Slaughterhouse Road (aka Slaughterhouse Gulch)

This trail is open, though there may be areas of deep snow. Only travel if you have the means to make it through.

10" of snow in Bailey this weekend. For this trail, I call that impassible. You 40" tire bros could give it a shot, I suppose. Just PLEASE stay the trail and try not to rut it out for the rest of us. I can't imagine it will be long before the gates are locked to protect the trail.

The USFS is doing prescribed burns in the area (just north of the trail, in Harris Park). The trail is still open, but don't be surprised if you see a LOT of smoke nearby.

Living just 10 minutes away, I’ve been eyeing this trail for some time. I completed it in roughly 1 hour and 20 minutes, pausing occasionally. The difficulty rating is accurate. Optional routes add excitement but can be more challenging in wet conditions. I engaged the rear-locker a few times during climbs to prevent slipping. While the trail is enjoyable, most scenic views are clustered near the start, before the loop begins. It’s a solid choice for a few hours of adventure, but even more stunning trails can be found deeper in the mountains.

It's a fun trail; however, it gets sporting between waypoints 11 and 14. I traveled the trail counterclockwise. There are several puddles, with some about 12" deep. The bottom seems solid, and there's no issue crossing any puddle. Some erosion has made some ruts seem deeper, but they are still fine to pass over. There is one pucker spot, if I recall right; after waypoint 12, there's an unnerving bend that places you off camber at the top of a short but steeper incline. Stay to the left and cut right - you'll be fine. This trail is rated as a three but I suggest it's bumped to a low four. Perhaps erosion has exposed more material, but it seemed more difficult.

I ran this today. What a fun trail. I will definitely be back. There was almost no water this late in the season. There are bypasses to the harder obstacles. There was a fair bit of logging traffic until the loop. After that I saw 1 SxS and 1 jeep.

A fun and clear skies kinda day. Nothing too crazy and not very much mud this late in the season.

Really cool trail. Not insanely rocky, steep, narrow or off camber but there are some elements of each at parts of the trail and they all come together in places for some tricky areas. I bypassed one obstacle that looked near a 5/6 off the main trail because I was alone. Otherwise did it in stock rubi, 33s aired down. No lockers but wouldn’t love doing parts of this trail without 4L.

Had the entire trail to myself on a drizzly Sunday evening. Lots of little challenging spots but definitely still moderate. There were lots of great camping spots with views that I'll return for in the future.

Great trail. Lots of challenging sections while going uphill and down. Focus is important.

Some new washouts compared to last year. Mandatory difficulty is approaching a 4, mostly due to the Rocky climb shown in the trail guide. Solid trail for a lightly modified high clearance 4x4. Beware of OHV traffic due to accessibility and parking for trailers, and proximity to Denver.

It's been years since I ran this but had a blast with 5 other trucks. A popular trail but saw only a Bronco and two motorcycles on a sunny Saturday. Enjoyed the flexy spots will be back again!

Lots of exciting ‘rock features’!!! Had a blast on our Yamaha Sport side by side- novice but had loads of fun w a few “wooooooo hoooo”moments!!!

Son and I took our Yamaha YXZ 1000 SE through this exciting trail today. We didn’t meet anyone - 100% ZIPPING w out traffic. The logging roads looked fun but we stayed off due to signage. Out UTV handled it well- only slid down on the skid plate once. We are novice and we’re plenty thrilled w the ‘rock features’!!!

Got on trail today after brief rain showers had moved through the Hwy 285 area. Fun trail with some challenges but nothing too hard. There were a few mud puddles including the large one at the bottom of the loop. Good day to wheel and not too many people out.

Just ran this trail and it’s surprisingly dry! It seems easier than I recall from a few years ago.

Ran this trail with a large group today (local club, 17 trucks). Hot and dusty even though there were plenty of mud puddles. I think this trail has degraded in the last year or two. I would call it a 4 or 5 even on the bypasses. Between waypoints 12 and 13 there are several unavoidable obstacles that might be too much for a rookie in a stock truck. The hardest line at waypoint 12 is easily a 6.

Love this trail. Today was a little damp from the recent rain but not too muddy. Was able to test out my new 35s and lift on my gladiator. Great optional lines that are pretty difficult in some areas.

