I took that out of CC one year. Fun little back road, not at all challenging from a 4x4 perspective. Well, *I* thought it was fun.... wife even hates highways that have drop-offs, even w/ guardrails etc... I thought she was going to have a stroke before we got out of the park...
So long as it's dry you don't need serious 4x4 for it. Some ground clearance is needed, but most of the time something like a Subaru outback could handle it. Might need more if rain had washed out some of the gullies. Piece of cake in the Xterra we had at the time. Not really many places to turn around if you choose to take it when you shouldn't. Closed in the winter (and I think they'll close it if weather is bad).
We saw a bear and cubs on our last time in CC. A few years ago I saw a bear in the parking lot of the cabin we were staying in.... It was dark, and I was getting something out of the truck. He popped out of a shadow not more than 15 yards from me.
I went in to look for a camera and was trying to tell the others we were with there was a bear outside.... lots of comical confusion followed, because my buddy's dog is named Bear. They were like, "Bear's not outside, he's sleeping by that chair." ... by the time we got past the Laurel and Hardy routine and got cameras to go see the actual bear, he was gone down the mountain...
For the next several minutes we heard shouting and excitement as he went past other cabins on his way. That was kinda funny...
-rvb
