Slaughter House Gulch

Total Miles
5.8

Technical Rating

Easy

Best Time

Summer

Trail Type

High-Clearance 4x4 Trail

Accessible By

Trail Overview

This is a fun trail along the edge of Union Park before climbing through the trees. It passes an old mining cabin that is known as the Christmas Cabin. It is decorated with Christmas decorations year round. The trail becomes rocky as it climbs through the trees. There are places to ride up the side banks to get an adrenaline rush. The trail becomes less rocky at the top as you drop into the Tin Cup Basin. Watch for moose along the route.

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Difficulty

The trail is easy until the Christmas cabin. It narrows to one vehicle with loose rocks and drop offs until the top. The back side of the trail becomes less rocky.

History

Slaughterhouse Gulch was used as the many slaughtering areas for many of the ranches in the area.

Technical Rating

Status Reports

Keith Anderson

Aug 08, 2025

2024 Yamaha Tenere 700

Open

Rough/Deteriorated

This is dangerously rated as easy. It is anything but easy. It’s narrow, rutted, has drop offs and baby head rocks everywhere. Not a beginner trail.

Wow! Whoever posted this a a green trail is off their rocker. We completed in full size 4x4 but man was it sketchy at times. Lots of loose rocks and boulders that sent us shaking. An almost 180 degree turn on steep bank had us tilted further than I’ve been before. This trail should be raised to higher, the folks that came behind us on UtV’s probably had a great time

I don't know who gave this a green rating but, going through Slaughterhouse Gulch is not something you want to do with a full-width vehicle... or at least one you care about. I'd say this is more like a dark blue for a good solid 3 mile stretch. I managed to make it through with a 4x4 sprinter thinking it was a regular green. I would definitely reevaluate this one in the context of other greens on the map.