**driving a 2013 GMC Acadia FWD & hauling a 4x8 trailer**
I planned a 10 night stay and ended up only staying 2 nights due to the road to get to the cabin. (I traveled over 1,700 miles with NO issues until those last FIVE miles to get to the cabin)
We didn't plan on being stuck at the cabin. We wanted to site see while we were there too.
It's about 14 miles from the base of the mountain to the cabin. 9 miles in, after driving on perfectly graveled roads and only 5 miles left to go, we hit some really bad parts in the road. Large long craters in the road due to rain wash out, huge pot holes, large rocks etc.
My SUV barely made it & mind you we are also hauling a 4x8 trailer. My check engine light came on, the car was overheating severely (had to put the heat on 90 to get it to cool down and it's like 90 outside), we got stuck in one part, the car was stalling... just a bad stressful time.
I barely slept the final night because I was so scared we were going to stall going uphill, but thankfully that didn't happen.
When I called the ranger station (yes I got 1 bar in the cabin. I go thru metropcs) to ask if there was another way to get off the mountain (which there is but it's not a better route) he mentioned that people try to drive their sedans up there! He also mentioned they don't have enough money to fix the last 5 miles of the road.
My advice would be, since the government failed to add this in the description, is to not come to this particular cabin unless you have 4WD or AWD.
DO NOT come here in your Sedans or SUV with FWD. Save yourself the headache and find a different cabin.
The cabin, mountains, views, stars at night... nothing beats it. I wish they would fix the roads. This place is PERFECT.