Halfmoon Creek

Winter has closed this trail naturally.

I did 100J and found it to push the limits of my rig, which is a JLU with 3.5" lift on 33's. The main obstacle at the 2nd water crossing was no joke. I had to winch the last 1-2' due to a 16-18" sharp-faced and totally loose boulder hooking my passenger rear shock and axle. The views at the top were pretty spectacular and made the effort worth it.

Very surprised in this trail. Has something fir everyone. Not just a 4 hour crawl. Definitely added some complexity when it started raining and made it way more challenging to get down. It was awesome.

finally was able to do this one! When I attempted to in 2021 it was closed by the Forest Service. Had done the trail up until the large Creek Cross but hadn't gone beyond that prior to getting my jeep! Really enjoyed it and I hope to get back there in July of 2023 to get some hiking in as well

Fantastic and scenic trail! 110 was in good shape up to the mill with recent water bar work, creek crossings were moderately deep, didn't go up to the mine due to weather. Spent some time admiring the mill, what an impressive structure and hearing about the details of the operation blew me away. 110J was rocky and wet, with good views from time to time. The pictures don't do the obstacle at WP4 justice, it's gnarly so I opted to return the way I came.

Its open. Took all of my wood cutting tools out for Mexico a few months back, and forgot to put it back in. So this weekend we made it to the top, and I cleared 3 trees with the saw on my Leatherman! Your welcome! haha Not sure how long the #4 obstacle has had the "bypass" closed. (Bypass was still fairly hard a few years back with a single locker and 33s) So there is one way up now, and its gnarly if your more of an overland build. We winched up and left some aluminum on the rocks in the process!

No closure this season, but trail is not fully passable yet.

CORE has both NFSR 110 (Champion Mine) and NFSR 110J (Iron Mike Mine) as adopted trails. With the access road closed to the public, we obtained permission in late summer to do a work project on Iron Mike and to assess the conditions of both 110J and 110. We installed a kiosk frame for a future sign panel near the 110J trailhead, we also blocked the off-trail bypass and installed a winch anchor at the second creek crossing. NFSR 110 was in good shape and open to the Champion Mine site, but we did have to bust through considerable snow to reach the mine. The trail will probably be closed for the winter due to the additional snow forecasted this week. Hopefully next year both trails will be restored to the MVUM and the access road will be open for trail season 2022.

Closure extended again until at least 9/30/21 https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd946371.pdf

Road is still closed while crews do work to clear trees and widen the road. The Forest order closing it has been extended to the end of August. https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd933811.pdf

The Forest Service is doing some maintenance with trees and some other things it appeared on the trail. It was closed just before the campgrounds the weekend we visited to camp. I would call the Leadville Ranger District before travelling, but there are still plenty of places to camp. One of our favorite areas to visit.

Still Winter in the mountains. Trail is still impassable beyond the Mount Elbert parking lot.

Ran the trail up to way point 11 with no difficulty in my stock TJ. Water crossings were about 12" deep. Gate was open and got a incredible view of the mill.

Stayed on 110 up to the closed gate at Champion Mill. No difficulty in stock '97 4Runner. Less than 12" of water at both crossings. The rest was dry except for an occasional puddle. Scenic & fun road - watch for waterfalls along creek. Seems like open willows areas along creek would be good moose territory but saw none.

CORE project to mitigate off trail issues above the mill. Trail fully open. Awesome day.

Nothing blocking the trail all the way to the mill. One of the most beautiful basins/valleys i have seen. The mill is awesome as well. Agree with the difficulty rating on the site. A couple river crossings. The deepest was probably between 1 - 2 feet. Very bumpy but no 'extreme' obstacles. Clearance and 4wd low extremely suggested/necessary.

The trail to the Champion Mine is still blocked by snow just before way point 11 Off camber section. Looking up at this obstacle it certainly looks interesting and I will be back to try it at a later date. We only did the Champion Mine route but thought this to be one of the most beautiful trails we have been on in some time. Rugged mountains, awe inspiring views, wild flowers, many creeks, this trail has it all.

As of June 27, the main trail was clear to the locked gate to Champion Mill. The trail to Champion Mine was blocked by a snowdrift shortly before waypoint 11 (pictured). The trail to Iron Mike was clear to the Iron Mike Obstacle. I briefly attempted the bypass to the right but it proved more challenging than I expected, with a 90 degree turn to the left right after a steep ledge, that was hard to do without getting hung up on a rock right where I needed to turn. It was late and I was alone so I didn't feel comfortable attempting that further and turned around. I found a nice campsite a little ways below the obstacle which was nice and secluded away from the crowds camped along the main Halfmoon trail. I definitely need to go back and finish both prongs of this trail with a group next year, when hopefully it is fully reopened when the new travel plan is done.

