Making a trip in June to Ouray Colorado. Wife got the room reserved but our main thing is to hit some jeep trails. I'm not taking my TJ because I got 4 of us going. So I'm going to rent a JK for the trips. Just wondering if anybody has some tips or which trails to take. I'm not doing hard core, its a rental. We will be there all week and one day we are booking a river trip. What trails do you recommend and places to visit.
Colorado Tips on Ouray, CO trip
- Thread starter mudhogging
- Start date
You should still be able to do the passes in a stock rental… I’d at least try. Make sure you get the insurance. Passes: engineer, imogene and black bear. June may still have some snow up high so be mindful of that.
In June there won't likely be many trails open, but if they are Imogene is supposed to be great. The Alpine Loop is fun for some cool views and alpine tundra.
@tworley has been out there a lot, I'd bet he has tips.
Yep, I went in September on my way back from Moab and Black Bear hadn't opened for the year.
Late June may be OK. Some passes don't open until mid-July. One of the best easy rides is Ouray - 550 - California - Animas Fork - Silverton - back to Ouray on 550.
I would avoid Mineral Creek/Lower Engineer. It can be done in a stock Jeep but you will drag some parts and it will be exciting in places. Same for Black Bear. Black Bear probably will not be open which saves you any decision angst.
Lots of rental Jeeps go over Imogene. There are a few spots where you might hold your breath, but slow and steady wins the day. Pair Ophir Pass with Imogene (if open). If Imogene isn't open, use Last Dollar Rd for a scenic drive.
The Alpine Loop includes Engineer and Cinnamon Passes. I'd start in animas fork, go up Engineer and on to Lake City, then back by Cinnamon. I would access the loop through Silverton.
Out and back on Stony Pass is another good ride. Stony is a long ride so you may not want to go all the way through to Hwy 149. Pole Creek makes a good turn around point.
Bolem Pass runs between 550 (Purgatory) and Hwy 145 (Rico). I rode over the pass a couple of years ago and throughly enjoyed the ride.
I wrote a ride report in 2020 from a trip to Ouray. It's photo heavy. The San Juans is a great place to be a wheeler.
https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/colorado-2020.1468019/
I would avoid Mineral Creek/Lower Engineer. It can be done in a stock Jeep but you will drag some parts and it will be exciting in places. Same for Black Bear. Black Bear probably will not be open which saves you any decision angst.
Lots of rental Jeeps go over Imogene. There are a few spots where you might hold your breath, but slow and steady wins the day. Pair Ophir Pass with Imogene (if open). If Imogene isn't open, use Last Dollar Rd for a scenic drive.
The Alpine Loop includes Engineer and Cinnamon Passes. I'd start in animas fork, go up Engineer and on to Lake City, then back by Cinnamon. I would access the loop through Silverton.
Out and back on Stony Pass is another good ride. Stony is a long ride so you may not want to go all the way through to Hwy 149. Pole Creek makes a good turn around point.
Bolem Pass runs between 550 (Purgatory) and Hwy 145 (Rico). I rode over the pass a couple of years ago and throughly enjoyed the ride.
I wrote a ride report in 2020 from a trip to Ouray. It's photo heavy. The San Juans is a great place to be a wheeler.
https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/colorado-2020.1468019/
Just stay off the trails the rental companies tell you to stay off of and you'll be fine. Any of those trails are well within capability of a stock TJ, let alone a JK or JL. The trails they'll tell you to stay off of are Black Bear Pass and Poughkeepsie Gulch.
Best thing is to look at an area map and piece together a loop from your location. From Ouray
1. Pick two out of Ophir Pass, Imogene Pass, Last Dollar Rd.
2. Traditional Alpine Loop route - Engineer Pass and Cinnamon Pass
3. short day - Mineral Creek rd (west end of engineer pass), down to Animas Forks, then back to 550 via California Pass, Hurricane Pass and Corkscrew Gulch.