So much fun! Did this for the first time today. Great spot to test your rig, went this morning around 8am and no one was up there. Lots of mud and deep ruts but nothing a good driver can’t handle. I feel like this trail gets a lot of hype for being hard and it’s really not. Just take your time and you’ll be set, even with the optional obstacles. Looking forward to doing this again.

Trail is wet and muddy due to all the recent rain. All but one in my group needed lockers in some sections due to how wet it was today. Lots of mud holes, especially towards the beginning and end. Some areas have deep rutting and may bump up the difficulty rating to a 4. No real issues, but did scrape my engine skid plate a couple times in a Stock 2022 Tacoma Off Road.

Ran Slaughterhouse today as a shake-out on my truck. Most of the trail is dry. There are a lot of big puddles (Please take these slow. Splashing mud kills the vegetation along the trail.) and the very bottom of the loop is still muddy. The big rocky hill is just damp or dry, no issues with mud. The logging operation is in full swing. They've added a road that cuts through the loop.

Great day on the trail. Be prepared for mud.

3rd gen tacoma TRD ORD 33s no problems. Trail was a little damp but not really muddy.

Trail is open for the season

Ran it on 5/6 no snow on the trail. The ruts in a few spots have gotten deep. Overall a lot of fun.

Fun trail, did it solo for the first time yesterday and honestly felt like I sandbagged myself a bit based on the rating. I took almost all the bypasses and everything was pretty chill until a spot that isn't labelled on here that is a little ways past 12. Looking at videos of the past it appears this section has gotten much harder and is now a wall that I'm guessing I couldn't have done due to no lockers in my 98 4runner. The bypass however is quite off camber and requires very wise line choice. I looked at both and honestly wasn't feeling super comfy with either. I wasn't quite sure what to do and wanted to call a friend but didn't have signal so I attempted to start hiking up the hill trying to find signal and ended up running into a guy at a campsite who helped me assess the situation and spotted me. I took the bypass and while it was very unnerving he said I wasn't close to tipping (I'm still pretty new to off camber stuff and that was byfar the most off camber I've tried). All in all I'm very impressed with my open diff 5 speed 4runner, she handled all the super steep sections quite well without even slipping tires. Next time I definitely want to do this trail with others and try some of the harder obstacles. I would honestly say this trail is harder than 3 taking all the bypasses right now. Perhaps things have changed over the winter with it. Once again, I'm still fairly new though so maybe I've just been on a bunch of 3 trails that should have been 2s. Almost forgot to add, the trail is now very dry. There's 2 mud pits and that's it. The latter one can be bypassed.

Slaughterhouse Gulch is open for the season!! Rangers report that it's still very muddy, so things like the mud pits along this trail could be treacherous. Use caution and enjoy the season!

Rangers checked out the trail yesterday and found it to still be too muddy to open for the season. Respect the closure and fo not drive around gates. Rangers have been out giving tickets to people.

Closed for the year, see you next season!

Awesome trail. Moderate for sure specially if you stay right. Ran it clockwise. Some icy spots in shades. The mud holes are frozen and phat trucks will break through. Some cool ledgy areas which were great. Not many people on trail which made it for a great day.

This trail was a blast! From beautiful views to deep mud (now ice) holes and super rutted and rocky steep inclines - it has it all! Built jeep had no issue even on the harder lines, but did throw a decent wave on the big hill after the mud holes (left turn at big open space), so make sure to walk and know your line. Several equally steep but not as deeply rutted hills after that so newer drivers would benefit from going with a more experienced driver or at least having a copilot that knows how to spot. There was a little snow and ice throughout but is completely manageable without any slipping or sliding. Already thinking of heading back out in the next few days since I enjoyed it so much! I would rate it at a high 3 but if the snow and ice was much deeper I could see it becoming a high 4/low 5.

Fun Loop. Lived in the area for 9 years and this was always a great default fun trail to take it easy or hard.

Fun loop, pretty dry overall and not crowded.

Awesome trail. Even the difficult sections were mostly moderate. Completed pretty easily in my stock Gladiator with trac-lock and aired down.

