Heading up to Colorado in August

I have a month of vacation coming up, so I will heading from Austin, TX up to Colorado for about three weeks starting August 7th. My plan is to start at Great Sand Dunes National Park and then spend a few nights in each of the 7 areas outlined in the Charles A Wells backroads guide book, doing a combination of some light wheeling, camping, and hiking. I'm still finalizing my plan, but a friend of mine here in Austin was recently up in Colorado on his way to Moab and said he met some good people in this group. It'll just be me and the dog, but I'm open to meet up with people.

Here are the trails I'm looking at. My goal is to keep it to medium trails. I have a well-built rig but want to avoid the more extreme areas. I'll spend 3-4 nights in each area in the RTT. If anyone has any advice on these or suggestions on other trails, places to avoid due to crowds/traffic, etc, I'd appreciate any info.

Area 7
Medano Pass
Hermit Pass
Hayden Pass

Area 6
Shelf Road
Rule Ridge
Phantom Creek
Rainbow Falls (Book says this is a great weekend trip so might stay 2 nights)

Area 5
Cascade Creek
Saxon Mountain
Peru Creek
Saint John's Creek
Deer Creek
Swan River (North Fork)
Georgia Pass

Area 4
McAllister Gulch
No Name Road
Wurst Ditch
Slide Lake Trail
Lost Canyon Trail

Area 2
Lincoln Creek Road (2 nights)

Area 3
Mount Princeton
Browns Lake
Baldwin Lakes
Tincup Pass

Area 1
Engineer Pass
Picayune Gulch
Kite Lake
Corkscrew Gulch
Red Mountain
Ophir Pass
Imogene Pass
Yankee Boy Basin
Last Dollar Trail

 

I am not familiar with that book.

Your Area 1 (Alpine loop with some Telluride/ Silverton Regions) is probably more than 3 days. Tons to see and do down there.

For sure head from Gunnison (Area 3) to Lake City to take the Alpine loop to Ouray/ Silverton/ Telluride (Area 1)

Oh post up here when your close, it's our trip/ event thread:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/upcoming-colorado-events.187907/page-634

 

What about good camping areas in the Ouray-Silverton-Telluride area? I'm doing area1 last and leaving my return home date open-ended because I'll have a whole extra week if I want to stay longer.

 

This is a great one, but tons of no fee (FREE) camping around as well

http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/f...rounds+-+Ouray+Area+-+Amphitheatre+Campground

 

Watch out in area 7 on your list. There is a fire near Hayden Pass that has burned about 10k acres so far. Hopefully it burns out by then.

 

The book he's referring to is the Funtreks guide book. There is also a Northern colorado version.

Suggestions on the Tin cup area. I've done it a few times and I do absolutely recommend this (or something similar) as a route from Buena Vista to Crested Butte/Gunnison (my favorite area in the state).

Lots of side by sides and people on tin cup, best places i've seen to camp are near tree line.
You could consider doing Hancock pass & the alpine tunnel. Slightly more challenging in spots than tin cup, still nothing too crazy but certainly exhilarating. you end up getting to gunnison this way too.

Haven't done medano pass but that seems like an awesome way to visit the sand dunes!!
You might also want to reconsider some of the green routes... these can be just very boring dirt roads. Sounds like one hell of a trip!!