Best thing is to look at an area map and piece together a loop from your location. From Ouray
1. Pick two out of Ophir Pass, Imogene Pass, Last Dollar Rd.
2. Traditional Alpine Loop route - Engineer Pass and Cinnamon Pass
3. short day - Mineral Creek rd (west end of engineer pass), down to Animas Forks, then back to 550 via California Pass, Hurricane Pass and Corkscrew Gulch.
Nothing in the Ouray/Telluride area is hardcore (Poughkeepsie might be the one exception). The area is known more for its scenic views. They are all groomed trails that any stock rental could do. Double check with the rental company about Black Bear, they may or may not let you do it. June is tough, there may or may not be trails that are passable.
It is tough to suggest any particular one as they are all great trails. My recommended list, not in any particular order (if open) would be:
Ophir
US Basin (Yankee Girl mine)
Engineer
Alpine Loop
Imogene
Black Bear (if allowed)
Corkscrew
Cinnamon
Yankee Boy
Food/restaurants are nothing to write home about. Typical bar/grill style eateries. If you end up in Telluride the High Pie Pizzeria might be worth checking out. One thing to keep in mind--Most of the businesses shut down early, even in the summer. You'll be lucky to find a place with food open passed 8pm. Cops/Sheriffs are abundant and are constantly pulling tourists over for speeding. Bears are common, don't leave food in your vehicle and/or tent. Otherwise, enjoy. It really is a remarkable and beautiful place.
Some San Juan and Ouray County porn
It is tough to suggest any particular one as they are all great trails. My recommended list, not in any particular order (if open) would be:
Ophir
US Basin (Yankee Girl mine)
Engineer
Alpine Loop
Imogene
Black Bear (if allowed)
Corkscrew
Cinnamon
Yankee Boy
Food/restaurants are nothing to write home about. Typical bar/grill style eateries. If you end up in Telluride the High Pie Pizzeria might be worth checking out. One thing to keep in mind--Most of the businesses shut down early, even in the summer. You'll be lucky to find a place with food open passed 8pm. Cops/Sheriffs are abundant and are constantly pulling tourists over for speeding. Bears are common, don't leave food in your vehicle and/or tent. Otherwise, enjoy. It really is a remarkable and beautiful place.
Some San Juan and Ouray County porn
think the biggest thing your gonna need to be aware of as the driver is to keep your eyes on the trail and only sight see when your completely stopped. its hard to pay attention to where your driving when your looking off miles away into the valleys at elevation.
ive been wanting to make it to wheeler geologic area every year ive been out there but its just so far away. Telluride and Ouray were already quite a drive and Creede Colorado was just too Far East after heading south to ouray from doing the two day 22 hour drive to the Colorado in the first place.
ive been wanting to make it to wheeler geologic area every year ive been out there but its just so far away. Telluride and Ouray were already quite a drive and Creede Colorado was just too Far East after heading south to ouray from doing the two day 22 hour drive to the Colorado in the first place.
Wheeler is cool. My ex wife's parents lived in Creede so I was already that close, but it was still almost an all day thing. The road to it isn't hardcore at all its just got those embedded rocks that beat you to death at any speed faster than a crawl, if you're at street pressure. It probably wouldn't be as bad aired down but i haven't gone since I learned about that, lol.
thats the killer, its the all day thing. im fairly used to rocks though, most of the stuff out there isnt smooth as the mud and sand around here. how's the saying go about distance on the road vs how the crow flys. many things seem so close when you look at google maps, but one your driving around mountains twisting and turning on the roads out there, things are very far away.
from the vacation point in Colorado, ouray is only 104 miles away measuring a straight line from one point to the other... but taking a road there its 164 miles.
my trip to Imogene and back, we left when it was dark & returned home at dark. the shortest trip to Creede is just shy of 5 hours... and thats if the highway is open. last year my fuel pump was crapping out on the way to the vacation point just as I hit the slopes just west of Denver, it was definitely no fun when the semi trucks were passing me. had to pull off the highway multiple times to nurse it back to health. then I had to take the quicker detour of cottonwood pass because I sure as hell wasn't gonna do the 5 hour trip around I-70 from the mudslides.
last years trip kinda sucked, basically drove 22 hours only to replace my fuel pump in the shade of horse barn and return back home.
