Medano Pass

Great adventure! Camped at 4.5–great spot! Didn’t have an issue finding a spot at 5pm on a Friday, but there were definitely more than half taken. Deep sand at start. More rocky on the back side of the pass. Didn’t need lockers, but was in 4Lo w 22psi. Water levels presented no concerns

Bulldozer work being completed after 2nd water crossing. Expect some delays and downed trees.

Open, dry. Bull dozer out doing trail repairs, but moves out of the way when vehicles went by.

Bit muddy on the east side but manageable. Hard pack sand. Smooth sailing

Closed at Castle Creek Parking area

Closed

Traveled from Great Sand Dunes NP toward highway 69. Everything seemed pretty easy, but we were continually getting fresh now today and there were many spots along the upper elevation turns and switchbacks that were deep and very slippery. There were several areas where braking was non-existent. On one of the last switchbacks, recommend going over the rocky area in this direction as the main road would likely have put us deep into a runoff area. Still beautiful and lots of fun, but a little terrifying too!

Entered the pass from the Sand Dunes. Very sandy through the Dunes and the Preserve, had to air down for the heavy sand areas. Water crossing #2 was larger than expected. The actual water crossing was not bad. The water was no more than 6" deep, and the sand was firm and compact. The mud pit that has been referenced before is approximately 50 yards long and very slick and sticky. It was clear that several vehicles had been stuck recently based on the number of logs in the mud pit. My very heavy 2023 Tacoma, with a slight lift with suspension upgrades, carrying a camper top, made it through, but I had to keep the momentum going and just steer through the obstacles, in hopes one of the rogue logs did not flip up and damage the undercarriage, or slide into the elevated road edge. The 2nd to last water crossing was the deepest, over 2' deep and very wide. There was no way to establish where the deepest or shallowest area was. The risk of engine flooding is high here. Smooth sailing otherwise.

Easy trail for the most part, one sloppy muddy spot needed lockers for. 2 ft water crossing near halfway through otherwise just gravel road

The mud hole between mile 0.5 and 1 had gotten much worse in the past days. Going from west to east— UP the steep drop off of the mud hole — we found it impassable with capable rigs. Usual trail maintenance is suspended during the govt shutdown. Unless the ground dries significantly, or the government gets funded, I’d expect conditions at that mud hole to only deteriorate further.

Trail is open but water crossing 2 has a deep mud area with a small climb or drop off at the end depending on which way you are going. My gladiator rubicon is basically stock right now (stock size tires and no lift) but I made it through it. I do have a winch on it and was with someone so I wasn't worried about not being able to make it.