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If you were going to be In the Telluride, Silverton, Ouray area Wheeling?

wibornz

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We are going to be there for four days. Which town would you make as your base camp and leave your camper at and why? Also if you have stayed in the area and can suggest a campground, that would be awesome. We leave to go there on Sept. 9th.
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wibornz

wibornz

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There will be three JLUR and two teardrop campers.

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SVCBelshJo44agwu3-5mlgNAiYXKlSXkmUHb6coBF8iXbzhbok23lNFE4Ou8fFV_EHIUX5KZlcms1p9QaE=w1010-h757-no.jpg


Thanks in advance.

This is our shakedown run.
 

mike_b_81

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Was there in July for our first time, I’d say Silverton or Ouray, as you can get pretty much anywhere from there. We stayed in a motel in Silverton for 4 days, that was before Black Bear and Imogene we’re open, but now that they’re open, you can had to Telluride and back in a day on the trails. Enjoy it out there, it was beautiful!
 

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We are going to be there for four days. Which town would you make as your base camp and leave your camper at and why? Also if you have stayed in the area and can suggest a campground, that would be awesome. We leave to go there on Sept. 9th.
We always stay just outside of Silverton at the Kendall Mt camp area. There's also Anvil, South Mineral and a couple more further up the road. All first come first serve and free to camp for 14 days I believe. We like it since it's close enough to a lot of trails and towns that it makes it easy to head different directions to explore every day.
 
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wibornz

wibornz

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We are all about boondocking. So maybe find a place over by Ouray to use as a base camp and wheel from there. It sounds like we will be able to pull these campers over Engineer pass with out any problem.

and thanks for the replies or date is rapidly approaching. .
 

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While you can tow over the pass....I'd do it at very off peak hours if possible....like at night or really early in the morning to set your base camp. 1 lane mountain road etiquette will still apply (vehicles traveling up hill have right of way) and backing to a suitable pass point with a trailer may not always be feasible.

That said, there may even be signage at this point that says no vehicles with trailers (it used to say that out of Silverton when getting onto the Alpine Loop at that end.).

The first part of the Alpine Loop off 550 just south of Ouray is a pretty narrow shelf road as it climbs following Mineral Creek. Finding a suitable pull out for essentially 4 vehicles (due to your two trailers) could prove somewhat difficult. I've done it from that end and camped in Poughkeepsie Gulch....but we always got there late, after a full day of driving and never really ran into many people coming down off the loop (at that juncture, they'd have to yield to you anyway...but there are a lot of uninitiated there, so they may not know).

I'd guess you'd be fine, but IMO, I'd be looking to set up camp ASAP and drop the trailers so you can concentrate more on the scenery and less on towing the trailer, especially as you get up higher in elevation with better views.
Good advice. I camped one night where Poughkeepsie turns off from Mineral, though. Lots of room there. Beautiful spot. Follow your ears to the spectacular waterfall. You could drop the trailers there, go on over Engineer, have lunch in Lake City, and come back over Cinnamon, and be in camp in time to make dinner before dark.

If you went in from the Ouray side first thing in the morning, intending to drop the trailers there, you’d be unlikely to meet traffic, I reckon, but as Sean says, if you do it could be problematic.

You’d have the theoretical right of way, but that really means squat. We met a stock Ford Ranger. He couldn’t get out of his own way, much less ours.

Also absolutely agree that you don’t want to take the trailers on the Loop.

Sure, they can make it, but can you back them up 200 yards and perch them on the mountainside to allow uphill traffic to pass?

Doubtful.

I’m used to lots of boondocking sites in Colorado, but it’s really not the case around Ouray.

Last Dollar Road between Ridgeway and Telluride isn’t exciting wheeling, but it’s gorgeous country, with lots of good campsites. 21 miles through, as I recall, but several miles private on each end.

8-10 miles in the middle, mostly in the aspens, would be where I would set up a basecamp.

In fact I did.
 
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wibornz

wibornz

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So what your saying is drive in somewhere off the passes and set up camp if possible? We have four days to do the four passes.

We could find something between Ouray and Silverton also???
 
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wibornz

wibornz

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Which 4 passes? That will determine where you should locate the basecamp.
Engineer pass
Imogene Pass
Black Bear Pass
Ophir Pass
 

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As mentioned Kendall and Anvil CG's just outside of Silverton (Rd. 585) off 550 headed toward Ouray or road 200 before Mineral Creek staging area will work well for you. They are free. Both are between Silverton and Ouray. I stayed at both last month. I was shocked at the amount of traffic on the pass trails, towing a trailer would not be fun IMO. Traffic felt like I was back in SoCal.
teaser photos...
Engineer Pass, Co..jpg

road 200 campsite 8 miles from Our.
road 200 near Mineral creek staging area Co..jpg
 
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D60

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I do an annual event in Lake City and I almost kinda like it more than any of the above...ok not helpful

Ouray is within the closest striking distance of "major" civilization with Montrose to the north, but it ain't exactly right next door.

Check out Box Canyon Falls if in Ouray, have fun! Go to Orvis if ya want but please no pictures
 
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wibornz

wibornz

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Well, attempting to give you markers via Google maps didn't work well. **EDIT** Fixed it** I placed a pin at the intersection on Ophir where you turn to get down to the campsite I mentioned.... The GPS coordinates are: 37.859740,-107.797052. The turn off heads down hill. The prominent and obvious two tracks shown in the image are going uphill.

The view from that campsite is absolutely gorgeous. You can make out the little town of Ophir, but the mountain pasture is full of wildflowers and has stunning snow capped peaks on all sides, plus a running creek nearby.

Let me see if I can drop a pin on the campsite itself.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/37°51'23.2"N+107°47'55.5"W/@37.8564532,-107.8009337,722m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d37.856449!4d-107.798745

Actual coordinates: 37.856449,-107.798745

The other ones I posted aren't really great for a base camps as they are probably farther out from the 4 main passes you're shooting for. Not sure what's best on the Ouray side of Imogene. That might be your best bet.

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D60

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If ya have any mechanical failures that might require fab or need to get a vehicle (or trailer) up on a lift drop me a line, I might be able to help if you can get it to my shop
 

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I would base camp in Ouray, IMO it was the "hub" for all of the trails. Silverton would be my second pick. We never made it to Telluride since Black Bear was closed. After looking at the maps Telluride seemed off to the side in terms of getting to the trails from it.
 
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wibornz

wibornz

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If ya have any mechanical failures that might require fab or need to get a vehicle (or trailer) up on a lift drop me a line, I might be able to help if you can get it to my shop
Man thanks for the offer. We do a lot of prep work for a trip like this. We just re torqued all the suspension bolts and nuts, wheel lug nuts, checked all fluids and changed the oil. Basicly, take a look at the whole jeep from top to bottom. All three of them.
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