This REALLY Sucks! Here's Why We Can NEVER Go Up Gold Mine Hill Again 

Lol. Bad acting at the beginning? 🥴

And I was thinking Tommy crashed another vehicle lol.

TFL SHOULD BUILD IT'S OWN COURSE... You guys are in Colorado. You should have an epic closed off-road course. There's a huge video series right there! Time to step up your game. Test all the vehicles and ATVs there. Have course days and charge guys $100 to come out and run the course. Look! More video content!

My favourite one was with a volvo suv in snow conditions. Loved episode was also when samurai achieved the gold mine hill badge

RIP GMH: One way you can keep these roads open (due to nature and otherwise) is to use your vehicle to the best of it's abilities and all it's functions. What I mean by that is if you have 4 wheel use it, if you have lockers use them. That way you are doing the least amount of trail damage by not spinning tires and creating ruts, etc. Not just you but anyone.

my favorite was the base model nissan frontier, because it was a vehicle i could actually afford. lol

The fork on Rocky Top needs a name. I think "Heels vs Hiking Boots" would be fitting. Give a fat man a pair of heels and he'll be able to walk up the right side, but send him up the left and he'll fall on his rear and wish he had hiking boots! But it also reflects the nature of some crossovers that just weren't intended to be driven off pavement.

One of my favorites: Volvo xc40 vs Blizzard vs Gold mine hill

Sad news. Have you asked the Forest Service why this is happening?

My favorite part about Gold Mine Hill is when Andre and Nathan argue. Or when Andre routinely craps his pants. Both great moments.

My favorite was when you took the Aztek up Gold Mine Hill. Glad I was able to take my 2016 Jeep Patriot up GMH last month before it was closed. Made a cross country trip from Atlanta to see it along with Moab.

And I was really hoping to see a Smart Car review going up Gold Mine Hill.

End of an era and the beginning of another. Did anyone say why that barrier was placed there? ...But at least we got to see Nathan scream at the top of his lungs as he took the Suzuki Samurai up GMH.

I loved watching nathan blast up the trail with the samurai, wanted to see it again after you build the sammi up a bit. Bummer man

As indicated below goldmine hill was not a road as designated by the MUVVM. The Travel Management rule required all National Forest to designate routes for motor vehicle use. What you may not know is commercial filming on the National Forest also requires a permit, with all routes and locations approved in advanced. A fee may also apply. As usual with a government agency getting a permit could be difficult as saying no is always easier.

Thank you guys for doing everything you do. You guys have come a long way, I have been a viewer since 2012 and ever since you guys have only gotten better. When the old trail closed and you guys started using GMH I was not a fan at first but now I've fallen in love with it and I'm gonna miss that trail. Also Happy father's day!

I believe the SX4 video was the first TFL video I ever watched. Crazy!

Please contact the NFS (or whatever agency the manages Gold Mine Hill)and find out why they closed the trail. Hopefully, you can prevent that from happening to this new trail.

Been watching for years, truly love you guys and the great car/truck/Jeep content! Thank you all!!! 👍🍻

The absolute best auto/truck content on RU-vid is ! I’m a relatively new subscriber and soaking up all of your content. Thx for your great work.

The BLM has been closing public land for a while. This is very common and "we" the owners of this land get hosed.

Seems nice track but keep a lookout for ground clearence. Came a very long way with consistancy keep up the good work guys.

Good video. It captured how far you e come along and how the viewers have been along for the ride. It was rather sentimental. Looking forward to Rocky Top!

Wow, Colorado is starting to look like New Jersey! Keep out signs everywhere! Big shame - you guys made great vids here!

Your passion for doing what you do really shines through and I like many "TFL'ers" loved all you GMH videos for different reasons. KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK GUYS and nice job on the trash! *Also Rocky Top looks good.

New trail looks great 👍🏼. Good find.

You guys have the best tests ever love it thanks for all you do.

Awesome memories guys. I’ve been following you all since the summer of 2017. You rekindled my love for off-roading since I saw the Xterra episode. Kudos guys, kudos on your channels.

So what did you guys find out was the reason it closed? A follow up video with an interview with the forest service (or appropriate gov. office) would be nice of them explaining the closing. OHV parks and trails seem to be closing at an alarming rate across the country.

Rest In Peace Gold mine Hill! I’ve loved you guys testing SUV’s on it fo years!

