Pole Hill

Ran this along with the Solitude Creek and Panorama Peak trails. The pockets of aspen were showing color pretty good and the trail was moderately busy but plenty of pullout spots and most everyone was courteous. This was my first run with my new to me JL Rubicon and it obviously handled everything very well, even in its stock form. Saw anything from built jeeps on 37s to stock F150s and even a somewhat built Subaru crosstrek on the trail.

Easy, fun trail with amazing views!

Did this one in the misting rain along with the Solitude Creek and Panorama Peak. The rain made it a bit more of a challenge but tons of fun. Some areas can be more challenging if you want them to be. We saw a tour vehicle from Estes a couple times but it was never over crowded. The three trails combined made for a pretty full day. There are also cutoffs off the main trail that you can try if you have the time.

First time, lots of fun. Go early. Rocky, narrow in parts. Bronco Badlands, Sasquatch - navigated in 4 Low and 4 High. Good times.

Fun trail, there are easier lines if your loaded down with camp gear but also challenging lines if that’s what your in the mood for. There are a lot of cheesy Jeep tours on this trail.

According to the Canyon Lakes Ranger District, this trail is open for the season!

FYI… the Pole Hill trail is closed until July 1st as of this review. It will be open July- September in 2022. You can park and hike it in the meantime.

Closed for the season! See you in 2022!

Closed to the same Fire Restrictions that have closed other trails in the area. No date mentioned of when it might be open again.

The start of the trail is the hardest part - rocky, but lifted full-size pickups were doing it while we were there. A scrape or two on the stock JL Rubicon in our group, but otherwise no issues. Very nice, mellow ride.

Great trail for fall colors.

Great challenging trail to test out my new 04 Silverado. I definitely wouldn’t take anything stock out here besides a Jeep or Tacoma. I’ve got a 2” lift but stock size off-road tires but have been off-roading for 10 years. I didn’t touch my body except the rear hitch when taking an optional hard side route after the first hill. Airing down highly recommended as it’s bumpy though you will probably get by fine if you don’t unless it’s wet. Trail starts off pretty tough so you will figure out quickly if it’s the right difficulty for you. Easy and hard paths possible as it’s pretty wide in the beginning. Be kind out there and let faster vehicles pass

Fun trail, made it through with a stock 2011 Tacoma and a 2006 4runner on 33s,

A fun place to run up to and run through not far from civilization. Good for checking a rig over for problems.

Really enjoyed this trail. All of the obstacles were pretty easy (4Runner on 33's with a 3" lift) but still provided enough of a challenge to be fun.

fun trail, just as described in video, fyi you cannot drive up to panoramic peak, it is a private road and not much of a view if you hike up there. great views of Estes just past the first rough spot on road

Great trail for a partial day trip. My buddy with minimal experience had no issues with his stock JK (no skids or rock sliders) when taking the easier lines. The beginning of the trail is rocky though - You might want to air down or just go slow to soften those rocky bumps.

Great trail close to town and a cool place to watch the Estes Fireworks show from

I contacted the local District ranger this morning. She advised that the trail is are now open. Happy wheeling!!!

Although this trail is scheduled to open annually on June 15, the USFS still shows it closed for the season. We will keep this guide updated as USFS information becomes available.

This trail is now outside of the Cameron Peak fire closure and was open for the last few weeks. However, the seasonal closure starts on Dec 1st.

Trail was open with packed snow and some mud. There were a handful of hikers and 4 Jeeps airing up in the small parking lot. We had a fun afternoon with the family before ending the evening in Estes Park.

Favorite trail system on the front range thus far! I've run it a few times - twice in stock Cherokee KL Trailhawk, and today with a 2" spacer lift. Taking the easy routes, this trail is totally do-able in a stock Cherokee! Heck, even some of the tougher routes can be navigated without much strain. It does certainly provide a great challenge though! This is the perfect trail for someone who's gotten a bit comfortable on the easier routes and is looking to test their stuff. It'd be pretty difficult to get into a dangerous or damaging situation along this trail. In the stock config, I only hit the skid plates once when I slipped off my chosen line on an unavoidable obstacle (just after waypoint 3). I also tried a more difficult optional line going up the first hill and ended up getting my control arm wedged between a couple rocks. Needed a recovery :/. The trail was full of Jeeps and thankfully a crew stopped to offer a pull. Speaks more to my inexperience and bravado than the difficulty of the trail. If you stick to the easy routes (left line going up the first climb), there will be absolutely no problem clearing this trail in a stock Cherokee KL or similar. That first hill looks pretty daunting, but really isn't all that bad. And once you get past that, it's easy sailing. This was my first venture with the Hazard Sky 2" spacer lift kit installed. Big, big difference! Took some tougher lines on the way down and had no issue whatsoever. Today had about 2" of snow on the trail, which made the trip a whole lot more interesting. A bit of slipping around, but still no real problems navigating any obstacles. Also the camping is not bad at all. Tons of sites! A lot of the sites are pretty close to the road, but some get you way out of the way. In either event, there are incredible views of Estes Park at all of them! My friend joined me in his stock Super Duty and had absolutely no difficulties.

