Visiting Colorado? This is your Local Information Thread!

Ya, Black Bear....I don't know how I forgot to mention the trail I was most concerned about. haha My biggest concern was the switchback turns. I'm a pretty calm and rational person, especially on trails. I'll be joining others that have done the trail so I am confident we shouldn't have issues with going slow and being safe. This is assuming everyone is able to make the trip work out and are able to make the trip. Google maps shows a 14hr drive from NW Iowa. ugggh! lol

Thank you very much! Do I need to get a trail pass by chance?

 

No trail pass required.

Side note: If you run engineer, pay attention the first few miles as you are coming up towards the mines. Several have rolled over in this spot since the road gave way back in June. There's plenty of space to navigate around, you just need to watch where you're going and not drive off the edge.

https://www.nbc11news.com/content/news/Engineer-Pass-accident-571548541.html

 

Awesome! Thank you for the advice! We are looking at doing Imogene pass, sidney, yankee boy, governer basin and maybe ophir pass. At least thats the plan, hopefully it isn't rained out from the current tropical storms down south. They are forecasting storms in my area in a week, granted thats still 7 days out.

 

I'll have to watch those videos when I get home....youtube is blocked on my work computer. lol

 

FYI- if you are taking Imogene Pass you will need to loop with either Black Bear (1 way-> into Telluride), Ophir, or Last dollar rd (Dirt road really) to get back.

 

Ok, that sounds like a good plan. I haven't looked too deep into routing yet. The guy I work with that is trying to get me to tag along has been out there and is meeting some people from around Denver. He made it sound like there is some experienced people going besides himself. I'm playing catch-up since he invited me to tag along a couple days ago. Again, hopefully I can make it work with my schedule!

 

Some resources:

Trail Status: (Also have Facebook site if you prefer that)
http://www.bushducks.com/tripreps/passopen.htm

Trail info/ Maps and Reports (not just CO) There is a fee to use:
https://www.trailsoffroad.com/

 

Thanks a lot!!

What are you guys using for trail maps? I used Avenza when I was in the Black Hills, SD. Worked really good as it uses the GPS signal and tracks your progress on MVUM maps that are downloaded through the app.

 

My favorite way to run the passes out there is last dollar into Telluride from Ridgway, then Ophir out, Black Bear in, and Imogene out.

Lots of us use Gaia. You would want to download maps ahead of time in case you are out of service. That might be a premium option now...I can't recall. I have tracks saved for all of these if interested.

 

I looked into Gaia a few years ago but I liked how Avenza worked better at that time. I'll have to look into Gaia again. Thank you!

 

Just came across this walk thru of Gaia the other day.

 

How is ophir? I've read the funtreks book and feel confident I can do it. Nothing too tricky, just a narrow shelf road?

 

Ophir is basically just a road... not even that narrow or rough. It only feels narrow if you have to make a pass on one section. You could 2WD that thing, or make the traverse in a Subaru.

 

Edit: oh your talking about that last mile on the western side of pass, other than that piece it is easy dirt road as stated.

It's just a narrow shelf road with very few areas where 2 vehicles can pass each other but good visibility to see oncoming traffic, see below.

 

It's somewhat narrow in places, sure. Not trying to diminish Ophir, it's my favorite way back home from the Telluride side of the mountains. But the majority of the pass, highway-to-highway, is wide and easy. You're absolutely right about the visibility, makes it easy to find wide spots to pass on the shelf section... although if it is as busy as I've heard this year, the line to pass through might be insane.

Narrow... a few places on Corkscrew, for example. (Almost slid off that one once when it was muddy.) Or any road where you are pinstriping both sides of the truck simultaneously...

 

Yeah, I was focused on that ~1 mile section just west of Pass and not the overall trail which is really just a dirt road.

 

Hello all, have a few questions. How involved is Imogene Pass? I'm heading down to climb the Wilson group and Sneffels this week and want to mix in some pass roads. Ill be tired from hiking so not looking to get into anything too difficult but will have some time to explore. Was thinking of Ophir and Last Dollar but will probably have time for a third. I have 2" of lift and 265/75 16's with no skids.
How is the traffic down there on mon-tue-wed?
Where is the best food/takeout pizza or BBQ in Telluride?

 

We are heading out to Estes, Rocky Mountain National Park and then over to Dinosaur National Monument. Looking for great camping or trails or anything that’s a must do. We have a decently equipped although a bit top heavy First gen double cab. Will be doing both touristy stuff and more adventurous stuff. I know we are doing “old falls road” or something like that in the RMNP but I’m not sure what else is out there or what’s in between there and Dinosaur. Hard to find any info on the area. Berthing points towards Denver or all the old mountain pass roads. While we will do those one day, trying to seize the day with my littles ones and their love of dinosaurs on this trip.

I have done a fair bit of off-roading in Arkansas, just south of me and have driven things like Black Gap ( in a prerunner) so I have a moderate amount of experience off road. Thanks for any suggestions!

 

You'll be fine, Imogene is a relatively easy trail, most people run into issues by not paying attention and getting too close to the edge in the narrow spots. Generally, uphill vehicles have the right of way, but on the narrow shelf roads up there, it's more of whoever has the easiest pullout, takes it.

Same goes for Ophir, I'd say Ophir is more narrow than Imogene if I recall correctly.

Last Dollar is pretty much a dirt road, some ruts in it but that's about it

 

Imogene is easier than ophir? The funtreks book shows ophir as blue/medium and imogene is red/hard