Ophir + Imogene = 1 day?

[WantToWander]

Long time listener, first time caller...

We had some friends move to Colorado Springs and are planning to visit them later this summer (from Texas). Decided to make a road trip out of. The plan is to spend a couple of nights in Ouray, then to Creede via Alpine Loop for another night. Then on to Colorado Springs.

While in Ouray we'd like to do Ouray -> Ophir Pass -> Telluride -> Imogene Pass -> Ouray. This seems like a pretty common day trip itinerary, but the Better Half would like to spend some time in Telluride. Maybe Lunch, gondola ride to Mountain Village and back, probably some souvenir shopping. Is this too ambitious to fit into a day? I'm worried about losing the light on the way back especially on the downhill side heading back to Ouray.

Has anyone done this loop and can recall how long it took? With a relatively early start, and going at a leisurely pace, is there enough time left in the day for a break in Telluride?

Thanks!
John

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[chevymitchell]

Long time listener, first time caller...

We had some friends move to Colorado Springs and are planning to visit them later this summer (from Texas). Decided to make a road trip out of. The plan is to spend a couple of nights in Ouray, then to Creede via Alpine Loop for another night. Then on to Colorado Springs.

While in Ouray we'd like to do Ouray -> Ophir Pass -> Telluride -> Imogene Pass -> Ouray. This seems like a pretty common day trip itinerary, but the Better Half would like to spend some time in Telluride. Maybe Lunch, gondola ride to Mountain Village and back, probably some souvenir shopping. Is this too ambitious to fit into a day? I'm worried about losing the light on the way back especially on the downhill side heading back to Ouray.

Has anyone done this loop and can recall how long it took? With a relatively early start, and going at a leisurely pace, is there enough time left in the day for a break in Telluride?

Thanks!
John

You could do that loop, spend 3-4 hours in Telluride, and still be back to Ouray by 4. Ophir takes no time at all.

 

[dstevens]

Ophir takes no time at all.

Unless someone in a 2wd sprinter van is in front of you, stuck in the shingle section.

 

[At Risk Ute]

Hit Ophir early from the west to beat the circus.

Better yet, run Black Bear and Imogene. You’ll have the right of way pretty much the entire way.

 

[grimmjeeper]

You could do that loop, spend 3-4 hours in Telluride, and still be back to Ouray by 4. Ophir takes no time at all.

What he said. Ophir is an easy trail. Telluride for shopping and some lunch. Imogene isn't really challenging but there are a couple of spots you want to pick your line from a few options, not to mention lots of photo ops. The abandoned mine near the top is cool to walk around for a bit.

 

[WantToWander]

Fantastic! Thanks all! Sounds like this should be a great trip. I would take the suggestion to shortcut via Black Bear Pass, but that road scares me more than the thought of my wife shopping in Telluride!

John

 

[SmallCrawler]

Did Ophir-Telluride/gondola last year and had a great time. The weather on the passes around Ouray kicked up each afternoon. We were happy to be off the trails by 3 or so. Hope you get lots of blue sky on your trip!

 

[AZ Hella]

Unless someone in a 2wd sprinter van is in front of you, stuck in the shingle section.

The sound of driving the shingle section is one of the greatest ASMR tracks nature has to offer.

 

[LARSONEM]

I’ve done Ophir from Ouray to Telluride then back over Imogene to Ouray several times in a rental Jeep because we always ride our motorcycles to Colorado. We’ve usually taken about 6 hours to do it including a picnic lunch up near Tom Boy Mine before you hit the summit of Imogene. Ophir is an easy pass. There’s some shelf road out of Telluride heading east that was a little unnerving and some slippery rock if it’s rained on the way down from Imogene heading back to Ouray. If you’re going to hang out in Telluride a bit, just get up and get out of Ouray early. We always had to be concerned with returning a rental Jeep by 5:00 or 5:30 pm.

 

[andy29847]

I would do Imogene first. Then you can take as long as you want inTelluride. There are 3 ways back to Ouray. Ophir, which is scenic but not anything to get excited about, Last Dollar Rd which is also very scenic and easy as pie unless wet, and the paved roads home (Telluride-Ridgeway-Ouray). Imogene is no place to be in a hurry. Also, it is a good idea to have an easy way home in the event of afternoon storms.

