Trip to Ouray and Moab September/October 2021

[Category5Bronado]

I'm planning my first trip to Colorado and Utah for 09/28-10/4 and was hoping to get some insight from others that have gone. I'll be in my stock 2020 JLUR. Tentatively my schedule is planned for arriving in Ouray 09/27. I'll probably sightsee / explore the town that day and then I planned for doing trails/passes (Alpine loop, black bear, etc) 09/28, 09/29, and 09/30. I could stretch that another day if I have enough recommendations of trails to run. Once done with the Colorado trails, I plan on driving to Moab and then spending a couple days there.

I haven't been to either state before so I don't know how long each trail takes, which are good for stock rubicons, etc. I have some wheeling experience in Missouri through trails in offload parks. What trails/passes does everyone recommend? How long do they take? If someone could give me an itinerary of what order to run the trails that would be awesome. I read somewhere that someone recommended taking Corkscrew to Hurricane pass, then California Pass to Animals Fork. Does that sound right?

I'm not necessarily looking for difficult Offroad trails and would prefer scenic ones with less chance of breaking.

Also what gear would everyone recommend I bring? Are ham radios used in the area? I have a 2M radio I could bring.

Thanks in advance for the help!

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[jlang]

This will be fun. I plan on doing this next year. Have you made hotel reservations yet? I hear this can be difficult in some of these smaller areas.

 

[Category5Bronado]

This will be fun. I plan on doing this next year. Have you made hotel reservations yet? I hear this can be difficult in some of these smaller areas.

I'm going to make them this week once I nail down how many days I need in Ouray and Moab. I've been wanting to make this trip for about 6 years and this year I can finally squeeze it in.

 

[Aonar]

We did in bone stock 2021 Rubi. Only scraped once or twice due to operator error in my opinion. Many people will have differing experiences but this was mine. https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...ado-trip-some-stats.76782/page-2#post-1606424

We did BLACK BEAR PASS, IMOGENE and OPHIR. Also did a Silver Dollar Road run which was super easy BUT beautiful. It was our 1st drive to whet our appetites. You can view the thread and see some pics. I was SUPER impressed with the JP!

We camped at Lake Alta (free) so no help on hotels. The trail up to Alta was interesting at times (hail, rain...). GO on to YouTube, etc. and watch videos of each trail run. Will give you great advance knowledge of each trail. No help on Moab.

ENJOY!

 

[Category5Bronado]

We did in bone stock 2021 Rubi. Only scraped once or twice due to operator error in my opinion. Many people will have differing experiences but this was mine. https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...ado-trip-some-stats.76782/page-2#post-1606424

We did BLACK BEAR PASS, IMOGENE and OPHIR. Also did a Silver Dollar Road run which was super easy BUT beautiful. It was our 1st drive to whet our appetites. You can view the thread and see some pics. I was SUPER impressed with the JP!

We camped at Lake Alta (free) so no help on hotels. The trail up to Alta was interesting at times (hail, rain...). GO on to YouTube, etc. and watch videos of each trail run. Will give you great advance knowledge of each trail. No help on Moab.

ENJOY!

Thanks for the input! Do you remember how many hours it took for each pass? And which order you did them in?

 

[wibornz]

You will be fine on Black Bear, Imogene, Ophir, Engineer, Cinnamon (the Alpine Loop) with a stock Jeep. There are many trails in Moab that being stock on will be fine.

 

[Aonar]

Thanks for the input! Do you remember how many hours it took for each pass? And which order you did them in?

Timing will differ for everyone I suspect. LOTS to stop and see, take pics, look for rocks, put your feet in the water, etc. At least this is what we did. PLUS it will depend how many in your group and if you get behind others. We got a late start on our first days run and needed to quit early to help a fellow JPr get to camp so we only ran Silver Dollar road on day one. Day 2 we did BB pass and Imogene. We hit rain and ended up doing BB pass in some rain and then some fog. It was our 2nd trail for the day and again we wanted to get back to camp before dark to eat, etc. Only did Ophir on our last day for our trip timing reasons. Pick this book up if you have time!

 

[Aonar]

Arrived rather quickly:

 

[Arrowhead]

Sent two weeks in July trompin around Moab and Colorado. Pickup the book show in the post above and the companion for moab. can't say enough good things about them, they were indispensable on the trip. I picked up eight badges from the trip.

https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Moab-B...t=&hvlocphy=1022672&hvtargid=pla-565452168235

 

[Deleted member 59098]

Is traffic on the Telluride passes and moderate Moab trails enough that rolling solo is generally safe in good weather?

 

[wibornz]

Sent two weeks in July trompin around Moab and Colorado. Pickup the book show in the post above and the companion for moab. can't say enough good things about them, they were indispensable on the trip. Pick up eight badges from the trip.

https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Moab-B...t=&hvlocphy=1022672&hvtargid=pla-565452168235

I enjoyed all of those trails.

 

[Aonar]

Is traffic on the Telluride passes and moderate Moab trails enough that rolling solo is generally safe in good weather?

RE: the Telluride passes I was on: I would say yes. However, in my "conservative, old age thinking" I try to always wheel with another (actually always have had this theory).

 

[somedude922]

Start each trail as early as you can. Less traffic on the trails, and gets you down off the mountain by afternoon. Animas Forks/loop which included Corkscrew took us 6 hours, but we were in a large group.
Alpine loop (cinanmon pass to lake city/ engineer pass back to ouray was ALL DAY, easily 12 hours. Lower engineer where you enter the loop is called Mineral Creek- easily the worst trail out there, we went once and never did it again. Too much 2 way traffic, off camber spots, lots of jarring ride, steep cliffs. Just wasnt fun. We opted to go all the way to Silverton and enter the loop through Animas Forks.
Imogene took us about hours
Black Bear if you go early can be done in less then 2 hours. Ophir was about 2 hours.
Most of this included stopping for pics, checking things out.
Get the book mentioned, try to tag along with someone, there is ALWAYS people to tag along with. Most use GMRS that we encountered, plan to spend a few days on the mountain in case of rock slides that block trails. If you are in FB, check out the San Juan Mountain Trail Group page- lots and lots of info, usually updated to the minute. ALWAYS check weather before you go.

 

[Aonar]

However, in my "conservative, old age thinking" I try to always wheel with another (actually always have had this theory).

TWO reasons I stress this: 1-Help picking a line if/when needed. 2-Help if issues on the trail. There is a comfort factor having another along.

 

[Dkretden]

You will certainly love it. If you like scenic trails, look at this thread. There are a handful of trails posted for Ouray and Moab:

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...ils-for-pusses”-—-list-them-here.56846/page-3

i linked to the chicken corners trail in Moab above. Go back to the first post (page one) mfor a listing of where you can find other trails in Ouray and Moab.

as for a place to stay, I can recommend the Moab Valley inn. it looks like the last time it was remodeled was about 1974 but, frankly, it’s comfortable, convenient, and the price is reasonable. In Ouray I can recommend the Box canyon lodge. The same description above applies. I would stay at both hotels again.

radios: yes, some folks use ham others use GMRS/FRS and others use CB.

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