounter was packed down from traffic.

EDIT 12/2019: The route described in this comment is no longer open. At the time I ran this, the best information I had was that the Park County segments of FS 220 were considered open. Those have since either been re-closed, or were never actually open in the first place. Only the portions of FS 220 in Teller County are currently open, though this may change with the completion of the PSI travel management plan in 2020. This past Saturday, a friend and I ran the lesser known loop from the main Hackett Gulch trail southeast from the Platte River back up to the junction with Sportsman 897 and FS202, before taking FS202 back out to Cedar Mountain Road. Known variously as the South Hackett route or Old Stage (and sometimes also called Widow Maker, though that name properly refers to a long-closed trail on the west side of the river), this section of trail is actually open, though some sources mistakenly list it as closed. Before running it, I confirmed with Jerry at Predator 4WD that this trail is indeed open, and also found that the Mile High Jeep Club ran it as an official trail run in September of 2017. We also found the Forest Service gate at the intersection with FS897 and FS202 open. According to Jerry, "The Forest Service accidentally opened that section of trail a few years ago. It was called Old Stage for years and before the Hayman fire was marked FS220A. Sometime after the Hayman it ended up as FS220 which is the number for Hackett. It is now on the Federal Registry as FS220 which is open." This section of trail starts out on the east side of the Platte River about 100 feet south of where the south fork of the main Hackett trail reaches the river. It climbs up a steep, rutted hill that can be easy to miss in the trees. We did see some "closed to motor vehicles" signs nearby, but since I confirmed the trail is indeed open, I think they were talking about some other areas nearby, and not the trail itself. This hill, for which some sources have re-purposed the old name "Widow Maker Hill", has a very difficult line to the right in a deep trench filled with loose gravel and large rocks, and an easier bypass to the left. We took the bypass, which required hugging the left side and being careful not to slide down into the trench on the right, risking a rollover. Past this hill, the trail climbs steeply upwards until it reaches a rock obstacle just below the crest of the hill, which requires negotiating a V-shaped notch between two large boulders. After that, the trail continues for a couple miles through a burn area, winding around several hillsides and crossing a series of gullies. Right after you cross a gully with a very sharp left turn, the trail crests a rise and then enters another gully with a series of rock obstacles. These are not very difficult, but can be fairly tight. The trail continues up that gully for a ways, before emerging in a forest of short aspen trees (beware of lots of overhanging branches with high potential for Colorado pin-striping). It continues up the valley through that forest, until coming out into a series of open meadows and sparse pine trees, where there is a Forest Service gate at the junction with FS897 and FS202. Turn left to take FS897, and right to take FS202. Both lead back up to Cedar Mountain Road (FS360). FS202 is the more challenging route with a couple steep rocky hill climbs, and that is the route we took. The portion of trail from the FS220 gate and the last waypoint listed on TrailsOffroad for FS202 was clear and had nothing of interest to note. You could easily run FS202 and FS897 as their own loop. Overall, this was a fantastic and fun trail with a number of more challenging obstacles than you will find on the main Hackett trail. If you want to run this, do it soon, because this route could very well end up being closed in the ongoing PSI Travel Management process.

Everything was open and dry

Trail was a bit muddy but in good shape.

No snow no ice. The optional rock ledge has gotten harder. It’s a good 3’ ledge

Overview: Definitely passable, just be cautious of ice at the top of Hackett rock that forces trucks to slide into the rock. Vehicles: 2017 Tacoma TRD Offroad (Locking rear diff. Stock suspension w/ slightly larger tires. 265/75 vs 265/70) 2x 2017 4Runner TRD Pro (one with 2" lift/ armor, one stock. Both had locking rear diffs.) 2010ish Tundra (3.5" lift. No lockers) 2007ish Nissan Frontier (Stock suspension. Summer street tires. No lockers) Report: The sun was entirely down by the time we made it to the first rock face. Every truck made it up each obstacle first try with the exception of the Frontier on the hill climb after Hackett rock. He had to winch up because his tires were insufficient for the snow on the hill. On the way out, 3 trucks slid into Hackett rock. There was ice at the top that made the back end of the trucks slide out, forcing the side of the body into the rock. We tried tweaking the line each time with no success. For the last two vehicles, the Tacoma and Frontier, we built up rocks at the bottom and split the "v" on the way down. The Frontier's rear bumper touched the rock, but the Tacoma made it down with no touching.

