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Colorado beginner trails? Southern mostly.

MaverickMan

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My sister just left on a trip to Colorado, the first her and her wife have gone on together past the Mississippi. I have told her all about the wild 4 wheeling fun there is to be had out there. Their vehicle of choice is a 3 year old stock JL Wrangler she fell in love with after driving one out here on Maui. They are going through Colorado Springs, The Great Sand Dunes, Durango, Mesa Verde, then they will head south before turning around back to Ohio.

Even if they stick to the highway they will have a great trip, Just a dip in a stinky naturally heated hotel pool in Pagosa Springs is adventure enough. But I like to keep my sister on the edge of her seat a little and she has done a little offroading with me in Ohio in my old jeeps. Mostly mudding.

I would like to send her a short list of trails that wont take her too far off her route, like out and back day trips to something scenic or in a park or something. Maybe a 2 day side trip with a camp night if its a "long cut" around a mountain or something.

Any of you Colorado mountain folk want to take time away from waiting on information from Ford to help a brother, help a sister out? I would greatly appreciate it and would offer you a free coconut if you ever make it Maui and I will point you(or take you) to the few offroad trails we have out here.

Thank yall.
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Have them look up the Rampart Range area on trailsoffroad.com Pretty much all of it is very doable in a stock Wrangler.

There's not a lot out by the Sand Dunes unless they're going to head further west into Silverton/Ouray.
 

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I second Rampart Range, many good trails for a beginner.
 
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I will check that out. They are going past Silverton and down to Durango. They are definitely novice, so I dont want to send them off anywhere too hard. Next trip they have out there I hope to be leading them in my '22 Bronco loaded with recovery gear and camp kit.
 

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I will check that out. They are going past Silverton and down to Durango. They are definitely novice, so I dont want to send them off anywhere too hard. Next trip they have out there I hope to be leading them in my '22 Bronco loaded with recovery gear and camp kit.
Since it sounds like they will be driving across US50, Crested Butte is on the way and only 30 miles north so wouldn't be much out of their way. Something like the Paradise Basin loop would let them see a lot of pretty country with a very easy, non-technical drive. Full disclosure, it's really not an off-road kind of thing (we've taken our Prius around the whole loop). But there are a ton of side roads if they want a more.


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If she drives over Cottonwood Pass today, tell her to look for a blue Suzuki SX4. I'll be hiking up there, then in the Oh-Be-Joyful area, Crested Butte tomorrow.

I second Rampart Range Road in the Springs, also Old Stage Road. They're not hard - I've done them both a bunch of times in the Suzuki. If she's a hiker, Gray Back Peak on Old Stage Road is a great hike.

And even though it's paved, she might want to head up to Pikes Peak. There's a new summit house up there that looks pretty cool. Not sure if the road's open to the summit or if she'd have to take a shuttle from the Devil's Playground lot, but either way, it's a fun drive.

Another fun paved road is the Million Dollar Highway into Ouray, and once she's there, the gravel Camp Bird Road up to Yankee Boy Basin. Yes, done that one in the Suzuki too.

None of these are hard but they're exciting and have great views.
 

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My sister just left on a trip to Colorado, the first her and her wife have gone on together past the Mississippi. I have told her all about the wild 4 wheeling fun there is to be had out there. Their vehicle of choice is a 3 year old stock JL Wrangler she fell in love with after driving one out here on Maui. They are going through Colorado Springs, The Great Sand Dunes, Durango, Mesa Verde, then they will head south before turning around back to Ohio.

Even if they stick to the highway they will have a great trip, Just a dip in a stinky naturally heated hotel pool in Pagosa Springs is adventure enough. But I like to keep my sister on the edge of her seat a little and she has done a little offroading with me in Ohio in my old jeeps. Mostly mudding.

I would like to send her a short list of trails that wont take her too far off her route, like out and back day trips to something scenic or in a park or something. Maybe a 2 day side trip with a camp night if its a "long cut" around a mountain or something.

Any of you Colorado mountain folk want to take time away from waiting on information from Ford to help a brother, help a sister out? I would greatly appreciate it and would offer you a free coconut if you ever make it Maui and I will point you(or take you) to the few offroad trails we have out here.

Thank yall.
If she drives over Cottonwood Pass today, tell her to look for a blue Suzuki SX4. I'll be hiking up there, then in the Oh-Be-Joyful area, Crested Butte tomorrow.

