Colorado trip -- Would like input / suggestions from locals

[cruiserfien]

I would love some recommendations from the locals--I will be heading to Colorado (driving a 80 series LC from New Orleans) on July 2nd, picking the family up at the Denver Airport on July 4. We are going to Buena Vista on Sat-Sun to do a overnight white water rafting trip on the Arkansas River (Browns Canyon) with AVA Rafting tours (Open to any suggestions if there are better groups to book a trip with). After the rafting trip we will have a couple of days to fill. I would love suggestions on:
1. Trails in the area to hit and possibly camp at
2. Things / attractions to do with the family in the general area (Ie...mountain biking, fly fishing, or other ideas, were open)

I am also going to put the 80 series in storage in Denver (I fly out on the 10th) as I want the truck in the area so I can fly back up a couple of times over the next 90 days to hit some trails and possibly attend the Telluride Blues and Brews festival in September). Anybody have any recommendations in the Denver area for storage or any facilities to steer clear of? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Craig M]

Not a local, but have camped in the Taylor Park area in the past, and there are definitely a lot of good trails and camping! The downside about Taylor park is that there are a very high number of quads, side by sides, and dirt-bikes and a lot of dust, but mid-week seemed to be more tolerable..

I do recommend this book, as it does have a number of trails in the Buena Vista and surrounding areas:
Guide to Colorado Backroads & 4-Wheel-Drive Trails

I also like the National Geographic Trails Illustrated maps!

We camped here:

38°58'07.5"N 106°39'11.8"W · 38.968750, -106.653278

goo.gl

But there are a number of really good spots just a bit further north on that road that were occupied at the time we arrived.

 

[cruiserfien]

Not a local, but have camped in the Taylor Park area in the past, and there are definitely a lot of good trails and camping! The downside about Taylor park is that there are a very high number of quads, side by sides, and dirt-bikes and a lot of dust, but mid-week seemed to be more tolerable..

I do recommend this book, as it does have a number of trails in the Buena Vista and surrounding areas:
Guide to Colorado Backroads & 4-Wheel-Drive Trails

I also like the National Geographic Trails Illustrated maps!

We camped here:

38°58'07.5"N 106°39'11.8"W · 38.968750, -106.653278

goo.gl

But there are a number of really good spots just a bit further north on that road that were occupied at the time we arrived.

Perfect...thanks so much for taking the time to send this

 

[Craig M]

Perfect...thanks so much for taking the time to send this

My pleasure!

 

[KonzaLander]

Check out St. Elmo.

Go up Mt. Antero.
Go over Tin Cup Pass and camp just above Mirror Lake.

 

[Todd & Meg]

Most ski resorts have mountain biking, take the chair lift up and ride down. I like Winter Park for biking, Vail wasn't that great. St Elmo is fun, but the last time we did Tin Cup in was real rocky and slow and lots of side by sides. But great views. We also like going to the Great Sand Dunes NP.

Todd

 

[Boort]

@cruiserfien

I would love some recommendations from the locals--I will be heading to Colorado (driving a 80 series LC from New Orleans) on July 2nd, picking the family up at the Denver Airport on July 4. We are going to Buena Vista on Sat-Sun to do a overnight white water rafting trip on the Arkansas River (Browns Canyon) with AVA Rafting tours (Open to any suggestions if there are better groups to book a trip with). After the rafting trip we will have a couple of days to fill. I would love suggestions on:
1. Trails in the area to hit and possibly camp at
2. Things / attractions to do with the family in the general area (Ie...mountain biking, fly fishing, or other ideas, were open)

This should be a phenomenal year for rafting the Arkansas! It's been a few years since I've done it and last few times were with buddies who were guides rather than via a rafting Company. Browns Canyon is fun if it's your first time. If you've rafted before and want more rapids see if you can get a tour that includes The Numbers or better yet the Royal Gorge. My last run was a year like this and we got to run the gorge at high water just a few CFM below where they cut off the trips through the gorge. Many companies offer trips that combine either of these sections with the Browns Canyon for a full day of rafting. Well worth it!

