Tincup Pass

Drove Tincup on Wednesday afternoon, September 11th. I was with a group of Land Cruisers from back east (Keystone Cruisers from Pennsylvania, and Capital City Land Cruiser Club from Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia). We found the St. Elmo side had some erosion and water puddles, but the erosion on the Tincup side was more pronounced, exposing more rocks. We took the "easier" route at Waypoint 8, avoiding the "Old Tincup" portion of the trail. Overall, nothing difficult but we did have issues with one carbureted truck due to elevation. Even with periodic stops to address carb/fuel delivery issues, we completed the trek from St. Elmo to Tincup in approximately 3 hours.

Traveled the Tincup Pass route from Tincup to St. Elmo on Tuesday August 20. Seconding what others have said, the route is in much worse shape than last year at about the same time. Boulders are much more pronounced, not a smooth spot anywhere except on the pass itself. We were passed by one family in a SxS who took the Old Tincup route, we saw them again at the pass and they said they came back out and up the "easier" route because it was so rough. Only about 6" of water on the trail at Mirror Lake, the water was so clear that we could see many trout swimming about. About 3 hours to make the trip in a Jeep JK Rubicon Unlimited on 33" tires. Thank goodness for MORE skid plates.

Compared to previous years trips, this year the road is in terrible condition. Previous reviews have hit the highlights, so these are my observations. Most of the bypasses around obstacles are just as bad as the main route. In past years where there has been a dirt road, is now all rocks. It took us 5 hours to go from St. Elmo to Tincup, way longer than in previous years.

Ran the trail from Tincup to St. Elmo in the rain. Mirror Lake crossing was no trouble. Maybe frame deep on our lowest clearance vehicle. As previously stated, hug the bank. Water runs down the trail nearly the entire route. Rocky but do-able with a stock vehicle. Excellent trail! Watch for moose.

Traveled from St. Elmo to Tincup and back. Beautiful views and the weather was perfect. Rented a Jeep (my K5 is back in So Cal for a one ton swap) and passed through Mirror Lake without issue - Jeep was a stock JKU without lift on Rubicon takeoff wheels/tires. Water was only to the rocker panels in one spot, all other areas were halfway up the wheel only. Avalanche damage on the way out of St. Elmo (east side of divide) was amazing to survey. Trees snapped through and or uprooted and deposited on the uphill opposing side of the valley. Simply amazing to see the result of that power. Thanks for all the reviews previously, it was great to know I could make it with the rental before heading up the trail.

Made it through all sections at Mirror Lake with a Jeep Sport with high clearance and 35" tires although stock can probably make it fine. I saw at least 20 vehicles make it all the way thru - stock and utvs. There are 3 sections of water with the third (going south to St. Elmo) being shallow and very short. My guess is that the water is not deeper than 20-22 inches at any point in the first two sections if you stay close but not necessarily hug the shoreline. There were many people there today.

Mirror lake is low enough that a Grand Cherokee can navigate it.

The trail is now snow free and can be driven all the way over. Mirror Lake is still flooded over the trail. Do not attempt to ford the water if you do not know the road.

Open all the way. Mirror lake was flooded still, but never more than 30". Stay to the right side and hug the bank!

You can't get from Tin Cup to St. Elmo. The road at Mirror Lake is under a reported 9 feet of water. Locals say it likely will not be passable this year.

This trail is perfect for the novice Jeeper. Start out early in St. Elmo and take the trail to Tincup. While in Tincup have lunch at Frenchy's Cafe.

Forest Order PSICC-2019-19 has now been rescinded. Thanks to Colorado Off Road Enterprise and Mile-Hi Jeep Club working with the Salida Ranger district to clear the avalanche debris that closed the trail on the St Elmo side. The trail is mostly clear with a few patches of snow and very wet conditions up to treeline at waypoint 6. From this point on, snow fields are almost constant with a few patches of dirt. Snow is extremely deep and off camber before ever approaching the switchbacks. Please be sure to stay on the trail and drive over snow drifts and not around them at all. On the Tincup side, the road has been reported as flooded out due to high water in Mirror Lake.

Per Forest Order PSICC-2019-19, Tincup Pass is closed on the Salida Ranger District side (Waypoints 1-7) until September 1st, or until the order is rescinded. There are currently two large avalanches that cover the road in debris and those need to melt out and be cleared by heavy equipment before they will open the road. You can find the order here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd624784.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0F9JmIoQOrC5VRqdi5AGmG-Y94yTYRgj1g4Ve4kedoobF08y5x_7yDIZc and the map here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd624786.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1a9mcjz-x6Afr5yUPxDCaYjeuvpEQyfht2d6lp0bVfDb-AIUKCbCXETaw

Great time! I love this trail and can't wait to go back. I met up with a group of dirt bikers that I work with at Taylor Park and ran the trail as simultaneously as is practical with a Jeep vs bikes - meaning I went through Tincup and they took a side trail to Mirror Lake, and I waited for them at the summit, then waited for them again for dinner in BV while they did another singletrack route. I do tend to disagree with the bottom end of the difficulty being a 3. I'm not really sure whether my track fell all or in part of the more difficult "Old Tincup" route but when I compare to other trails that fall into the 3-5 range (Cinnamon and Engineer Passes, Bull Park, etc), the size of the rocks doesn't feel like it deserves any less than a 5 - at least if you're going up from Tincup.