The XC40. It’s what got me hooked on you guys. I’m in the UK and was always stuck on Top Gear. But the new one’s no good and The Grand Tour is just so rare. I’m so glad I found you guys. You absolute rock. ❤️ Commiserations and condolences on losing the mighty Goldmine Hill 💔

I just love you guys. Great video and great memories.

Great video guys. Well done. You guys have good chemistry.

Did they say why they closed it down? My father's day was going well till I saw this😢✌️😭

GO AVS GO! I saw that hat in the backseat! It was a fantastic season. And love your guys videos! Cheers 🍻 from Oregon (originally from Palmer Lake, Colorado) and happy Father’s Day

We drove there from Iowa last week! Huge disappointment to find it closed. My kids asked who put up the flowers. At least now we know.

So now you're going to use the illegal (Not on the MVUM -- not for public use!) access road to the tower for your tests? Wonderful! Great research as usual, as indicated by your previous use of the mine road, which hasn't been on the MVUM for quite a few years...

You guys should come to South Africa. Tons of 4x4 trails here. And tons of Suzuki enthusiasts!

At least you have the memories.... Thanks for making my mind up on my 18' Tiguan. Your work was an excellent source for thought....

Going to be a lot of fun watching all the new video test on this new site. I noticed the heavy duty 9gauge chain link fence around the test station there, many months and episodes back a comment was made about work trucks needing a winch and 4X4 ,and to me that is the answer to why you need those type of work trucks to reach a site like that .( Good Video)

Very cool revisit video! New trail is nice and I hope you benchmark a couple other previous gold mine vehicles to see if they have roughly equivalent results, the samurai would be a fun start. My only complaint is when responding to the ORI scores, I agree with most of your reasons except the sway bar. The idea as you guys always state is that the 100 score is a perfect off-roader, but has to be from factory. If the Rubicon Jeep is better than the Colorado Bison because it has a detachable sway bar, then its extremely relevant. Otherwise those two vehicles would have possibly identical scores as they have front and rear lockers, good approach and departure, etc. You also kind of contradict yourselves with that argument because only a handful of vehicles have front lockers (Raptor, Rubicon Jeeps, Power Wagon, Colorado Bison, I think that’s about it?) but that feature makes the ORI. If your reason is that even detached, some vehicles can still have better suspension travel than the above vehicles so it isn’t a guarantee of success, then I’m on board. Just pointing it out as I have no doubt many others will once this is live. 😄 Great work guys! Not knocking you, I love the work you do, just that one struck me as a bit odd.

@ TLF: Who makes the decesion to close the road? I don't see any official State sign or department? Can an investigation be done as to why they deem that road to be closed?

I knew before I even watched it. I’m down in The springs since ‘87. We got the same going on. Lotz of newbs getting stuck and flying off the road....trash etc. lost a few good trails, lately. Y’all hilarious! Have all the fun!! 🤗

Loved the video. The three stooges, lol! Good to know you found an alternative to gold mine hill. Great content!

So ..... what's the reason why it's closed .... I never heard an explanation

Do you guys have resources to try to open the other trails? Here in BC we have the Four Wheel Drive Association of BC, and we are about keeping access to public land.

Great vid guys!

I work for the company that makes that weather station you visited on top, very cool to see it in action. We just had one like it (albeit a little more rugged) set up near the summit of Mount Everest by National Geographic. It is now the highest weather station on the planet!

Is there a proper reason why

I'm a huge fan of the government unilaterally restricting access to public land, especially without any explanation as to why. *Please note the extreme sarcasm.* Anyway, I genuinely enjoyed this vid. Lots of memories revisited. Keep up the great work, fellahs!

Great episode. The episode with the Jeep Grand Cherokee helped me decide on buying one.

Been watching since 2015 sad to see gold mine hill go but looking forward to seeing how this new one works out!

I was most inpresst by the volvo xc40 in the snow

Oh no, I’m so sad, I really enjoyed watching y’all tackle Gold Mine Hill, I even thought about taking one of my Jeeps there one day. 🙁

Toyota KDSS is very similar to disengaging the sway bar right? you should have the disconnecting sway bar rating on the ORI, so companies will recognize that people might want it as an option. i have seen those system work in action, and they work great! Love your videos btw! keep up the good work!