I second Rampart Range Road in the Springs, also Old Stage Road. They're not hard - I've done them both a bunch of times in the Suzuki. If she's a hiker, Gray Back Peak on Old Stage Road is a great hike.

And even though it's paved, she might want to head up to Pikes Peak. There's a new summit house up there that looks pretty cool. Not sure if the road's open to the summit or if she'd have to take a shuttle from the Devil's Playground lot, but either way, it's a fun drive.

Another fun paved road is the Million Dollar Highway into Ouray, and once she's there, the gravel Camp Bird Road up to Yankee Boy Basin. Yes, done that one in the Suzuki too.

None of these are hard but they're exciting and have great views.
☝Listen to Susan. She’s an expert!

I write guidebooks, so I drive a lot and camp a lot year-round...
Outdoor recreation guidebooks on hiking and mountaineering…

[snip]

The link in that post goes to my author's page on Amazon, which has all my guidebooks. Most of the blogs on that page are repurposed from columns I wrote, some serious, some funny.
https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/e...age=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader
 
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MaverickMan

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If she drives over Cottonwood Pass today, tell her to look for a blue Suzuki SX4. I'll be hiking up there, then in the Oh-Be-Joyful area, Crested Butte tomorrow.

I second Rampart Range Road in the Springs, also Old Stage Road. They're not hard - I've done them both a bunch of times in the Suzuki. If she's a hiker, Gray Back Peak on Old Stage Road is a great hike.

And even though it's paved, she might want to head up to Pikes Peak. There's a new summit house up there that looks pretty cool. Not sure if the road's open to the summit or if she'd have to take a shuttle from the Devil's Playground lot, but either way, it's a fun drive.

Another fun paved road is the Million Dollar Highway into Ouray, and once she's there, the gravel Camp Bird Road up to Yankee Boy Basin. Yes, done that one in the Suzuki too.

None of these are hard but they're exciting and have great views.
They wont be in the area till mid week this week. But they are going to go up Pikes Peak. They probably arent going to do much hiking. But gravel and dirt roads to scenic views is right up their alley. I will pass along the tips. They will have a great time.


Just looked at maps and guides for a while here. Has anyone ever been on Old Stage Road and Shelf Road to get from Colorado Springs to Canon City? Pikes Peak and Royal Gorge are on their to do lists. Me and my sister had been there many times as kids. And a long way around between the two would make for a fun day.
 

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I will give a strong second to the suggestion to go into Yankee Boy Basin from Ouray. Just did a week in that area two weeks ago, and Yankee Boy was one of my favorite, and most scenic days. Can also take off from that road up to Governors Basin, all in an easy day, and two wheel drive all the way. Only reason to go to low range could be a few steep places that are easier on the Jeep in low range.

Ford Bronco Colorado beginner trails? Southern mostly. 229301126_10217002577851191_8276591780649580714_n
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Alltrails.com is also a great resource. You can specify off road in the search and get pretty much anything in an area, with good descriptions and useful reviews.

alltrails.com
 
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MaverickMan

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Talked to em today on their way Kansas City. They are getting excited. They are getting interested in the Alpine Loop aswell as some others. Will talk to them more as they get to the mountains. I'm jealous.
 

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Talked to em today on their way Kansas City. They are getting excited. They are getting interested in the Alpine Loop aswell as some others. Will talk to them more as they get to the mountains. I'm jealous.
Just two weeks ago we spent a week in Silverton. We ran Alpine Loop, Black Bear Pass/Immogene Pass, Pouhgkeepsie Gulch, Animas Forks/Corkscrew Gulch, Yankee Boy Basin and Govenors Basin. The only two I wouldn't recommend for novices who are by themselves would be Black Bear Pass (though they could easily do it) and Poughkeepsie Gulch (which has some rocks, much more then any other route). Doing Alpine Loop they can have lunch in Lake City.
 

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Just looked at maps and guides for a while here. Has anyone ever been on Old Stage Road and Shelf Road to get from Colorado Springs to Canon City? Pikes Peak and Royal Gorge are on their to do lists. Me and my sister had been there many times as kids. And a long way around between the two would make for a fun day.
I have not, but I asked a friend and he said yes, but you'll end up in Victor, where you'll head toward Cripple Creek for a few miles on paved road before turning off to Shelf. He wrote Scenic Driving Colorado and Backcountry Byways so he knows the roads better than I do.
 
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MaverickMan

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Awesome stuff everybody. Cant wait till I can get back to the mainland for a road trip.
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