If you go with a rafting Co in the area there is good camping near Shavano Mtn. (We like boonedocking in some of the spots where the road is S of the N. fork of the river around 38°35'16.7"N 106°14'09.3"W) There have been fires in this area over the last few years so Not sure if it's burned out since the last time I was there.

From BuenaVista You can take Hwy 24 North to Leadville (Taco truck in the Safeway parking lot serves up some great grub!) then either head east over Mosquito pass to Alma and North on Hwy 9 for some biking and hiking in the Breckenridge area. For an easy hike I recommend parking in town and catching one of the shuttles or the free gondola up to Peak 7, then hike down through Cucumber gultch back to your rig.

Or if west ward is more your style drive around the S. end of Turquoise Lake and take Haggermans pass over to Basalt or turn north on 4B near Norrie and pick your path to out in Eagle Co ( Red Canyon Cafe or Brush Creek Saloon offer up some great food)

If you want to see the best trails that Co has to offer, Head South to Poncha Springs and then west on Hwy 50 to Montrose Hwy 550 south will drop you into the crown jewel of offroading, Ouray with trails leading off in just about every direction! the FunTreks book @Craig M recommended above and it's GPS tracks (available at https://funtreks.com/?s&post_type=trail&location=colorado&rating=&vehicle_type=suv-or-pickup-truck ) will be your guide to this area.

Stay hydrated (beer as good as it is does not count here :) ) and watch your exertion levels at altitude for a fun trip!
Boort

 

[cruiserfien]

Most ski resorts have mountain biking, take the chair lift up and ride down. I like Winter Park for biking, Vail wasn't that great. St Elmo is fun, but the last time we did Tin Cup in was real rocky and slow and lots of side by sides. But great views. We also like going to the Great Sand Dunes NP.

Todd

Thanks so much for this.

 

[cruiserfien]

@cruiserfien


This should be a phenomenal year for rafting the Arkansas! It's been a few years since I've done it and last few times were with buddies who were guides rather than via a rafting Company. Browns Canyon is fun if it's your first time. If you've rafted before and want more rapids see if you can get a tour that includes The Numbers or better yet the Royal Gorge. My last run was a year like this and we got to run the gorge at high water just a few CFM below where they cut off the trips through the gorge. Many companies offer trips that combine either of these sections with the Browns Canyon for a full day of rafting. Well worth it!

If you go with a rafting Co in the area there is good camping near Shavano Mtn. (We like boonedocking in some of the spots where the road is S of the N. fork of the river around 38°35'16.7"N 106°14'09.3"W) There have been fires in this area over the last few years so Not sure if it's burned out since the last time I was there.

From BuenaVista You can take Hwy 24 North to Leadville (Taco truck in the Safeway parking lot serves up some great grub!) then either head east over Mosquito pass to Alma and North on Hwy 9 for some biking and hiking in the Breckenridge area. For an easy hike I recommend parking in town and catching one of the shuttles or the free gondola up to Peak 7, then hike down through Cucumber gultch back to your rig.

Or if west ward is more your style drive around the S. end of Turquoise Lake and take Haggermans pass over to Basalt or turn north on 4B near Norrie and pick your path to out in Eagle Co ( Red Canyon Cafe or Brush Creek Saloon offer up some great food)

If you want to see the best trails that Co has to offer, Head South to Poncha Springs and then west on Hwy 50 to Montrose Hwy 550 south will drop you into the crown jewel of offroading, Ouray with trails leading off in just about every direction! the FunTreks book @Craig M recommended above and it's GPS tracks (available at https://funtreks.com/?s&post_type=trail&location=colorado&rating=&vehicle_type=suv-or-pickup-truck ) will be your guide to this area.

