Colorado Raptor owners, Need your help

[Otis857]

Well gang, I have my date set and the route is forming now. the first day, July 20 will be Phoenix to Durango where my son will be flying in from Denver to join the road trip. The wife wants to see Telluride, so Im thinking ill go up the 550 from Durango and make the first pass the Ophir pass and go into Telluride for some touristy crap.

So Imogene to Ouray from Telluride?? Yes or No?

im a seasoned off roader with more motorcycle hours than I can count on roads like this, but i dont want to scare the hell out of my wife on the first day either. She's not a total noob, but does not have that much time looking off the side of a mountain from the passenger door either, Ha.. I can always go the paved route (blaaah) to Placerville and take the 62 to Ridgeway and down to Ouray for the night. I hear its scenic too.

Off roading day 2 will be something south of the 550 and working our way up to Aspen for some more sight seeing (wife's request). Route & passes yet to be determined. But I have read that Lake city is worth the trip and lots of great sights along the way. I hear Engineer may be a bit much, and Cinnamon Pass would be a safer alternative to get to Lake city. Any route suggestions?

Otis, I am an engineer at a local mine in Ouray 3 weeks a month. I would be down to meet up and do some trails with you if the timing works out. Also, a lot of the passes can be accessed from difficult and not so difficult routes, so you can get to almost all of the good spots one way or another. I can probably get us onto the mine site as well for some good photos in front of Mt. Sneffels. Shoot me a PM for contact information if you would like.

Gutray, I dont know if you will be free on the night of the 21st or have any time to do a run on the 22nd, but how about a meet up at dinner, maybe a cocktail & cigar if we cant work out an off road trip. Always great to meet other FRFers .

 

[mobob]

Engineer Pass is doable. I did it last summer going up from Animas Fork Rd. I'm not a fan of the heights and it was my first trip doing this type of off-roading so going up was a less intimidating approach. It was worth it to see Ooh Point.

We got lucky with timing and did it on a Friday afternoon, so traffic was minimal and really helped. It's a little tight on the lower sections in a spot or few and steep at top, but I didn't have any issues in a stock Raptor.

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[Otis857]

Engineer Pass is doable. I did it last summer going up from Animas Fork Rd. I'm not a fan of the heights and it was my first trip doing this type of off-roading so going up was a less intimidating approach. It was worth it to see Ooh Point.

We got lucky with timing and did it on a Friday afternoon, so traffic was minimal and really helped. It's a little tight on the lower sections in a spot or few and steep at top, but I didn't have any issues in a stock Raptor.

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Good to know. My truck is only slightly modified suspension wise, and we will be in that area on a Friday morning too. I wont rule it out at this point. guess I'll have to see how the wife takes the trip down Imogene if we decide to take it the day before. Im guessing they are comparable.

 

[Drunktank]

If youre in SW CO.... go do Elwood Pass. Fun trip from Pagosa Springs over to South Fork. A Raptor will have no problem doing it.... beautiful scenery, few water crossings, bunch of places to pull off and hike. Best part? Most people dont know it exists so its not crowded like most other trails.

4X4Explore.com - Elwood Pass

This site, while pretty old, is a great reference for CO stuff
4X4Explore.com - Colorado 4WD Roads

 

[Otis857]

So have any of you guys lucky enough to be in So Colorado regularly been down Imogene from Telluride to Ouray lately? Im finding conflicting info comparing it to Engineer pass. Some sites say about the same, some say its a little easier. Key point here is that I dont want to freak the wife out on day 1.