Trails in SW CO

Hey CO crew - I'm planning to spend a week in the Dolores area mid-July and am trying to find some great trails to explore while I'm there. I've looked on AllTrails and done some research on the web and have a short list but thought I would check the wisdom of Tundras.com to make sure I'm not missing a gem.

My truck has 6112 set at 1.9" with 5160 in the rear with a CB+2 shackle. Tires are 33" Nitto Ridge Grapplers. Only stock TRD OR "skids" underneath and Toyota side steps. Probably won't be able to swing sliders and real skids before I go so I crossed Imogene off the list. I carry a compressor so airing down is no issue.

In order from closest to furthest (I think) -
La Plata to Kennebec Pass
Alpine Loop
Ophir Pass
Clear Lake

Honestly, they all look great. I doubt I'll have time to get to all these but I'd love to hear from those of you with experience on these or other great trails in the area. And if anyone wants to show me around feel free!

 

Ophir pass is pretty sweet, the talus shelf you have to drive across on the Ophir side gets your heart pumping. Definitely hug the hillside as it is super narrow crossing that. I did it in a Tacoma when I was there and still felt it was very tight haha. Other than that though it's not much of an off road experience except maybe a few rocks and dips on the Ophir side close to the talus shelf, the Silverton side is extremely mellow.

Haven't done the others but I bet alpine loop would be fun in a tundra. Not sure if you've ever considered it but a front camera can be helpful for off road in a tundra since you don't have the best downward vision in front of you, but I also say that since I came from an 04 tacoma and my tundra still feels large to me haha

 

Thanks for your response. I was thinking of trying to do Ophir and Clear Lake the same day since they are close to each other.

I guess I should have mentioned I did install a front facing camera last winter and have found it to be quite useful both off road and in parking lots.

 

https://www.trailsoffroad.com/

tons of lesser known stuff to explore down there. ophir, alpine loop, imogene, last dollar road, etc. are all great but very crowded during the summer months. with a tundra, some spots can get very tight especially with the yahoos in the jeep rentals...

 

I agree^^^Imogene will be tight in a few places for the Tundra but some of the best views out of all mentioned. Popular option is over Ophir eat lunch in telluride then back over imogene to Durango or do reverse of this from Dolores/Rico side(full day). OP I’ve done imogene no skids or sliders in 2nd gen tundra no lift no problem many times. Alpine loop is awesome to lake city and back as well although further from Dolores. Can’t go wrong with any mentioned on here or any lesser knows like @smslavin said

 

Here is the update - since starting this thread, RCI decided to have a Spring GB leading me to pick up a full set of skid plates. Accordingly, Imogene is in.

My plan is to drive from Dolores to Telluride early morning and take Imogene Pass from Telluride to Ouray. Eat lunch in Ouray and then try and hit Clear Lake in the afternoon. Finally, head back north and take Ophir Pass back across the mountain to return to Dolores through Rico. I figure it will be 8-9 hours - maybe more depending on traffic. This will be done in the middle of the week to avoid the weekend crowd. I calculated roughly 120 miles of highway and 60 miles of dirt. Thoughts? Too much for one day? Must sees along the way??

I plan to hit Kennebec Pass a separate day either on the way to or from Durango. Seems like this will take an hour or two and will be good to take the wife and kids on.

I can't wait to get there.

 

I’ve done it from Durango side dozens of times without clear lake thrown in but spending time at areas on the passes and 8-9 hours is pretty close. Doable but you won’t have much time at clear lake or much time to goof off on trail. It is a good plan but will be a long day. You’ll love it. You could always bail on clear lake if time looks too tight. Kennebec is nice as well. Nice views at top and a short lake hike and only a few spots that you really need 4wd. I feel lucky to live here and hope you enjoy it. I also lived in AZ almost half my life and it sure is nice hanging in the Rockies and getting a break from desert life.

 

Looks like 7/14 will be the day. Feel free to hit me up if anyone wants to tag along or lead the way. Plan is to start from Telluride around 8:30.

 

The trip has come and gone and the whole family cannot wait to get back to Colorado soon. What a great place to spend a week to escape the rat race of the daily living. We had little to no cell reception and crappy wi-fi in a tiny cabin by the river and it was the best. Since I made the thread - I figured I should provide a trail report / run summary to close it out.

We did end up hitting Imogene Pass and Ophir Pass on July 14. Clear Lake and the area surrounding Ice Lakes trails was closed due to fire danger so unfortunately that portion of the route was scratched from the itinerary. Ended up being a blessing because we would have been gone 10-11 hours if we tried to squeeze it in.

Of course we had abundant sunshine for the duration of our trip except for the night of July 13 and all day July 14. It started with monsoon thunderstorms after dinner the night before our run and continued to drop rain throughout the night and into the morning. I was quite concerned about the trail conditions and was mentally prepared to turn around at the trailhead if it was too sloppy to proceed without leaving ruts/damage. Thankfully the Colorado Mountains handled the onslaught of water much better than our AZ deserts would have - things were wet but not muddy. The trails are generally rocky enough that we weren't even leaving tire tracks - it was a go!

