Notes & photos from a Colorado Road Trip

My fam and I just returned from a long anticipated Jeep road trip to Colorado. Just wanted to share some of my experience. We drove 2,500 miles from Austin to Telluride in a 2020 Jeep Rubicon Unlimited on 35 inch Nitto Trail Grapplers and a 2 inch Mopar lift. We rode the Alpine Loop (Engineer Pass & Cinnamon Pass), Ophir Pass, Imogene Pass, and Last Dollar Pass. It was an incredible trip, the Jeep performed flawlessly, and we met a whole lot of awesome off-roaders along the way. Trails like these in the heart of the San Juan mountains are a big part of the reason why I own a Jeep, and these iconic trails exceeded all of my expectations.

Random thoughts:
* Driving 75-85 mph across open country with a crosswind in a Jeep requires a certain degree of "focus".
* It will take you a good part of your day (approx 7-8 hours) to complete the Alpine Loop. But well worth it.
* When driving Engineer Pass from Animas Forks to Lake City, it will take you 75% of your time to complete the first 25% of the trail. The last 75% is mostly easy country road and goes quickly.
* Do you ever truly "wheel alone" in a Jeep? Unless you're on an isolated trail, there will always be other Jeepers to help you if needed. It's a great community.
* Imogene Pass was temporarily closed at the top until July 12th. If you plan a trip to Colorado before 4th of July, there's a "chance" some trails may still be closed.
* Last Dollar Pass is rated as a very easy trail, but after a heavy rainstorm with hail, the dirt roads turned into mud, and it became one of the most challenging.
* Summer afternoon thunderstorms are very common in the mountains during "monsoon season". Best to hit the trails early for clear blue skies and less traffic.
* That little gas station outside Silverton has the best "air pump" I've ever seen. It filled each of my tires from 22 lbs to 36 lbs in less than a minute!
* Jeeps are awesome. It handled all of these trails with absolutely no issue. And when climbing a shelf road up to 12,800 feet with a thunderstorm moving in, it gives you a lot of confidence to be behind the wheel of a Jeep.

8 hours on these 3 Awesome Trails condensed into a short 10 minute video:

Nice. We’re going from Houston to Ouray the week of Labor Day. I hope to do Alpine Loop, Imogene, Black Bear, Ophir, and Poughkeepsie Gulch. Thanks for the report.

Great write up. We enjoyed our trip last month in a rental enough that we’re trying to plan a multi week cross country working/wheeling trip later this year.

Don’t forget Yankee Boy Basin, Corkscrew, Hurricane and California. Those are some beautiful trails. For a good fun challenge as well go up Mineral Creek from highway 550 which will lead you into Poughkeepsie.

Oh that is so much fun!
We did those trails 20 years ago in a Grand Cherokee- 4 days, 4 trails. Ophir, Imogene, Cinnamon, Engineer. I wanted to do Stony pass on the way out but my girls said 4 days of dusty bumpy roads was enough. I've rented Wranglers in Silverton a few times so I think the only trails we haven't done are Poughkeepsie and Black Bear. Now that I have my own Jeep I can go back and do Black Bear.

Nice pic of P51 btw!

Great writeup. Have done those passes several times. We go to Colorado every other year for two weeks. Mostly to Telluride. Headed there mid September. We do not do many passes anymore. We just hangout and hike.

sourdough said:

OP, Black Bear Pass?

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Saving Black Bear for our next trip out there. Wanted to have a reason to go back and I can't wait!

Hello all. I do have a question. My wife and I have a ‘20 Sahara, we do some very minor off-road. 2.0 with minor mods of Mopar lift and 35 ATs.

We live in Southern IN and next spring is our 25th Wedding Anniversary. We are almost certainly doing a 2 week - 17 day road trip west.

We have never been to West of the Mississippi. We are considering Utah / Colorado/ Wyoming.

Any of the trails above or others doable / recommended? Thanks in advance.

No interest in rock climbing. Some love it, that’s great. Just not my thing.

More just want to enjoy the great outdoors and not get my ride messed up.

cOtter said:

Hello all. I do have a question. My wife and I have a ‘20 Sahara, we do some very minor off-road. 2.0 with minor mods of Mopar lift and 35 ATs.

We live in Southern IN and next spring is our 25th Wedding Anniversary. We are almost certainly doing a 2 week - 17 day road trip west.

We have never been to West of the Mississippi. We are considering Utah / Colorado/ Wyoming.

Any of the trails above or others doable / recommended? Thanks in advance.

No interest in rock climbing. Some love it, that’s great. Just not my thing.

More just want to enjoy the great outdoors and not get my ride messed up.

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Hey @cOtter you could do all the trails he mentioned with your Jeep. If you steer clear of rock climbing I’d recommend you skip Poughkeepsie (highest potential for damage) and Blackbear (highest penalty for failure).

On your way out there I’d recommend taking Medano pass into The Great Sand Dunes National Park, If you need a break from the trails, the Durango to Silverton narrow gauge railroad 1/2 day trip Is a nice change of pace.

There is a FB page that is a great resource: San Juan Mountain Trails Group

@cOtter I agree with Brad. One other note, depending on what part of spring, you may need to look at the government sites to make sure they are open. IIRC some don’t open until at least April and you are more likely to still be snow covered at higher elevations earlier in the year.

Austin23 said:

Saving Black Bear for our next trip out there. Wanted to have a reason to go back and I can't wait!

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I did the opposite last year. I couldn't wait anymore to do Black Bear. It's been on my bucket list forever. Now I have some of the others for this year AND Black Bear again.

GATORB8 said:

@cOtter I agree with Brad. One other note, depending on what part of spring, you may need to look at the government sites to make sure they are open. IIRC some don’t open until at least April and you are more likely to still be snow covered at higher elevations earlier in the year.

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@cOtter What he said... spring is likely a no go in the San Juans. Most of the mountain passes/higher elevation trails are not going to be open then. There are not a ton of mapped off-road trails in Wyoming I am aware of either really. Utah is your best bet in the spring. Or wait until summer is in full swing if you want to hit the San Juans and Utah.

There is plenty to do in Utah however. You could drive through and hit a couple trails in CO maybe (weather dependent) and then head to Moab area and spend time there. That area is full of trails and TONS of outdoor activities.

Nice trip! Great description. It's on my list. Hopefully, I'll get to it this summer or fall. For us it's a scenic 300+/- miles each way, depending on whether we take the southern or northern route (we usually do one way out and another back).

A lot of the higher trails near us don't open until into July.

GATORB8 said:

@cOtter I agree with Brad. One other note, depending on what part of spring, you may need to look at the government sites to make sure they are open. IIRC some don’t open until at least April and you are more likely to still be snow covered at higher elevations earlier in the year.

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It will be later part of May when we take to voyage.