Great trail, my first time. Many OHV's. Also my first trail with Gx470. Also my outside CV exploded on uphill I couldn't go around. This is at least a 4 because of that. I was somehow able to get out with only rear wheel drive and a busted front axle. Also I have no lift, but have skid plates. Scraped a few times but not bad. Think I'll be getting a Jeep, IFS is crap.

This was my first time on this trail. It was a fun 2 hours. Not too much imbedded rock, which was nice for CO. I am marking this harder than a 3 as there are just enough larger rocks (plus the mudhole) that a stock vehicle may really have some trouble. It gets pretty steep in places and I used my locker twice which I rarely ever need. I was worried I was going to get stuck when entering the mudhole based on the approach angle as my front skid and bumper started sinking in (once I got passed the entrance it was no problem). I would give it a 3.5 or 4 for difficulty. Funtreks marks it as difficult. Bringing traction boards is probably a good idea. I am sure I will return.

Ran this counter clockwise 9/30. Trail was in good shape. Water seems to have dried up a good bit but still has the usual mud holes. The main mud hole departure angle has improved quite a bit from previous reports. Aspen's we're vibrant and trail was beautiful. The "hill" was super fun as always. When in doubt take the hard line out, lol.

Really fun trail with a lot of optional harder lines. I took all the harder lines and never scraped (2" lift, 31" tires). The mud sections were all very doable in 4 lo. Lots of dirt bikes.

This loop was a blast. We ran it a couple times this morning. Got to the trailhead about 8:30, we were pretty much the only ones there. On our way out, we saw several full sized vehicles heading to the trail. I'm really happy we got there early. The trail is a 2 in difficulty at most, throughout 90% of the trail, with only a couple optional rock sections that might make it a 4-5. Regarding the mud rut at the bottom of the loop that a previous reviewer mentioned, we didn't find it to be hard. It is very rutted out, but had no trouble getting out of it in our rzrs.

I love this trail but I am writing this review to let people know of an obstacle that has gotten deeply rutted out. I ran this counter clockwise and toward the bottom of the trail there is a very deep mud hole that has grown a pretty steep approach angle. After last weeks rains it appeared to have calved off quite a bit of the approach. I sunk down up to my axels and had to winch out. I ran this in my 2005 Jeep TJ with a 3 inch lift and 33s. Without winch or lockers I don't see this obstacle as passable. My brother followed me and made it through with some speed and lockers in his 2022 Bronco. If the approach angle and hole gets tracked out a bit more this will help this obstacle, I have run this track dozens of times but this is the hairiest I have seen this trail as far as an unavoidable obstacle.

Ran Slaughterhouse on Saturday morning around 9am. Minimal traffic to start the day. Trail is pretty straight forward except for a larger mud pit at the turn in the trail. It has become rutted out pretty bad and I ended up sitting on my skid plates. I had to use traction boards to get myself out. the rest of the trail is pretty straight forward with many different lines to choose from on the harder obstacles to still keep things interesting. Ran into the herd of cows who wander the area. Fun trail close to Denver. Parking lot was filling up when we finished up closer to noon.

Most of the trail is easy. The optional obstacle at wp8 and the uphill optional obstacles after wp12 were really the only fun spots. Took all the hardest lines and optional obstacles and made it without issue in my 07 4Runner with 2.5 in. Lift, 35’s and open diffs. Got to the trail head about 8 in the morning on a Saturday and didn’t see a single person on the trail (other than people camping) but once I got back to the trail head when I was done there was a lot of people going out and a lot of people at the loaf n jug getting ready.

Busy but fun trail. Lots of lines from easy to hard to be taken. Snowed on us a bit but only for 10min. Nice deep mud holes.

Mile Hi Jeep Club Patrol 4 put on their annual Greenhorn run of Slaughterhouse gulch Saturday 5/28/2022. Great run had a great time weather was perfect trail is not hard i think more visually technical than it is difficult most of even the harder stuff can be achieved easily with good tire placement and right amount of Horsepower. This trail is close to home in Denver so makes for a fun day of wheelin fairly short amount of time. I am told that this trail later in the day gets lots of razors and Motorcycles we saw a few.

