Yankee Hill Road

4.5/5 (106 reviews)
Central City, Colorado (Gilpin County)
Last Updated: 05/20/2023

Trail Information

Highlights

Altitude
Forest
Mine
Snow Wheeling
Located just west of the historic mining and gambling town of Central City, Yankee Hill Road takes you directly into a network of off-road trails known as the Yankee Hill Trail System. This large trail network offers amazing high alpine views and miles of trails that can be combined to create numerous routes for a full day or even an entire weekend of off-road fun.

Trail Difficulty and Assessment

Trail Navigation

Yankee Hill Road is the main artery through what is considered the "Yankee Hill Trail System." This nearly 6-mile straight-through route follows Forest Service Road 175.1 from Central City to Alice near Saint Mary's Glacier. Much of this trail is an easy bumpy dirt road, especially on the west side. However, the eastern half of the trail has several sections with large rocks, small boulders, and deep erosion ruts that can only be avoided by taking completely separate trails. Along the way, you will pass numerous other trail options that range from easier to more difficult. Any high clearance stock SUV can safely navigate this route.

Trail Reviews

4.5/5 (107)
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 05/20/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Made it all the way no problem, little snow up at the top but nothing crazy. Should get better in the coming weeks.
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 05/19/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Open all the way through to Alice! Hit it both ways yesterday. Lots of fun! Snow drifts but people have driven through them so they have some tracks. Nothing crazy. 33’s and 5.5” lift Jeep XJ no prob.
Partially Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 05/06/2023

I made it up the back side over looking at Saint Mary’s glacier! There was a snow drift that took a couple of passes in my gladiator on 35’s. But we made it and it was so beautiful.
1100
Partially Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 05/05/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

This trail gets wild. I was able to make up to Waypoint 10 before turning around due to snow. It's all manageable up until then. Start early in the day though, as it warms up the trail gets muddy. Hopefully you like rock crawls, because once you get to Waypoint 6, they become almost arduous. They look scary but I was able to navigate up them in my Ranger while only banging up the footsteps on my runners. I used 4Low and a locked rear most of the way up. Had to try a few places a few times due to all the runoff and a slick trail. Coming back down the trail seemed way more brutal. I should have seen the writing on the wall after seeing all the pieces of other people's trucks scattered up and down the trail, and I definitely lost a fight to a tree and sustained some body damage when my rear end slid off a muddy rut. A few of the obstacles had bypasses, some did not. While I imagine the trail rating is accurate when the trial is dry, I would say it's more difficult in current conditions.
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 04/30/2023

It's a mixed bag these days. I ran this on April 30, 2023 and found mud, snow, deep ruts and a lot of running water. I started at York and made it all the way to the top where you can see St. Mary's Glacier. Between waypoints 15 and 16. I could have gone further but there are no trees to winch from on the other side so I'm staying away for now. I think a stock Rubicon can make it to waypoint 13 without much problem, maybe further but the ruts get deep and snow gets loose. With the temps the snow turns to slush and if you have slick tires it will turn to ice real quick. Besides a good set of 35s (at least) you should definitely have a winch and recovery gear if you are going to tackle this, and make sure winchable trees are in range. Then you should be fine.

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