A gorgeous drive on a clear day with just enough challenge to make it fun. Two Forest Service campgrounds with hiking trails on the north side. End of trail at Villa Grove requires a long drive home if you don’t return the way you came. To avoid this situation, consider combining this route with Trail #44. You can reach the town of Bonanza on County Road LL56, which starts just north of Villa Grove. A gas station in Villa Grove is no longer in business.
(719) 539-3591San Isabel N.F., Salida R.D.
Check the Weather07/25/2023
Submitted by WGBertles
Ran the trail from Villa Grove to Coaldale. No problems and consider trail moderate as reported. 2016 Jeep JKUR 2″ lift & 33″ tires.
07/28/2021
Submitted by Nick
Drove this trail from the Villa Grove side over to Coaldale late July 2021. The rocky climb from Villa Grove needed full attention. Trail was good the whole way. I did not come across any washouts, though there were some small runoff
trenches. Nothing my little ‘04 doublecab Tacoma SR5 couldn’t handle.
06/30/2021
Submitted by Craig
went up Hayden Pass area from Coaldale side, stopped near dispersed camping sites1.75 miles in from the Hayden Pass campground sign. We were told by ATV guys that the trail was washed out further up and my 4×4 Tacoma will not be able to make it thru because it was too narrow. (Not verified). Just an FYI for others.
09/04/2019
Submitted by Robert
Drove trail in my stock ’19 Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited. The trail is extremely rocky and there are a few places you really need to pick your line right to avoid larger rocks unless you are higher than my stock Jeep was. Traveling east to west, I almost missed the entrance, there’s a small sign pointing almost back the way you come, it’s a sharp left turn onto the trail and from there it’s almost all rocks until you get out the other side. Views were decent, and it wasn’t a bad way to make a loop, we came through Hayden Pass, down to Great Sand Dunes National Park for a bit, then back through via Medano Pass. If you are a novice, I’d pass on this trail unless you are with an experienced group, the views aren’t worth the work if that’s what you are after.
06/18/2015
The difficulty has increased between Wpt. 3 and Wpt. 4. Stock vehicles without recovery equipment are advised not to travel alone. The trail is still a moderate rating.