I blame all the people that disrespect the land. I live in Colorado and I have noticed that every since everyone moved to Colorado my favorite trails have been damaged and all the trash makes me sad. I have seen people making their own trail and I called them out and they wanted to fight and said they will do what they want that type of mentality will Ruin it all.

R.I.P. Goldmine hill. May we meet again

Best GMH episode was easily Volvo V90 Cross Country.

I think there is another important point for the TFL ORI. Some of the traction control systems like on all new Toyota trucks let the truck stop when it starts to loose traction and have "jerky" systems that lose all the momentum. The new Jeeps still have the constant low gear that just keeps moving and is a major advantage.

Such a shame. Thank you all for your videos, I have learned and gotten so much information from them. Thanks to you I know what year wrangler I want and what I am looking for now.Colorado just keeps getting crazier and crazier.

Time to use an off road park. Part of the problem is you were a victim of your own success. In using Gold Mine Hill, you were drawing attention to it. Other users were probably using it more due to the attention. The Park Service also became conscious of the trail use too. You need to build a course or use an off road park that is financially stable. Otherwise, you'll constantly be playing wack-a-mole with parks and forestry management. You find a new trail. You use it and it becomes both more known and popular. Others use it. Then it gets overused and shut down. Or nature takes it out. No one is blaming you but often that is how things like this play out. You'll may keep losing you standard benchmarking place due to factors outside of your control. Unless you use a place you can control or successful commercial place that is likely to stay around for a while, it may be a problem for the next place you choose. I assume Cliffhanger 2.0 is safe for now. I hate to see Gold Mine Hill drop out as a test site.

There goes the Forest Service again, They hate people recreation on what they believe is their "public" land. They won't give you a good reason why, and they will not even consider re-opening it. They wont be happy until everything is closed. I have a road near where I live that has got rough over the years (it's been open since before WWII) and the local forest service office is telling me that the road will be closed soon because "it's getting too rough and we don't have the funding to fix it" so I ask them, "how about you don't fix it (which is free) and don't close it"? He looked at me and laughed. He said "that's not the way it works" Well, why the hell not? Common sense will not be considered.

Your best video yet! No other You Tuber comes close to you guys.

As a Swede i felt proud over the little XC40 going up in the Winter! Feels sad that Gold Mine Hill is no more...

Maybe I missed it, but did you explain why they closed it or try to contact anyone about it too see if it would open back up at some point?

Just out of curiosity did anyone at TFL actually call the government or make any attempt otherwise to find out why it’s closed, anyone else on here either before flying into rage and speculation? 😂

Great video. Good watch.

Left Hand Canyon was my go-to place for off-roading back when I lived in CO in the late 90's. It was the first place I took my then new-to-me '94 XJ off-roading. I enjoyed the off-road trails in CO, but unfortunately even then - trails were being closed down seemingly by the month. So sad to see that Gold Mine Hill is closed now, too.

Miss the old days when you take crossovers up left hand canyon trail when Andre used to speak Russian, too many funny moments on that trail. Hard to believe it's been over half a decade. And sorry about gold mind hill closure but I'm glad to see you guys out exploring new trails again, few things beat going off road with TFL I say. Can't wait to see you bashing and busting crossovers on the new trail, I'm just kidding. Love you guys.

Colorado is going the way of Oregon. Almost every trail within an hour of me has been sold to a tree hugging organization or turned into hiking trails.

Is weird that I was suggesting my buddy to take his Rubicon to that trail last week, had no idea he wouldn't have a chance. Thank you TFL team for your great videos

I enjoyed all of the gold mine hill adventures you guys shared with us, thank you for that! There is one vehicle that you guys have never touched on that I've seen, and please correct me if I'm wrong, but 05 through 2010 Jeep Grand Cherokees..the ones that were equipped with quadra-drive 2, and preferrably the Hemi, are probably the most overlooked and underrated vehicles out there. They have absolutely amazing capability, and on some years, like mine is an 08, the lower part of the front bumper/air dam is actually removable to give you better approach angle! And did you know they have electronic lockers front and rear? But they ended that with the 2010 model, sadly. Maybe some day you guys can get ahold of one and put it through the paces on your new test area! Ole Rocky top, overlooking the twin peaks 😂👍

It's stupid that they would close gold mine hill. It's public land. Let people decide for themselves if they want to do it or not. Was there any specific reason for the closure?

