Fortune Creek 4WD Trail - NF301 - Lower Section

Total Miles
3.1

Elevation

1,314.50 ft

Duration

Technical Rating

Moderate

Best Time

Summer, Fall

Fortune Creek 4WD Trail - NF301 - Lower Section

Trail Overview

The Fortune Creek 4WD Trail is a tight, rugged off-road trail climbing up to Gallagher Head Lake. It is open seasonally from June 15 to November 1. This trail is popular with UTV and 4x4 users alike. Early-season visitors (before July 15) must be prepared to buck out fallen trees and will likely still encounter snow in the heavily forested sections at higher elevations above 5,000 feet. Stay on the trail and buck fallen debris rather than driving around it and braiding the trail. Note: you may encounter deep snow at 5,500 feet even in late June. The lower section of this trail and the parallel Forest Service Road are typically open July 15 while the upper sections are rarely accessible before mid-July.

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Difficulty

This is a fun, rugged trail.

Technical Rating

Status Reports

Lower part of the trail wasn’t too bad. Much slicker compacted snow higher up. Easy to slide off the trail. Do not recommend going alone. One of our rigs almost slid off and we had to winch him sideways with tree savers. Up top near the lake there is around 1’ of snow. Trail will be closed on 1 December.

A little rough in sections but easily passable with most 4x4 vehicles and a little bit of patience and situational awareness. Beautiful little trail.

We ran this trail in two groups of 8 vehicles ranging from built full-size trucks to a built Porche Cayan. No one made it to the top. The trail starts out ok with a few obstacles that can be passed with care. Further up, the trail gets deeply rutted with long off-camber sections and slippery rocks. The first groups, consisting made it the farthest and was forced to turn around .5 mile from the top. The second group broke a built full-size truck and turned around at the halfway point. Not recommended at this time for inexperienced drivers or vehicles without skidplates and winches.

Trail was dusty, rough and slow going but the scenery was amazing, and dinner at the lake make it all worth while. The trail features a lot of steep off camber sections, deep moguls, steep grades, steep grades with loose rocks, and some medium to large size rocks to contend with. I wouldn't recommend this one if you don't have skid plates and I would rate this trail at a 4.5 for hardness.

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