I have plans as of now for going to Colorado sometime after Oct. 7-ish. Not sure if I'm going to have a Toyota and maybe even more in tow with me from Texas, but either way we're going to be headed to the Telluride area.

I'm just looking for information on what trails we should run, what they're like, what we should expect when running them, and etc... from people who know the area better than we do. Pictures never hurt anything either. :P

Also, anyone looking to meet us anywhere along the way or at the destination to run some trails, locals who want to do the same or just meet up for food or drinks, feel free to let me know. Would be great.

 

Also posted this over on LRRF: TrailDamage.com Great resource for trail information.

I can't offer any insight into the Telluride area since I haven't been yet.

EDIT - If you want to reach a larger audience in CO, then hit up www.colorado4x4.org

 

Thanks greatly Jimmy, going to head over to that forum in a moment. I'm hoping all is well when we get ready to leave for CO. We have a very narrow window of time off that we can make this run, might be the last for quite some time.

 

Only problem I see now is it apparently takes a while to get approved. xD

 

Just an FYI we are starting to get snow in Colorado so be prepared for it because there is a good chance you will run into some especially in the telluride area.

 

Thanks Bruizza, we've modified our plans a little, but they still involve driving through CO and starting our trail run in Grand Junction. Much appreciated.

 

anyone have any must sees/ must do trails..etc? driving the disco to telluride, for a couple of weeks in august. black bear sounds fun. a few of those ghost town trails sound cool.
any suggestions?

 

So many great trails, etc. in the area. I like going up Corkscrew Gulch to Corkscrew Pass from Hy 550, then east over Hurricane Pass and California Pass, down California Gulch to the junction with Placer Gulch. Then southward up Placer Gulch and down Picayne Gulch to 2 Road (Animas Forks Road). Go north up 2 Road to the Animas Forks ghost town. Then south back down 2 Road to Silverton. Along the way a dead end side trip up Eureka Gulch is very scenic and has old mines.
Out of Telluride the trip up Imogene Pass and down to Ouray is not to be missed. On the way down to Ouray there are great dead end side trails up Yankee Boy Basin and Governor Basin. I especially like high and scenic Governor Basin which has several side trails with interesting old mines and good alpine views. One gets great views of high Mt. Sneffels from Gonernor Basin. At the top of Yankee Boy Basin if you like to hike you can access Blue Lake Pass which is a scenic round trip of 2.5 miles with amazing views of the upper two Blue Lakes from the pass top. Also amazing views of Mt. Sneffels which can be hiked/climbed from Yankee Boy Basin.
Black Bear is of course a great 4x4 wheel down into Telluride. This trail has high high pucker factor on the last couple of one-way miles down into Telluride or one can opt to turn around at the start of the one-way section and return back east over the top of terrific Black Bear Pass and return to Hy 550 for further area exploring. Every area trail has something interesting and scenic with lots of side trails to explore.
Poughkeepsie Gulch is good stuff but to go up you should have at least (if the trail is dry) a rear locker preferably two. The toughest spot and it is tough even when dry is The Wall which when wet and muddy is well nye impossible. One can come down Poukeepsie from the Lake Como area and hook onto the mineral Gulch Trail which leads to Engineer pass and Animas Forks and Cinnamon Pass. I recommend just going to the tops of Engineer and Cinnamon Passes and then back to the Animas Forks area. The Alpine Loop Trail down to Lake City and back up is good if you have never done it before but often choked with vehicles and very dusty and quite long. The Carson ghost mine site up Wagner Gulch off of the Alpine Loop between Cinnamon Pass and Lake City is very interesting and one can continue uo the 4x4 trail to the pass above Carson where there are a couple of interesting trails especially the alpine trail leading to scenic Heart Lake some miles to the south. Another very scenic alpine lake 4x4 trail is west of Silverton up to Clear Lake. Great views along the route.
Be sure to get the Trails Illustrated trail guide for Ouray/Telluride/Silverton/Lake City plus the Colorado Backroads and 4x4 Trails by Wells. Also check out traildamage.com for really good trail descriptions, maps, and pictures. Enjoy.

 

Awesome, awesome info ! Perfect! Thank you, sir. Ordered a trail guide (not sure witch one). Ready to start listing itinerary of trails,trips, and routes. This is extordinarilly helpful. Thanks roverrocks.

 

take lots of pictures! it will be a trip you never forget. i went in 2010, still dreaming of the day i can go back.