Stay hydrated (beer as good as it is does not count here :) ) and watch your exertion levels at altitude for a fun trip!
Boort

Boort, thanks man, I really appreciate you taking the time to go thru this effort. I will definitely check everything out you noted and see what I can fit into the trip. As for trails, I am very familiar with the San Juans--Been to Ouray a couple times and have hit up every trail in the area. The high elevation snow pack spooked us this year as this trip was supposed to be to Ouray. Last minute found some killer deal on flights to Den. $294 round trip for 4 people on Frontier--I am not kidding-- That's why I am looking for a storage facility. I'm gonna make the 20 hr drive to Denver, put the 80 in storage and fly back to NOLA. We plan on flying back up in August for a long weekend, September for blues and brews and October our local club is going hitting up Moab--I might end up leaving the 80 in storage over the winter to see if I can sneak in a couple ski trips-- Anyways I will check out the info you poste. Again, have no idea how much I appreciate this insight......anyone on this board make it to NOLA let me know and I will give you the locals insight....cheers

 

[cruiserfien]

Doing some last minute prep before the 20+ hr trip to Denver..

 

[Craig M]

Have an awesome trip! As for that book, if you can't pick it up on Amazon before going, I know I have seen it in some of the touristy shops in Silverton, Lake City and Ouray. I think it was around $40 there but worth it, IMO. I have been using mine(3rd edition) for Colorado for a couple years and love it. I also have the Moab one I used this year, also great. I do recommend the spiral bound version as it's way more useful on the trail.

Great Sand Dunes is cool, but I liked the backside even better (the trail up to Medano Pass), and it has a ton of (free) camping.

Here is that site we stayed in (this was 2014), excuse the quality, I pulled this from my wife's FB..


We also moved to the nearby 'campground' since it was totally empty, and much closer to an outhouse.. :o



This was from Medano Pass, last July.. This spot is right at the top, just outside of the back gate to Great Sand Dunes..




We'll be heading that direction in about 2 weeks!

 

[cruiserfien]

Have an awesome trip! As for that book, if you can't pick it up on Amazon before going, I know I have seen it in some of the touristy shops in Silverton, Lake City and Ouray. I think it was around $40 there but worth it, IMO. I have been using mine(3rd edition) for Colorado for a couple years and love it. I also have the Moab one I used this year, also great. I do recommend the spiral bound version as it's way more useful on the trail.

Great Sand Dunes is cool, but I liked the backside even better (the trail up to Medano Pass), and it has a ton of (free) camping.

Here is that site we stayed in (this was 2014), excuse the quality, I pulled this from my wife's FB..
View attachment 104595View attachment 104596

We also moved to the nearby 'campground' since it was totally empty, and much closer to an outhouse.. :o

View attachment 104597View attachment 104598

This was from Medano Pass, last July.. This spot is right at the top, just outside of the back gate to Great Sand Dunes..


View attachment 104599View attachment 104600

We'll be heading that direction in about 2 weeks!

Amazon comes thru again. Great pics and appreciate all the input from you all.

 

[cruiserfien]

Trying to get the 80 ready, this trip came up last minute so I’m not really prepared. Buddy had some gas tanks he was gonna let me borrower, they are the cheap Chinese ones and have the external welds. Don’t fit dammit!! The new Avid off-road rear bumper didn’t come with the hi lifts mounts so I opted for the arb front bumper mounts. This hi lift came off my 40 and looks tiny on the 80.

 

[Craig M]

Amazon comes thru again. Great pics and appreciate all the input from you all. View attachment 104796

Awesome!

I have tablets with Backcountry Navigator and that kind of stuff, but 'grew-up' using topo maps, and still just prefer them. I also download offline google maps more and more now.. I'm leaving in about 2 weeks and have started using these to come up with a general plan...

 

[cruiserfien]

So after looking at the trails in the book “Tin Cup” has my interest. Any recent reports on this trail? I’m fully armored on 35’s, locked front and rear with low range gears in my transfer case. I will be top heavy with a rtt. What are my major obstacles or issues with running this trail? That is if it’s open and not closes to snow.

 

[KonzaLander]

So after looking at the trails in the book “Tin Cup” has my interest. Any recent reports on this trail? I’m fully armored on 35’s, locked front and rear with low range gears in my transfer case. I will be top heavy with a rtt. What are my major obstacles or issues with running this trail? That is if it’s open and not closes to snow.

Avoid the "Old Tincup Pass" line on the Mirror Lake side of the Pass. The pass is otherwise pretty straight forward, just rough around the top.

The pass and most of the high country roads around St. Elmo were still closed a week ago according to my family in the area.