Raider Off Road - Fort Carson CO Jeepers (10 FEB 2018): One of our favorite trails! Trail was clear and beautiful and we were just getting to have some real fun with the rocks until the snow started and we had to turn around. I think it snowed about 8" in an hour and just crashed our little off-road party. That said, we had a blast and look forward to going back soon!

We started the trail at 1:30PM and passed one group that was sitting at the trailhead and one group coming back about 2 miles into the trail. The first three miles where the trail winds through the valley had spotty snow on the ground. Past the big rock climb though, the trail was free of snow all the way to the river. The weather was sunny all day and so warm I didn't need a sweatshirt. The wind was pretty intense at some parts.

Ran this with a group of 6 Jeeps and a couple trucks. Weather was perfect and the only ice was on creek crossing before the road split. Only one of our rigs got stuck in large holes in the ice, but a quick tug got him free. The big step after the road split is intimidating but fun. Even more fun going up!!! Only two of us made it up the big step but most of us went down it. Parked and had lunch at river and then we left and headed back up Hackett and that fun big ledge. The creek crossing was a challenge for the big truck we were with, but winched him out. Had a really fun time!

First time on this trail and found it Awesome. We traveled to the river crossing and down the left trail to the first turn around. Encountered a fallen tree on our return trip. I am looking forward to doing this again and others that have been mentioned. Very pleased as to the maintaining by Predator. Thanks so much.

Much more washed out than the pictures shown in the main coverage of the trail. Muuuuch more fun. Dry, snow in shade and on north side, not much to worry about. Ice at bottom in small creek, don't get stuck in the holes. Maybe some off trail boulders that are huge, not sure if allowed to go over them, didn't attempt. Coming down the slab, there is a huge hole that can easily cause a roll over. Makes for a risky challenge.

No pics since they're on my phone. Minimal snow, nothing that impedes with main obstacles. Sunny, ice near bottom, careful not to get stuck in holes broken by wheels/tires. Be VERY careful coming down the slab below the rock. Easy potential for a flop

Did Hackett and Longwater for the day. Hackett was fine down and back. We did go to the river which was low. Unfortunately we saw people on the other side of the river shooting and didn't stay long. We headed back to the start and then over to Longwater. The 'fill' the Forest Service put in on the first of the two rock slabs has washed away as predicted. Choose your line carefully and stay the trail.

Please note that the trail sponsor, Predator 4x4, has confirmed that as of June 25th, 2017 the Forest Service has declared that Hackett is open past the county line now, but ONLY to, over the river, and back. The trail that connects on the other side of the river over to Longwater and the crossing at Longwater remain CLOSED. The county is allowing traffic, but is not maintaining the trail between the county line and the river. Travel at your own risk. You must turn around after crossing the creek and return to the start of the trail. This write up will be updated soon with this new information.

The drive to Hackett was very cold as we were driving in the rain and wind with no doors on. The weather cleared as we entered Hackett. We followed the loop route connecting Hackett and Longwater gulches. The water level was significantly lower than two weeks prior and remained below the door sills. The first water crossing (Platte river near the Tarryall confluence) is deeper to the right. The second water crossing (the Tarryall creek) has a large boulder dead center in between the entry and exit points. This boulder can be concealed when the water level is high, but is very apparent when low. The loop route then continues along the Platte river (on the passenger side) for some distance. Watch for a path into the willows on your right. If you stay left you will run into a hiking only trail which is well marked. Through the willows is the third water crossing that will connect you with Longwater Gulch. DO NOT GO STRAIGHT ACROSS! There is a deep channel roughly 2/3 of the way across the river. The best approach is to veer left from the entry point by about 30 yards then cut hard right while hugging the bank before exiting the river. We did see a Blazer there that had taken in quite a bit of water into the intake and was likely hydrolocked. The drive up Longwater gulch is less challenging than Hackett, but it does have some fun, steep obstacles.