For sure. For me, Creede has always been the closest, whether coming from Oklahoma or from Colorado Springs, so I try to make Creede either the first or last destination because it takes 2+ hours of highway off the trip. Last time I took Cinnamon Pass from Silverton so I could leave from Lake City and skip Durango and Pagosa on the way to OK. Time before that I came from Colo Spgs and took Los Pinos/Cebollas pass from near Saguache to Lake City on the way in, and then Stony Pass from Silverton to Creede on the way out. It takes mileage off, but ends up taking about the same amount of time since you're doing 10-15mph instead of 60, and I'm ok with that because 30 miles on dirt beats 120 miles on pavement any day of the week.
My first year in Colorado we followed Bing maps suggested alternative route from Crested Butte to Buena Vista. You'd think that would be Cottonwood, but no, it was Tincup and we weren't in a vehicle for it. Some locals directed us to Cottonwood, which was still dirt on the west side, and I came back for Tincup two years later in my TJ.
Check this website for trail conditions before you go. They keep it pretty up to date:
Switzerland of America Trail Maps & Conditions
Switzerland of America Trail Maps & Conditions
Wow yual are getting me pumped for this trip. I bought a book that list these trails and explains the trail with landmarks to help identify your location etc. I also saw a app that has the trails with GPS pins.
Guide to Colorado Backroads & 4-wheel-drive trails. by Charles Wells & Matt Peterson
We are driving from south Texas and its over 1200 miles to get to there. I'm soaking in all of your recommendations and as we get closer to our date I hope I can get a trail update in case some are closed. Most of our jeeping is in sand (beech) and mud, I drive on some rock trails in the hill country in Texas where I deer hunt but that's on old beat up CJs and SxS.
Guide to Colorado Backroads & 4-wheel-drive trails. by Charles Wells & Matt Peterson
We are driving from south Texas and its over 1200 miles to get to there. I'm soaking in all of your recommendations and as we get closer to our date I hope I can get a trail update in case some are closed. Most of our jeeping is in sand (beech) and mud, I drive on some rock trails in the hill country in Texas where I deer hunt but that's on old beat up CJs and SxS.
Here you can listen to the song made famous by someone who eventually became the mayor of Ouray.
trailsoffroad.com is a great resource too. Some of the trails require a $25/yr membership to get the "insider" info but it's well worth it IMO. It has scenery ratings, detailed descriptions of the route, specific obstacles that justify it's technical difficulty rating (when applicable), as well as gps files you can download to use in the gps device or app of your choice. The guides are written by crewmembers, too, so you don't get garbage info like with alltrails where anybody can go and make a duplicate page for a trail that's already there and upload a bogus gps route with multiple wrong turns and going off trail.
It doesn't just cover Colorado, so it can be used nationwide, though Colorado seems to have the most built-up crew so it's the most mapped out. I've thought about becoming a contributor to try to get some trails up in Oklahoma and Arkansas but I had second thoughts about inviting more traffic. Seems like the only way to find them here is to go exploring yourself, or find a Youtuber that posts maps if you pay them on Patreon.
Drove mine and did same passes and rented another time
Rentals don’t let you do Black Bear but engineer and Imogene are open for rentals
Had a blast each time and would do it again in a heart beat
Ouray is a beautiful town stop at the public hot spring
Imogene was the first trail I ever drove. It was very fun and scenery was amazing.
Well folks, I'm leaving in the morning, stopping in Amarillo for a couple of days to hit Palo Dura canyon, then head up to Ouray for 10 days of jeeping.