colorado?

[noss10]

Ok I am looking to go to Colorado for 4days in either march or may.. My question is what are some good trails to go on mainly looking for old ghost towns and what not. I will be in my 91 Cherokee with 32s and more than likely no lockers. So not looking for anything crazy. Any suggestions are appreciated. Also for those who have been to Colorado what are some things that I should prepare for?

[Guest]

open diffs will be fine, on most trails, after all, most are county roads. my favorite area is St. Elmo area, Outside of Buena Vista, there are several fun trails around there, that open diffs will be fine on. nothing real technical, just rough roads, Check out Mary Murphy Mine, Hancock, The Palisades, Tin Cup Road (eat at the burger joint in Tin Cup), Mt Princeton is neat, but its just a notch above a rough dirt road, till you get closer to the top, however the view!!! Wow!!
I haven't done Mt Antero, yet, but want to. If you were locked in back, I would suggest Red Cone,but you don't have to be locked to do it, just need patience and depending on your driving experience and fear of heights, Radical Hill. Georgia pass is nice, but easy to get lost on. trails go a bunch of different ways, but end up the same place mostly.
What axles do you have? If you have dana 35 in back, you should take extra axles and brake parts, if you have 8.25, or dana 44 bring front spare axles.
If you are camping, be prepared for all kinds of weather, Some trails won't open till August, some might not even open by then depending on snow.
Check trail reports before going to help you decide, it will likely still be too early to go with no lockers in march or may.
shoot me a pm if you have more questions.

[Guest]

http://www.traildamage.com/trails/index.php

You can sort trails by scenery, etc. Mosquito pass was my favorite.

[Guest]

I would offer a word of caution that March would be pretty early in the season. I'm afraid that many of the trails you'd want to run would still be impassable that ealry in the season.

May would be the much better choice.

[tuffnutz70]

yeah...do may.........i may go with!!! havent been to colorado in 15yrs...long overdo!

[noss10]

sounds good to me thanks for the link very helpfull! i may wait till June maybe even July at latest want the trails to be open.. and i will keep you updated Tommy on the schedule

[Guest]

sounds good to me thanks for the link very helpfull! i may wait till June maybe even July at latest want the trails to be open.. and i will keep you updated Tommy on the schedule

Yeah you are not going to be able to run any passes until late june. There are still plently of trails down low to do as well though. Buena Vista are is still good too. You'll just have to stay down in the flats which is cool just not the awesome scenery that getting above timberline provides.
Jake

[ovrszd]

I would offer a word of caution that March would be pretty early in the season. I'm afraid that many of the trails you'd want to run would still be impassable that ealry in the season.

May would be the much better choice.

Hafta go with Glen on this one. None of the trails mentioned so far in this thread will do doable in March or May with your rig. I've been stuck in snow on Hancock Pass in early June with lockers and 35" tires. I don't like to go earlier than 01 July, preferably August.

Wait til Summer then go to St Elmo area and do Hancock, Tomichi, Tin Cup passes. You'll drive by an open abandoned Gold Mine to explore and see the Alpine Railroad Tunnel. You can spend two or three days in that area pretty easily. Buena Vista is a good town to base out of.

[kyle7108]

This is a web site that people post on when trails are open . I been going out last week of july for about 12 years trails open then . I go to ouray most of the time . http://www.bushducks.com/tripreps/passopen.htm#tunnel

[Guest]

I just went to Colorado this past summer with some friends. We went to Silverton/Ouray and went to a ghost town and some abandoned mine sites along with some other random trails, and I have to say it was a BLAST! I can't wait to go again! It all depends on what part of CO you go to though. There are trails everywhere, so that won't be a problem.

[rrock]

I have been going out to the Ouray/Lake City area the last few years in September/October. There are many sites to see and many old mining settlements to poke around and explore. The Cinnamon/Engineer pass Alpine loop has some fun sites and is very doable with stock/near stock Jeeps.

[tfiedler]

We were in Ouray in early June last year, only a few trails had opened up at that time. If you're doing May, stuff at elevation will still be closed. If you're doing stuff on the windward side of the western slope, or eastern Utah, open trails might be easier to come across. That's been my experience anyway.

[Guest]

Another suggestion would be to head south towards Farmington New Mexico if the dates are firm. Farmington is within an hour of Durango.

http://4wheeldrive.about.com/od/newm...s_4WD_SUVs.htm

http://www.4x4now.com/trnmcc.htm

Lake Valley is a ghost town that looks pretty cool

http://www.vivanewmexico.com/ghosts/lvalley.html

There looks like there are numerous abandoned mines in that area as well.

Mostly trying to give you ideas, as others have said, a lot of the really cool stuff like Mosquito Pass, Tomichi, Tin Cup, Hancock, Black Bear, Animas Forks, won't be accessible till the middle of July.

Wally

[tuffnutz70]

so if we put this off to a later date.....say end of july, early august.....would any others be interested in going? I am making the trip, just don't have set dates....jodee is open on dates too. not sure about perry.

[Guest]

I am still trying to figure out what all I am going to do in August?

I am still working on getting hooked up with a group out in California to do the Dusy Ershim trail. BUT I am not gonna wheel that trail alone! If can't the timeing down with a couple of different clubs that I have contacted, I may wheel Colorado instead. My time frame right now is the 2-3rd weeks in August.

Wally