Fun run with some decent obstacles. The water level at the Platte was about 2 inches over the sills of my Rubicon which sits 6 inches higher than stock. There is no indication of the trail being closed at waypoint 7 and traffic to the river and back is heavy along the very narrow trail. The ledge at waypoint 7 is large. Going down was difficult, and going up was very difficult due to the size and the scree. I tried several approaches but could not get enough traction on the front tires to pull me over the ledge. We then headed back up the hill and followed the loop route. The 1st Platte river crossing was deep, but it was shallower to the left. The next water crossing was blocked by a 2WD F150 stuck in the Tarryall creek (see pic). We couldn't find the driver so we abandoned the loop and headed back up the Gulch rather than continuing to Longwater Gulch.

Ran the three gulches today. Virtually no snow or ice and we saw all of one other vehicle all day. I noticed that the trail 'repairs' done earlier last year have made a drastic difference in difficulty on at least the first rock obstacle. It's rutting out with erosion, but this was passable without much effort.

The start of the trail had 1-2 feet of snow but was passable with chains. We broke the trail after heavy snow and everyone in the group had at least one locker, lift, large tires and chains. Watch out for the off camber slab at WP4 if you have chains. Diamond chains seemed to do better than ladder chains. Take the line furthest away from the tree and try to pass before you slide into the tree. This is easier without chains but you may slide off the trail past the tree when you lack traction without chains. Take your chains off at WP6 (Hackett Rock). We did not, and one in our group broke the tensioner on his chains while we tore two crosslinks from ours. The last vehicle in our group winched up as that Jeep refused to climb the rock on any decent line with his chains mounted. We confirm the status of the ledge at WP7. We chose to by-pass it to keep our sleeping baby from waking up as there was no way to descend the ledge smoothly despite running 35's. Overall, this was a fun uneventful run but our group was comprised entirely of heavily modified vehicles.

At the start of the trail, there was a lot more snow than I expected just because the area hadn’t seen any snow in a few weeks. There was probably a good 10 inches or so hanging around on the ground in the shaded areas. The trail had already been well traveled, so we only had to worry about the possibility of ice, and not actually breaking trail. Everyone in our group was equipped with 37’’ tires or larger. The farther along the trail we traveled, the less snow we encountered. At one point erly on however, one of the members did slide off the trail. Lucky for us, there were two, close by, healthy trees, that we were able to execute "the cradle" winch maneuver and pull him right back up on the trail. By the time we reached the rock slab and Hackett Rock, the trail was pretty much dry. Just for a comparison of the ledge at Hackett Rock, the silver JKU in my pictures is running 40’’ tires. I would say this obstacle hasn’t changed much over the past couple years. The next obstacle at waypoint 7 has certainly gotten worse. The drop on the ledge is larger than it was last year, and it’s about the same size all the way across compared to it getting smaller towards one side like it used to. Definitely be careful while going downhill as the large drop is a very quick and big surprise. When we reached the river, it was almost entirely frozen. We took one Jeep out onto the ice and went about halfway before the ice began to crack so we decided it was better to turn around before the river instead of crossing it for lunch.

We ran this trail as part of a Poker Run event with a local 4x4 club. The day started out pretty blizzard-like down in the Springs. We thought we were going to be in for a very cold day of wheeling. On our way up to Divide we hit some pretty intense fog, but we still managed to find the trailhead. To our surprise, the wind had calmed down and even though it was cloudy and there was about 6-8 inches of fresh snow, it wasn't too bad out. The beginning of the trail was pretty snow covered. A few vehicles came close to sliding into the tree that sits close to the road on a group of rocks due to it being slick, but everyone passed safely. Some of the more stock vehicles had some difficultly getting up the rock slab and Hackett Rock due to it being wet. The snow did melt off of it at least. One or two of the steeper hills took a while for the stock vehicles since they were slick as well. Once we reached the crest of the mountain, most of the snow had melted off. Initially our views of the mountains were blocked by clouds, but on the way back they disappeared so we could take it all in. Everyone made it down to the river and back to the trailhead in one piece.