My vehicle is an '02 Dodge Dakota 4x4. I visited Tincup Pass on 09/09/17 and had little trouble with the trail, so went back on 07/22/18 and found that the trail was a bit degraded due to erosion from the previous year, still I was able to drive the trail without using 4 whl drive. The scenery is great and the folks we met while traversing the Pass were great and mindful of the rules of the road. Numerous camping sites, many of which were occupied by people with large 4x4s and camping trailers. St Elmo Store is open from 9 am to 5 pm and will remain open until the end of September depending on the weather. Check their website for hours.

Ran this as our final trip of the day after running Hancock and Cumberland first. This giant loop makes for a long day, but it certainly is a fun one rich in history. We were running the trail in reverse of this guide. By the late afternoon, there wasn't a lot of traffic on the trail, but there were still a lot of people at Mirror Lake. We came up the Old Tincup route and going uphill on those boulders definitely challenges you. Fun day in the hills as always.

Trail was open and we didn't see any snow along the route. Didn't take the Old Tincup route and the rocks weren't anything to worry too much about. My 7 month old had the best nap of the last week on this drive.

Trail was good today. Temps were in the 40s for the most part. The trail up to Tincup Pass was open and in good shape with only a couple of small trickles across the trail. Up on top the wind had picked up (of course). The trail after the pass was closed, not sure of the reason. That part of the trail looked much wetter than the St. Elmo side. Saw just a few tiny snowflakes along the way with some patches of snow in shady areas. When we made our way back down to St. Elmo, it started raining. I suspect that it was snowing up higher.

Open and beautiful. This trail has changed very little from year-to-year. My local 4X4 group visited the Buena Vista area for the week and this trail was our first choice. The trail was exceptionally busy with vehicles going both directions. We ran Tincup Pass from St. Elmo to the town of Tincup then back. Jeeps, ATV's and Side-by-sides were all abundant on the trail. Afternoon rain showers greeted our trip back to Buena Vista. The light rain knocked the dust for the trip.

Almost ready to summit. I ran the trail as part of the Set Them Free Off-road event which was held in the area during the first weekend of July. Tincup Pass was in great shape, until you reach the last few hundred yards at the summit. A large snow field still sits on the road waiting for the sun to do it's deed. We were able to walk across the snow field to the summit sign (Waypoint 7). The snow field is still about 200 yards long. Another few weeks will be necessary until the snow melts away. The ghost town of St. Elmo was busy with visitors. While on the trail, we needed to rescue a vehicle that teetered over the edge of the road. The impatient driver tried to pass in a narrow spot and put both passenger side wheels over the edge. Luckily for him, there were plenty of experienced wheelers there to get him back on the road.

It was an extremely warm day around the Collegiate Peaks. 4 of us on 37s+ with dual lockers and around 5lbs of air in the tires, headed up Tincup from St Elmo. The trail was very wet and soggy at the start with a little bit of snow here and there on the trail till about 2 miles in. At that point, it became mostly snow, with little dirt. The snow was about 2 feet deep until we reached tree line. At that point, it was easily 4'-5' deep. You can see in one of my photos my buddy is standing on the dirt while I take a photo at the snow level. You can barely see his head. There is a TON of snow up on the pass still. We were able to make it as far as we did because the snow was still very hard and our single digit tire pressures allowed us to float on top of the snow. Because of the amount of snow, I would not recommend traveling alone on this trail for the time being. Please stay on the trail and do not avoid snow drifts. There was evidence of this happening already. If you cannot get through the snow on the trail, turn around and try a different day. The first 2 miles of the trail have lots of open camping areas where we didn't see a single soul.

It was day two of the Unlimited LJ Adventure and we started our day in St. Elmo in an effort to run Tincup Pass and one other trail that day. There was a ton of RZR traffic on the trail as we found out there was a RZR Rally in Taylor Park with some 650 people. The trail was totally dry and had many campers camping out on it, and although there was a lot of traffic, the trail is wide enough in most spots that we were able to continue moving even with oncoming traffic. We made it to the top, snapped some group photos, and continued down the Old Tincup route on our way to Mirror Lake.

I have done this trail in a stock CJ-5 a few times. It is probably one of the more difficult trails in the Taylor area, besides Taylor Pass. Access to the trail depends on how high Mirror Lake is. A lot of the time you will have to ford through the lake. I believe you can see and or hike to the Fairview Peak Fire Lookout. The hike is a lot harder than it seems, and I have not done it.