 

[COBill]

Ophir -> Telluride for lunch, then Imogene back to Ouray is a standard route recommended for rental Jeeps if you have 4WD experience, Ophir -> Telluride and Last Dollar Road to 58.P to Ridgway back to Ouray if you are a newbie. (You get to see the “True Grit” house on the latter route.)

 

[wibornz]

You could do that loop, spend 3-4 hours in Telluride, and still be back to Ouray by 4. Ophir takes no time at all.

Solid advice. You can easily do Ophir to Telluride, explore the town, have lunch and then take Imogene to Ouray.

 

[willieself]

Long time listener, first time caller...

We had some friends move to Colorado Springs and are planning to visit them later this summer (from Texas). Decided to make a road trip out of. The plan is to spend a couple of nights in Ouray, then to Creede via Alpine Loop for another night. Then on to Colorado Springs.

While in Ouray we'd like to do Ouray -> Ophir Pass -> Telluride -> Imogene Pass -> Ouray. This seems like a pretty common day trip itinerary, but the Better Half would like to spend some time in Telluride. Maybe Lunch, gondola ride to Mountain Village and back, probably some souvenir shopping. Is this too ambitious to fit into a day? I'm worried about losing the light on the way back especially on the downhill side heading back to Ouray.

Has anyone done this loop and can recall how long it took? With a relatively early start, and going at a leisurely pace, is there enough time left in the day for a break in Telluride?

Thanks!
John

When is your trip?

As has been said already the Ophir> Telluride>Imogene is very doable. We did that our first trip to Ouray. We found that what slows you down on Imogene is stopping to take pictures and take in the views!!! I would recommend taking the short drive to Ridgeway one evening and eating at the True Grit Cafe food was great when we were there. The movie True Grit, the John Wayne one, was filmed in and around Ridgeway, the building the cafe is in and others on that street were all in the movie.

We will be in Ouray for three days starting the 28th and will definitely be doing Imogene back from Telluride. Waiting to see if Black Bear is open by the time we get there to decide our route from Ouray.

 

[WantToWander]

When is your trip?

As has been said already the Ophir> Telluride>Imogene is very doable. We did that our first trip to Ouray. We found that what slows you down on Imogene is stopping to take pictures and take in the views!!! I would recommend taking the short drive to Ridgeway one evening and eating at the True Grit Cafe food was great when we were there. The movie True Grit, the John Wayne one, was filmed in and around Ridgeway, the building the cafe is in and others on that street were all in the movie.

We will be in Ouray for three days starting the 28th and will definitely be doing Imogene back from Telluride. Waiting to see if Black Bear is open by the time we get there to decide our route from Ouray.

We're going to just miss you. We leave Austin on the 31st but aren't going to be in Ouray until Aug 2nd. We're taking the scenic route to Colorado Springs to visit from friends that just moved there.

First night is in Big Spring TX. Wanted to make the first day of driving an easy one and have wanted to stay at Hotel Settles since I noticed it on a previous trip to NM.

Second night is Sante Fe. Might find some trails there. Was disappointed to learn there are no Badge of Honor trails in NM! But mainly another stop just to break things up. Probably go to Meow Wolf, which is pretty cool if anyone is looking for something to do in Sante Fe.

Third and Fourth nights are Ouray. Originally was going to be 1 night and then take Alpine Loop to Lake City, but wanted to do Ophir and Imogene so added the extra night. Still too scared to do Black Bear. If it's closed I'm going to tell everyone I had planned to do it, but couldn't ;-). If time allows, we'll checkout Ridgeway.

Fifth night will be Creede to checkout Bachelor Loop and the underground mining museum.

The onto Colorado Springs via Great Dunes National Park and will stay with friends for a bit.

Heading to Denver for a day trip to Dive with Sharks at the aquarium. Hoping Casa Bonita is open to the general public so we can take the kiddos there (ok, I want to go too).

Heading home a little more directly, but stopping to check out Palo Duro and spend the night so it's not such a slog.

Then home and back to work :-(

You probably weren't interested in that level of detail, but I'm pretty excited about this trip and can't stop thinking about it!

john

 

[wibornz]

We will be in Ouray about August 10th or so.. We leave Michigan on August 5th. Plan to run Red Cone, Webster and Mosquito Pass before getting to Ouray.

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