Roadtrip to Vail

My wife are driving the Tacoma out to Vail the week of June 17th and will be there through the 23rd. We would love to have an offroad day, so I will dig into the FS maps and ride reports to get some direction, but we are always open to suggestions. I am considering a section or two of the Colorado BDR.

Would anybody be willing to show us around on some trails for a day in the area?

Should we expect to see snow closures on some of the higher passes in mid-June?

 

I'm not familiar with the immediate Vail region, but I think you're going to have a bit of driving to get to a trail from there. Shrine Pass, Ptarmigan Pass, and McAllister Gulch are the closest listed on trailsoffroad.com and there's more down toward Leadville or west toward Gypsum. You wouldn't be far from Glenwood Springs and the canyon is pretty interesting, and on the other side of it you could head up toward Marble and Lead King and possibly get to the Crystal Mill. Someone else may chime in with better ideas.

June is sort of the 'opening' season for a lot of high country stuff on average. Some years early June, some years late June. This year our snowpack is higher than it's been in several recent years (you may or may not have seen anything about the record number of avalanches we've had this year), and I believe it's higher than even a few years back when some things were still closed into August. So yes, expect to see snow closures. Aside from trailsoffroad mentioned above, you can also keep an eye on http://bushducks.com/tripreps/passopen.htm to see how things are shaping up as we get closer.

 

I just read this morning that we have 200% more snow pack this year over last year. In June last year there were still a few trails closed up here so I would expect more closed this year with some trails staying closed all summer.
McAllisters Gulch and Ptarmigan Pass are fun and scenic without being too difficult. I have 2" lift with no armor and only got some new pinstripes on these trails last year.
South of Leadville there is Lost Canyon and Clohesy Lake. Lost Canyon might be still snowed in around June. Clohesy Lake is one of my favorites.

 

There are a ton of trails in the Vail area. Like previous posts said, snowpack this year is HIGH so mid June might be iffy. Also, some areas are closed for elk calving until the end of June. Muddy Pass from Piney Lake to Wolcott has endless miles of trails to explore.

 

The Flat Tops area just northwest of Dotsero may be passable in June.