Planning to hike it this weekend. I have a Ford Expedition 2015. Will this fullsize SUV make it up to the trailhead?

Cheers!

Yes.

I'll add for the inexperienced, if your driving up a steep logging road and you look like a truck in a commercial, your doing it wrong. Slow and steady is the best approach. If your wheels are spinning on the steep parts, less throttle input, not more.

Every year I drive the up the Cheam road in 2wd in my Ranger. No drama, no slipping, just precise throttle control. I only use 4wd, low range for the descent, and I can descend all the steep parts without touching the brakes. This minimizes the chance of damage to the vehicle.

Doesn't apply to Wandering Tree Frog who has it under control in 2WD, but many seem to think its an achievement to get up difficult sections in 2WD. Don't do it, use 4WD and low if you have it! Spinning tires and gunning it destroys the road and is hard on the vehicle too.

The main issue with the Cheam road is not the steepness so much as it is rough surface and water bars, both of which require clearance. My old Subaru Legacy didn't have the clearance to get up. A Subaru Outback is fine though, as is anything else with that much or greater clerance

I agree that the main challenge is clearance over the cross ditches. I have done it in a 2000 Outback a number of years ago but I scraped the bumpers many many times. I would suggest that you might not want to do it in an Outback unless you are comfortable with a few scratches.

Gearing down is also a good idea on any steep road.

my bad! I meant to write Forester but my fingers typed Outback.

Moderate this to the roads section

Good idea. Didn't see it was in the Trip Reports section

This applies to even steep gravel roads like both sides of the Hurley, using 4x4 or AWD saves the road from getting washboarded as badly and is easier on the vehicle, less bouncing. Front wheels pull the vehicle up instead of the the back wheels pushing it up.

Has anyone been up to Cheam recently? Looking to go up this weekend and am curious about the conditions.

My 4x4 has a clearance of 11.45" and a fording depth of 23.5". Am I correct in not anticipating any serious problems?

Are there any streams/lakes/etc. for water access during the hike?

I would anticipate some muddy sections on the road but I would think you would make it just fine with that set-up if your tires are reasonable and if conditions haven't changed dramatically from when I was up there in the summer.

I've always carried all my water as it's not a very long hike and the most reliable sources of water are very close to the start/end of the hike.

went there two weeks ago, our 4 runners has no problem to drive to TH and saw Toyota RAV4 on parking lot as well, your 4X4 shouldn't have problem. the only water source is not far from the trailhead

Thanks, Steventy & mazeGirl.

Did the hike yesterday and loved it.

Here's a video of the drive up Chipmunk FSR leading up to the trail peak: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_SDwmnFGUE . The video shows only a fraction of the water bars, but does a decent job of showing what they're like. For those who don't have 13 minutes to blow on watching the whole thing, the worst parts of the road start at about the 9 minute mark.

Is anyone aware of current conditions of the FSR up to Cheam? Thinking about doing the hike again in the coming week.

gotta feeling you wont be driving past 700m level, but dont have any real evidence