Trail Overview

This trail is part of the Historic Mining District north of Creede. It takes you by the Phoenix Park Mill site, along with a few old mining sites. The road goes from about 8600 feet to 10,600 feet elevation and there is no cell service on some sections. There are no real obstacles, so it is mostly a graded dirt road, but there are some narrow spots and a few steep hills.

Photos of East Willow Creek Road - NF 502

Want to see more?
View All Photos

Difficulty

Graded gravel road.

History

Historic Mining District of Creede, CO

Technical Rating

Jackson Bernhardt

May 19, 2026

Open

Definitely a little trickier than the Bachelor Loop, but really not too bad. As long as you have 4WD and a decent amount of ground clearance, you should be fine. My buddy make it with a stock truck just fine. The trickiest part is when you run in to traffic coming the opposite way. Mostly from 2WD car that got confused and turned off of the Bachelor Loop. I had to pull out a mini van and a crossover that got in way over their heads.

Bill Craig

Aug 20, 2025

Open

More interesting and more difficult than Batchelor Loop. There is a long section of narrow one lane rocky rutted climb with switchbacks (one sharp enough to require backing turn). Definitely need high clearance 4WD. Needed 4L on a couple of rocky uphill sections. We did not encounter any oncoming traffic which is good because there were very few places wide enough to pass.

Zack Permenter

Oct 03, 2024

Open

Ben Mendoza

Sep 18, 2024

Open

Eduardo Retana

Aug 31, 2024

Open

Clear weather conditions and pretty quiet trail