Forest Service ran the trail on Friday and found conditions dry enough to lift the mid season closure for 101 and 105. Slaughterhouse is now open for the season. FYI, the FS clear several downed trees from recent winds. If you plan to run this trail, be prepared to clear any trees that might fall across the trail if we get more winds.

Still closed as of 5/1.

I checked today…gate is closed.

Spoke with the ranger today and they inspected Slaughterhouse yesterday and said the trail system is still too snowy and too muddy to open for the season. They will revisit in a couple of weeks.

Closed until June 15 for calving.

The trail is closed for the season! See you next season.

As mentioned from the day before, the trail is still open and 100% passable. There was maybe an inch of fresh snow from the night before and most of the trail was bare dirt; very unusual for this time of year. I felt the rating was spot on for the trail. For stock SUVs, pickups, and new off readers, this is a good trail to hone your skills. If you have a moderate to highly built vehicle, don't expect any challenges here. There are a few sort of steep hills, and a handful of flexy sections to twist your suspension, but no major obstacles and just random boulders and mud holes. At waypoint 12, there is a 100 yard spur heading south that does stop at fencing and not mentioned here, but it would make for a fantastic campsite, and is clearly used a lot for such. Also, above waypoint 12 is where I found the most fun spots. There are some deep washouts to really twist up the suspension.

Trail is definitely still open until January 1st. Very little snow which is a bummer but also not slippery either.

The seasonal closure of Slaughterhouse does not begin until Jan 1 per the Forest Service. You can find the document backing that up here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd672409.pdf

Closed for the season! See you in 2022!

The washouts & dips have gotten deeper over the season with plenty of rocky sections throughout. This trail is typically stock-friendly, however at present some stock trucks might run into issues, especially in winter conditions. I agree with the previous review from Trint; the baseline difficulty for the trail should be bumped up to a 4 rating.

This was my third time running Slaughterhouse and as always, it was a great time. There are plenty of obstacles throughout the trail that will test your vehicle and line choice but almost all of them are pretty easy and/or have bypasses. In between Waypoints 12 & 13 are some deep "holes" (not sure that's even the best way to describe them) that will really test your suspension if you're up for it; I would imagine the only vehicles that can do the hardest of those holes are the ones on 40s, though. Overall, I love this trail and will be doing it time and time again when I feel like staying close to the city but still want to do some fun wheeling.

I saw JD's review and since this trail is just a few miles from my house, I wanted to see how it looked. There's still one paper sign about the closure, but no barricades and all gates are open. Rather than repair the washout, the FS just created a bypass and blocked the bad section. There are a LOT of new water breaks throughout the trail, some of them are huge, so watch your break-over angle. They added one huge water break that cuts all the way across the big rocky hill on the south side of the loop. That should make some lines more ... interesting. There is plenty of new weathering here and there, notice the pic of the mini-wash out down by the bottom parking area (between WP 11 and 12). I agree with others, the south side of the loop has gotten a lot rougher and the rock obstacles are pretty gnarly. Even the bypasses are pretty rough, but still doable in a stock truck. I'm not sure a 3 really cuts it anymore. Maybe a 4. We ran across a hunter in a stock Ford Expedition (on street tires) who got himself hung up trying to turn around (right at WP 7). We were able to yank him out and get him turned around. (No pictures to protect his dignity. ;) )

We have been advised that the Forest Service has repaired the damage and that signage and barricade blocking the trail has been removed.

Went there yesterday (Aug 30) and did the left half. The trail is a lot rougher than before the rains. The barricade for right half is still up. There was a bulldozer cutting rain diversion bumps on the left half. Did not try right half.

Wish I'd see JD's post below before I went up there. Talked to a 4x4 training group guide there, in theory you can run it and stay left at the split, but near the top is a waist-deep washout (they had photos of people standing in it) that's pretty gnarly. As of today they said the forest service closure ordered is drafted, but not signed, so will be in effect soon. Best to avoid until repair work has been done and it's legal to ride again.

Received word from a rescue group that there is currently a washout on the trail making it impassable. This trail status will get updated as soon as we get confirmation of repair.