This is just like nomadic fanatic (Erik) going back to his favourite camp grounds in Washington state and finding them closed.

Seeing you guys drive up stage three of gold mine hill is what really made me want to buy a jeep wrangler most of the trails here in Maui Hawaii are similar to that stage loved watching you guys on this trail and it's a shame that its closed down was hoping that I could have driven that trail at some point

Good editing and post production job on this one.

Love the never summer shirt. Love that company! Been rocking there boards for years

Im guessing it has something to do with trash and people not respecting the trail for what it is

You guys managed to somehow make me emotional over a dirt road closure....LOL. Seriously though i really like watching your videos!

In Oregon, the US Forest Service has closed 90% of all forest roads to off road use. To make matters worse, they don't put signs on the roads that are closed. They publish a thick book that is available at certain FS offices that tells which roads are closed. You have to go the a FS office and look in the book to see if you are breaking the law.

My favorite was the Jeep Renegade TrailHawk vs Jeep Compass TrailHawk

Yea, I've noticed that over the last couple of years here in Southern Cali. It use to be cool back in the days to explore these trails & keep them at whisper levels. Nowadays, the trails are over exposed with young kids using their drones to make silly pretentious RU-vid videos & how cool it is to almost flip. SMH

You guys make me homesick. Colorado was my adopted home for 7 years. Denver area and a lot of stuff East and west of there..

Great video

I really wanted to see the Tesla pickup drag the Raptor up Gold Mine Hill backwards while chained to a 3500 duramax dually with a fully loaded trailer containing all the parts from dismantled Dodge Laramie crew cab with a 12 valve Cummins inside it while pushing a Subaru Crosstrek with the front bumper, because Elon said it could do it at the shareholders meeting.

My favorite was the TRD PRO Tundra episode from not too long ago. Gonna miss gold mine hill!

Land Cruiser’s, 4Runner’s and GX460’s have KDSS which essentially disconnects the sway bars. KDSS (Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System) was developed in Australia for added off-road capability. KDSS works differently than FCA’s system but essentially the same result. I like it better because it’s totally passive and when you’re on flat pavement it does the opposite by minimizing body roll.

I have many favorites for Gold mine, but all with the Titan were appreciated. This Rocky top looks cool. May see you up there one of these days!!

left hand canyon is still on the motor vehicle use map so there is hope. it's just the entrance that the USFS lied to the offroad community about repairing.

Do we know why they closed it?

Have you guys consulted the Charles Wells Guide book of Colorado Off Road Trails?

Man. I hope it reopens. This was one of the best trails and I looked forward to each video here.

I think it’s a new challenge increase the ORI to Gold Mine Hill 2.0

Roman, I think Jeep “Trail Rated” means it has completed the Rubicon trail???🤔🤔🤔🤔. GMH episode, Renegade vs Compass👍👍👍. Rocky Topworks👍👍👍😁😁

I agree Happy Fathers Day. Good Job on video.

That absolutely sucks. I liked all the videos of Gold Mine Hill. But my absolutely favorite was with Tommy’s XJ. Couldn’t get enough of that video. Maybe someday your state agency will reopen GMH and you will be able to go back. Rocky Point looks like it will prove to be a challenge for a lot of AWD vehicles. I’m curious to know how the new 2020 Ford Escape will do up Rocky Point when it comes out. Maybe another snow test?

With 795,000 subscribers I would think you might be able to gather some pressure to have a discussion about why the trail was closed. I would imagine there is a reason, but I’ve seen people put those kinds of signs up to keep people off their favorite trail, keep people away from land adjacent to their private property (illegally), or just cover up a marijuana farm. I would like to see some subscribers from your state at least do some basic investigation, or for your channel to go interview the US forest service. This is why we have trail advocacy groups. I hate seeing any trail closed, but to give up without even knowing the stated reason is tough to swollen after 7 years of use. If people had done this with the Rubicon it would be closed right now.

When is Goldmine Hill going to be reopened and who manages it so I can call them and complain but your new path looks very interesting

Really nice to see you guys picking up, not only after yourselves, but others too. Would be nice if everyone was this conscious, especially the ones that left they're trash behind.

looks like a good alternative, my favorite GMH was w/ the tundra, b/c I had one a couple years back