Due to the Cameron Peak forest fire, The USFS has closed the entire Canyon Lakes Ranger District in the Roosevelt National Forest. This trail will likely be closed for the remainder of the 2020 season. A copy of the map for the closure area can be found here.

This was a great trail, with a couple loops that connect. All trails offered a decent challenge for my stock Jeep TJ and great views. Each trail had great little obstacles. Trail was mostly dry with a few patches of mud. Great find, since most if not all trails up north are closed due to the Cameron Peak Fire. Only thing I would say is that there were quite a few tours, but nothing crazy and easy to get around.

great fun trail. I started probably around 3:00 so I had to wait for a few of the tours to come back down the hill but it was a great challenge for my lifted Subaru crosstrek. plenty of options for people wanting to test their rigs

Surprisingly, the trail was only lightly used today and most of the dispersed campsites were unused. Because the Cameron Peak forest fire has much of the Roosevelt National Forest closed, a trail in the Estes Park area was in order. Pole Hill has always been one of my favorite routes. If you don't mind driving down in the dusk or if you are camping, the sunset will be worth waiting for.

The first 1/4 mile of this trail will rattle your teeth, high clearance is a must and for God's sake go slow. It's a nice loop around and settles out after you make the first part.

Great trail! Ran the north loop only this time, but will be heading back to take on the south. Stock Cherokee Trailhawk did great with good line choice, but still found the skid plates once or twice... Great trail to test limits of the vehicle without worrying about getting truly in trouble. Trail etiquette is crucial for the big hill coming in and out of the area.

Great awesome trail, ran this and the two loops in a stock 02 suburban z71. As long as you know how to pick your lines you will make it all the way. Only thing I’ve done to the truck is removed sway bars. Your stock side steps will take some hits and scrapes but that’s it.

Super fun trail, especially for my first time!

According to the MVUM, Pole Hill is now open.

Still closed

Still closed as of today.

Great day wheeling. Trail was challenging with a little bit of snow and ice in the shadows. Only a few others on the trail.

Always one of my favorite trails. Earlier this year I put a 3.5" lift on my JL Rubicon. This was the first time I have run Pole Hill since the lift. The ride was spectacular! No bottoms, no rubs, no scrapes. The area received a little bit of rain the night before so no dust on the trail was an added bonus. Nothing better than running around the mountains topless.

Oh this trail is great. It's got some technical spots and some smooth spots. The views are good and the flowers were abundant. Traction wasn't an issue for me at any point. Some higher clearance spots that had to be spotted, however any vehicle with a lift will easily handle it.

Trail was great with a nice lack of people. It appears the snowfall for the year has made the beginning section a bit rougher. As well as the section between Waypoints 4 and 5 have gotten washed out a little and ruts are starting to form.

This trail is open for the season as of 6/15! https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/arp/recreation/?cid=stelprdb5300963

Gate is closed right after the junction of Pole Hill Road and Alpine Drive. Looks like the trail is not open yet. Was looking forward to this trail as I haven't ever done it.

Trail was dry on a beautiful sunny day. Saw half a dozen other rigs. We just bought our 02 TJ with a small lift on 33's and this was the second trail we've had it on. It was intimidating at first sight, be we put it in low and crawled up everything. We had a blast! My sister and her husband had their stock JKL Rubicon and has zero issues. We all agreed we wanted to come back and do it again. There's some great views, and this will probably be a good spot for seeing the leaves turn in a few weeks,

Trail was dry and open, it was a gorgeous day to be out on the trail! Surprisingly I only passed 2 vehicles and 2 campers, despite it being a beautiful weekend in the middle of summer.

After vandalism of the gate at Pole Hill, the USFS requested assistance from a local 4X4 group to repair the gate. After the repairs were done, we conducted a trail inspection of both loops of Pole Hill with the Forest Service. Several downed trees were cleared from the trail during the inspection. The local forest ranger decided that the trail needed to remain closed for a few more days to allow for the final snow melt and the opportunity for the trail to dry. Waiting for the right conditions helps to mitigate resource damage. The trail is expected to open this first week of June 2017.