Ride an 01 XJ, front and rear lockers, 6inch lift and 33s. Got there early on a Saturday, was quiet but def had more showing up as I finished. Went counter clockwise. This is my second season wheeling, not a veteran by any means, thought parts were difficult and used lockers a few times, may not have been necessary. Overall well worthy trail to test your rig and driving skills. Took about 3 hours but we also stopped and scouted a few camp sites. Once your on Saddlestring Rd, don’t turn off till your at the parking lot, all private drives with little turnaround options.

This was our first time taking this trail. I absolutely love this trail. This one is definitely on my favorites list.

A perennial favorite, this is usually one of the first more-interesting trails to open for the season. We went at night and we had the trail to ourselves. Very fun.

Probably won't do this trail ever again. Single lane trail that loops back to where you start. Tons of traffic, slow vehicles, stopped for many minutes at a time waiting for vehicles, and full sized pickups who had a lot of trouble going over some of the off-camber spots. Maybe it was just the day we went but it was definitely nothing to write home about IMO.

Fantastic trail!

Open for the season.

The seasonal mud closure is now in effect. This closure is in effect until June 15th, or until conditions are dry enough for the Forest Service to open the gates for the year.

The seasonal closure of this trail started today.

Open until Jan 1 for seasonal closure. Broke an axle shaft on back side. Very icy!

Ran this before it closed for the year. Snow wasn’t bad. Definitely icy on the backside and had to take a few runs to get up the hills.

I tried this trail today. I would be very cautious doing this trail with snow, there's a very steep hill at one point I made it halfway up and started sliding back down, I would not attempt this again with snow on the ground.

Lots of snow, lots of ice. Very slippery and sketchy conditions. Don't head in here alone. I stopped at waypoint 2 and walked a ways in, down the counterclockwise direction. Didn't see any tracks heading that way or coming back out. Saw a few trucks come out from the clockwise direction where there were a lot of tracks.

We ran counterclockwise. A little icy in the shade but nothing we couldn’t handle. Gorgeous day and no one else on the trail. GX470 lifted and locked 1st Gen Sequoia lifted

We ran this trail with John from our crew to get updated photos and videos, enjoy this great little trail while it's in season!

Calvary 4-Wheelers ran Slaughterhouse Gulch as part of our Fall Fiesta on Saturday, October 17. We had 4 rigs along for the day a stock TJ, a stock JK, a lifted XJ and a lifted TJ. We had not originally planned this trail as part of the day'a run but, when Wellington Lake and Stoney Pass turned out to be graded gravel and we finished before noon, we decided something slightly harder was in order. Slaughterhouse fit the bill perfectly as it was difficult enough to challege the stock rigs but not so hard as to be out of their league. We did bypass a couple of the hardest obstacles and took easier lines on a few more so, if you have a more built rig, you can make it harder. It was a beautiful day although a little cool and breezy and it balanced out the easy morning very well.

Awesome trail! I did the loop counter-clockwise as it is in the GPX file. Glad I did it in this direction. The steep hill at waypoint 5 caught me off guard; easy up until this point. I'm still learning how to off-road and this was by far the steepest I've done. A few other spots were a bit technical but I was able to make my way through it all. There are definitely a few more technical lines on the trail and all but a couple have an easier way around them. I will be back for more!

Fun trail. Not as scenic as others but fun. Has some challenges and close to home!

Great trail. I had the trail to myself in the afternoon, passed 3 UTVs and one SUV. Since I was alone, I didn't tackle the hill at waypoint 12 after spinning my wheels on both the left and right approach (locker would come in handy there), which meant I ended up driving most of the trail both directions. I found it more challenging going backwards from the description on this website, but most of the optional obstacles were most fun following the directions. The only remaining big puddle has a pretty rutted out drop on one side, which is a bit deceptive. Wasn't too back driving up it though. Some serious stuff to play on here if you want to give your vehicle a test. Not for a beginner or someone with a stock vehicle in my opinion. Came out with no dings or scratches to speak of. 2018 Wrangler JL, 2.5" lift, 35" Duratracs

Very fun trail. Lots of different terrain and beautiful views from the top. Video is only for the first 20 minutes or so. To see all my videos go to: JSnowMoto on Youtube

First time on this trail and we live a quarter mile away from it ... go figure . Anyhow we were both surprised by the diversity of this trail . Easy tree lined and meadow areas to some pretty challenging steep rutted climbs with flex potential. Conditions were dry and were still some mud holes . Overall I see the allure of this trail by the number of 4x4 vehicles we always see coming down 43 to jump into this fun trail .