The gate to champion mill is closed (not the green one), so you can cross the stream to the left but you wont get far after that as there's a snow drift, 8-10' tall that will likely be there for a few more weeks. The water crossing (waypoint 7) a few miles down hill had some real good flow. 2-3' at the deepest part so just take it slow and you'll be fine. A stock 4Runner and a bunch of lifted Colorado's made it just fine.

Big snow drift between waypoints 7 and 8 make the trail impassable

Avalanche debris is cleared and road is open. In my opinion the road seems harder than compared to last year. Some of the larger rocks looked like they had been washed out and exposed a little more adding to the difficulty of the trail. Creek crossing was a solid foot deep.

From the FS today: ALERT: Visitors to the Halfmoon Road (FSR 110) on the #LeadvilleRD are advised that Road Maintenance will begin tomorrow, July 23, and is expected to continue for most of the week. The road will not be closed at this time, but visitors to the area may experience delays. Please travel carefully and be aware that large machinery may be sharing the road. Further reports on the Halfmoon road are that a large avalanche has crossed the road past the North Halfmoon Lakes Trailhead blocking vehicle access further west on the road. Creek crossings are preventing heavy machinery access to this area at this time. Visitors are welcome to travel the road on foot, but are encouraged to be cautious around avalanche debris and stream crossings. Please enjoy your time on the National Forest, and recreate safely!

Excellent trail with wonderful views, I took 110j to way point 4 before deciding that it was to much for my Xterra on a 2 lift and 265 tires. on your way up you get to see far into the valley due to the avalanche clearing on the trail. I ran into no snow on my way up and only stopped because of the serious rocks after the second water crossing. That said I had to give this trail four stars because of two things, one there were almost no turn around or passing points, and two the water was SERIOUSLY deep and fast moving. the first crossing at 110j came over the hood and also moved my truck down river a few inches. the crossing at 110 did not move my vehicle however was deep enough that it caused my electronics to cut out halfway through the crossing. Due to this I stopped fairly quick after the crossing because I didn't want to risk my engine dying on the trail. the crossing in the video is of 110 however both crossings are equally as deep, all photos were taken on 110j.

We ran both spurs of the trail (110 and 110J) on the week of July 4th. Both of the trails are blocked by avalanche debris. On 110 going to Champion Mine the blockage is right at timberline, just after the upper creek crossing. You can see where someone has driven around it. Please don't do this! This is why they close trails! On 110 J the blockage is after the creek crossing/obstacle, but before timberline. This is a significant trail blockage as a large avalanche laid many large trees over the road for about 100 yards. All of the creek crossings were very deep.

Background: we have a 2018 Tacoma TRD OR, with 3" lift, stock GoodYear tires. We attempted trail 110 toward the mill on June 8th. We made it through the first water crossing relatively easy, but the water was pretty high and flowing fast. Water came over the hood briefly, but was probably an average depth of 2-3ft. Soon after the water crossing the snow drifts began. We didn't make it too far before burying the truck to the door frames in snow. 30 minutes later, after digging out, using maxtrax and Crawl Control, we were turned around and heading back the way we came. We were probably the only ones to attempt this far, this season. I think the river crossing was intimidating, but the snow was the real issue. As of June 9th, this trail was not passable and there is a good amount of snow melt to come so the river crossings will probably get harder for the next month or so. Overall, we loved this trail and all of the dispersed camping options! Definitely excited to come back, make it to the mill, and do some more camping.

Trail was mostly clear until waypoint 7 when it became consistently snow packed and icy. There is a short hill climb in this area that had me sliding around enough that I chose not to continue. Hiked the rest of the way and found the road to be drive able from waypoints 8 to 10. I started earlier in the morning when the trail also had lots of ice on it, but by the early afternoon it had warmed up enough that ice wasnt too much of a concern anymore and the road was drive able with good tires. Interestingly the first creek crossing was a good 6" deep from the recent melting snow fall. Also note that the Champion Mill is off limits now and appears to be getting restored.

Trail was quite scenic with more camping opportunities than I could have imagined. I drove only the Champion side. The green gate has been torn down presumably by vandals. There is however a small Trail sign indicating no motorized vehicles allowed. This late in the season the water crossings were only ankle-deep.

Right Side of the Trail was open all the way up to the Mill. The gate to the Mill was unlocked and open. 1 Large water crossing about 2-3' deep right at the Mount Massive Trail Head. Once you got through the water you had the entire area to yourself. I did not take the left side but have heard it is not passable as of yet.