This is such a fun trail and a great place to test out your rig. All of the difficult obstacles are avoidable, but at least give them a try to see what you are capable of.

Ran Slaughterhouse with Wranglers, Cherokees, and Renegades. Fun trail for all kinds of vehicles. We did all the optional obstacles. Used this TrailsOffRoad guide to help me film the video guide linked here.

Fun, not to many people there. There was one section (up hill) I had to put it into 4x4. Otherwise it was a nice cool day with family. Not much mud there, there was one puddle that looks super deep but it was only about 12" deep. Felt like sand under water wasn't very soft. I think it was about a 2 hour trip.

Fun trail. The right amount of cruising and obstacles. Definitely not as busy during the week, we only saw a few people. It took us a couple hours to finish.

Spent my 60th birthday social distancing with my buddy, did this loop. It's fun either direction you take it. During the week we only encountered one group of MX'rs, twice. Great day. Enough adventure to keep you busy.

Our club decided to do this trail on a Sunday knowing that this is a popular trail close to the Denver metro area hoping that it wouldn't be busy but I guess everyone else had the same idea! Overall this trail is easy and a great experience for a beginner but still allowing for some more challenging obstetrical for the more experienced drivers. Even though the trail was busy, it was a great day on the trail!

Great day on the trail. Mostly pretty easy going with a few intense spots make for a very fun trail. Completed the loop in a stock 2019 Tacoma.

We took our Rzr out today to shake out the new suspension and tires. Gorgeous weather. Had a blast! The trail is very dusty. Stage 2 fire restrictions. FYI, the metal sign at the trailhead is knocked over. If there hadn't been a group of Jeeps there, we might have missed it.

Overall a fun trail that allows for picking which difficulty level you want. Lots of bypasses on the bigger obstacles and a few smaller obstacles with no bypasses. Took me 2 hours total.

This was my first trail in Colorado and it was perfect for getting my feet wet! Did the trail counter clockwise no problem in my '03 Forester with a 1.5" lift and highway tires. Definitely took some good line choices in a Subaru, but overall it was just challenging enough to be fun! Completed the supplied .gpx file in just under 2 hours which included getting out for video clips and smelling the roses. Great quick loop if you're looking to get out of the house.

Close to my house, offers multiple choices for varying difficulty.

Unlike other reviews below, I officially reached out to the Forest Service rangers and asked about the mud season closures, as others have been lifted. FS responded that Slaughterhouse is indeed open for the season.

The trail is not open! Just because the gate is open does not mean you can use the trail. They keep it closed due to mud season, otherwise the trail gets damaged. Please wait for it to open. This is how trails get closed permanently.

This trail is open (see Ryan's review below with a note from the Forest Service.) We had a great time! We are fairly new to off-reading and our Wrangler is stock (no lift) with 33" tires - we definitely experienced some more "technical" parts of the trail but had a blast! We went early in the morning (started around 7:30 AM) and by the time we were heading out, the trail was filling up quickly.

The trail is technically closed since it's a Platte District forest access trail (Blanket "mud season" closure till June due to C19); however due to private ranch land access, the gate is kept open except Jan - Mar (wildlife recovery time), and is fully accessible. Dozens of rigs, OHVs, etc. out today. Ran the full loop in an hour on a 2-up utility quad w/ over-sized tires. Definitely some rough areas due to grade in places, a few seasonal snowmelt stream crossings to splash watery mud all over you. As always, please stick to the trail, don't abuse the access especially when off-road areas are limited due to COVID currently. Note: USFS fire ban is in effect till May 31st, please keep that in mind if you camp out.

Forest Order PISCC-2020-07 seasonal closure for "mud season" runs from April 1 to June 15, 2020, or until rescinded. Here are links to the order (https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd712842.pdf) and to the map and list of roads/trails (https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd712843.pdf).

- Platte District has closed majority of their access roads until June 15th for "mud season" mitigation, most likely COVID19 measures to reduce traffic Went up end of February on a utility quad, can do about half the loop before it gets too treacherous for even built rigs. Ran into a SXS driver who snapped a 3500lb winch cable trying to get their RZR unstuck and gave them a ride down the mountain. Drifts are easily 1.5'+ in the shade, while sunny areas may be clear all the way down to mud and rock. Gated now to motor vehicles, should be 100% clear in June when it re-opens.

Ran the loop counter clockwise, snow pack and ice. Once you get to the bottom of the loop and start heading back up the hill is slick. Skinny pedal and good tires will get you through. There were downed trees on the way out but someone managed to get though and cut them all making it wide enough for a Jeep any bigger you might end up having to push some trees out of your way. Deeper snow on the east side of the loop about 8" plus or minus in areas. Made it out without a winch or lockers. Did not try some of the harder obstacles due to snow but great fun. Cant wait to get back at it.

Ran counter clockwise good amount of snow/ice in several spots but passable with winch, lockers or good running start. Downed trees mentioned by Erik appeared to have been very recently cleared. Overall trail mediocre but snow/ice made it better and challenging. Doubt I'd return to run it again on clear day.

Trail impassable due to snow and downed trees. We went right at the loop. No trouble getting up the first hill. We went down the long hill and went maybe another mile or so before running into someone headed the other way. They said there were large trees blocking the trail that they weren't able to cut/winch off the trail and that the snow was very deep. We turned around and got stuck trying to get back up the long hill. There was a full locked jeep on 35 M/Ts that got stuck around the same point and had to winch out. I was able to make slow progress shoveling and using Maxtrax, but with only an LSD and without a winch, I had to call Colorado 4x4 Rescue and Recovery. I would not recommend going anywhere further than the top of the first hill without a winch or if you don't feel like using your winch.

Slaughterhouse always presents a new line that I didn’t notice the time before...Thanks to the dirt bikers who spotted me and saved my mirror from destruction

Went up this trail with Matt from On Trail Training (https://www.ontrailtraining.com/) as part of a 4x4 101 course. Highly recommend, and this is trail he uses for instruction. Learned a helluva lot about my rig, trail, and 4x4'ing in general. Most of it was pretty normal going, although a few difficult patches that you need to have some good lines on to transverse. Can always sidestep the hard parts. Dirt bikes were in the vicinity, so be aware of those.

What a blast!! Took a few friends who had never been off roading before and it was the perfect trail for showing off. I took all the hard lines and ended up being saved once by my sliders, but still managed to damage my rear bumper. You can go around the hard lines so this is a perfect trail for a mixed group with varying skills/rigs.

Great trail! It was challenging enough to keep me interested but not so hard that I was stressed about breaking stuff, if you have a wide vehicle I would be concerned about damadge, also be prepared for pinstripes. I drive a xterra on a 2" lift and 265 tires with open diffs and never high centered or got stuck.

I went up to this trail to test out my new rear axle and locker setup. It's close to Denver, full of pretty scenery, and the "hard" lines will give you a chance to test out your equipment. It took about 2 hours for me, but I stopped a few times to let my dogs run around a bit. Have fun!

First off, thanks to the Jeep club for maintaining this trail; it's in great shape and is very clean! My wife and I drove the trail today in lifted '18 Rubicon and had zero problems on all areas. Daryl's review below is absolutely spot on...I agree with everything he said. One addition -- for those who like to stop for scenic lunches, there's a great pull-out to the right at about 5.9 miles that is the best along the entire route. (assuming you start your mileage as soon as you turn off of CR43 onto Saddlestring Road and go RIGHT at the loop, or counterclockwise which is the recommended direction) Next review I'll add some photos if I can figure out how!

I ran this trail with Mile-Hi Jeep Club Patrol 14 on Saturday. The trail is snow free the entire route. The backside of the loop (if you start the loop by taking a right at the fork) is the best part of this trail, especially with a rocky, fun climb. The rest of the trail is mainly a dirt road. If I were rating portions of the trail, most of the trail is worthy of 2 stars, unless you're driving a stock vehicle; and, the rocky climb beginning with the 3 optional hill climbs is 4 stars. This is a great trail for those wanting to stretch their new (or new to them) 4x4 SUV or truck. There are bypasses around anything that will make you too uncomfortable.

Ran this last night, trail is in great shape and drier than I expected.

Awesome trail, my 2.5" lifted 4runner had no issues anywhere and my buddies and I were the only ones up there.

Gate is still closed by the forest service. Hopefully things dry up and the closure can be lifted before 5/31! More info on mud season road closures in the area here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd611536.pdf

This trail always offers some fun obstacles combined with some pretty scenic views. At times, there can be a decent number of ATV and side-by-side runners, which makes for a decent amount of dust, but the trail never fails to impress. Watch your tire placement on a few of the downhill rock obstacles, near the early side of the loop. I smacked my rear bumper on a few spots, but nothing too scary. There are typically bypasses for most of the tough obstacles, but still, it's a fun trail to run. Enjoy!

Dry had a few stock tacoma that completed the trail. Recommend not having running boards when going through the obsticals. A few more obsticals than last year, 2 new areas to fully flex out your suspension.

Pictures don't really do justice to some of the obstacles on this trail. I, for the most part, am a pick the easiest route kind of offroader(my trial rig is my daily driver), but you could put up some decent challenge on a couple of sections of this trail. We drove through in a Stock 2014 JKU Rubicon. One of the mud holes was steep enough that we scraped the rear bumper on the way in. There were a few rocks that we took careful lines over, and once the breakover angle of the longer wheelbase caused a small scrape on the skid plates inbetween the wheels. There was also one section on the way between waypoint 5 and 6 that was very steep and the main trail looked tougher than the bypass, but the bypass, getting back to the main trail was VERY tippy. In other words this is a pretty cool, varied trail, No shelf roads to freak you out, but challenges can be ramped up to test out your line selection and your rigs capability. There are some steep sections, that will be different depending which way you are running the trail, both directions will have some steep ups and downs. We choose to run it the counterclockwise direction which is how the waypoints are setup. Most of the trail is pretty narrow so keep watch for oncoming traffic to make sure you have room to pass. A fun half day Trip from Denver. We left around 9 and were back at 1:30.

Love this trail a few spots were a little interesting but overall a great time.

Trail is open, mud holes are pretty dry. I bought a new rig to build this year and took er out to try before the build actually begins... Made it both directions with stock xj suspension and a set of 28" (235/75/15) BFGs.

Trail is open per the South Platte ranger district. The mud season closure is not a set dates closure. If conditions allow, the road can be opened, like it is now.

Went up there today to test out some things. The forest service has posted a plain white sign that says trail closed April through May even though the gate is open. According to someone I met at the trailhead the Ranger was up the road about a mile handing out tickets. The sign has no official logo and no explanation as to why it's closed.

Very little snow, with an emphasis on little. Mostly Rocky and dry. Where there is frozen precipitation it's less than an inch (other than one decent sized puddle).

Very little snow, with an emphasis on little. Mostly Rocky and dry. Where there is frozen precipitation it's less than an inch (other than one decent sized puddle).

A few of us from CVOT made a veterans day run through slaughter house at around 9 a.m. To our surprise there was zero snow. The trail conditions were very dry loose rock and dirt

Due to the settlement for trail closures/usage for the PIke and San Isabel Forests, it looks like Slaughterhouse has been closed up for three months during the winter. This sign now exists at the trail.

This was a nighttime run on Halloween so we don't have any photos that will really do the trip justice or show anything about the trail. We encountered no snow and only one person got themselves high-centered but easily winched off. Trail is as reported with no significant changes that I can report.

We started the morning with 8 Tacomas, and quickly went down to 6 after helping out a stuck vehicle and getting the first two trucks down the hill towards the loop. No one enjoyed this section. There is a lot of ice on this first section, so keep in 1st gear, 4 low, and stay off the brakes. The climbs between waypoints 2 and 3, as well as 5 and 6 were manageable and did not present a major challenge for any of the rigs, as there wasn't much snow in these spots. There was a mix of snow and mud on the rest of the trail, but no new obstacles since the write-up.

This trail is great to view leaves in the fall!