We left our cabin near Dolores around 7am and drove approx 85 minutes to Telluride. We picked up some grab-and-go breakfast from Baked In Telluride and set off for the trail. The start in Telluride is a little odd - you definitely need to know where you are going - no signs or indications you are on the right path as you work up the hillside through a neighborhood. Once we hit the gate, we aired down to about 20psi and started our journey.

Once you get started, it doesn't take long for things to get epic. The view down to Telluride and the ski resort is great - but the view into the mountains of the streams, trees, and waterfalls is indescribable.

As we worked our way upland and the clouds descended


Initial thoughts on the trail condition - great section of the trail. Smooth riding, great condition. Wide enough to have plenty of maneuverability but two full size rigs would struggle to pass in most parts. Thankfully we didn't encounter much traffic as we made our way up the mountain.

First landmark - Social Tunnel - I'll let you guys look up the story associated with how the tunnel was named. Some tough broads once you see how far up the mountain it is...


At this point, the trail is not for the weary. The drop-off is steep and deep. The road is sandwiched between rock-face and cliff - if you're the kind of person that dwells about everything that could go wrong you better just stay home!

 

From Social Tunnel, you follow along the edge of Savage Creek up to the location of the demolished Tomboy Mine.

Apparently this mine was in operation in the late 1800's before being abandon. According to a local, the mining company that owned the land blew up what was left of the mining town with explosives following multiple attractive nuisance lawsuits. according to the sign, there was a full blown town on the site with stables, general store, etc.

This was my only chance to launch the drone as the rain had slowed to a drizzle allowing me to get a couple shots -






From the mine site - you continue to follow along the creek towards Imogene Pass. You quickly lose the trees and we encountered some huge patches of ice and snow.





Time to make the final ascent.

 

The trail quickly steepens as you reach the switchbacks that take you to the pass. Keep in mind - the trail could easily be done with a stock height (probably 2wd) truck to this point. The amount of snow / ice keeps increasing -






As you climb the switchbacks the mountain transitions from cement gray to a pale peach and finally a martian orange. I have no idea about the composition that creates these changes but it definitely makes the landscape look out of this world -





The top is also not for the faint of heart. There is about 35' or so that is relatively flat and nothing but steep cliffs on either side.



We've come as high as we are going - time to start our way down towards Ouray.

 

As we dropped down off Imogene Pass, there was a marked difference in the trail. What had been relatively smooth and tame was becoming rocky with some ledges. With the low visibility and the way the rocks/dirt blend together you need to keep an eye out for ledges - I learned the hard way dropping down hard off a rock shelf but not causing any damage - it had our attention. We encountered a series of rocky descents opening up to glacial grass fields - the scenery was even better than what we encountered on the way up which was hard to believe..




The further we went, the more spectacular the views -



You can tell from the photos we had managed to get above the rain but as we worked down toward the treeline the clouds and rain thickened. Visibility was getting low when we came to the first crossing of Imogene Creek and stayed that way through the second and third crossings. The water at the third crossing looked deep enough to be of concern but ended up being a little over a foot.

 

Final leg of the Imogene trail - following Imogene Creek to Ouray.







As we got closer to Ouray, we encountered the worst section of trail. We had come this far relatively unscathed but were now looking at some big rock steps as we worked down. I was glad to have my RCI skids as we did make contact (and dent) the front skid rolling down the final large step - I'd hate to think what the OEM skid would have looked like.





We arrived in Ouray around 1:30pm. Ouray seems like a special place - it has a vibe of being the Coronado Island of SW Colorado. Just a certain charm and character that can't be replicated. Looks like the PD is well funded -

The plan was to grab some lunch and then head south on Hwy 550 to the Ophir Pass Trailhead. The lunch plan was scrapped when everywhere we checked had an hour wait - we improvised by grabbing some beef jerky, trail mix, and a six pack and heading for the trailhead.

After doing Imogene, Ophir was somewhat unremarkable. Beautiful in its own right but doesn't hold a candle to Imogene. The town of Ophir was neat - seems like a tight-knit community. Most bizarre part of our adventure came working our way down the shelf road from the Pass. As the clouds thickened and the cliffs steepened, it became a conscious effort to maintain your sense of direction. My spotter was to the point where he would keep a hand on the truck as he walked around the vehicle - totally weird feeling to stare almost straight down and have your brain tell you that looks like straight up...


Looking up the mountain


Looking down the mountain

Eventually we made our way back to the Highway near Rico and took a minute to enjoy our beer while the tires aired up for our drive back.

We wanted to hit Kennebac Pass as well while we were there but simply didn't have time. I'm already scouting trails to do the next time we visit. Feel free to throw me some suggestions if you have any.

Also feel free to hit me up if anyone has questions about these trails that I failed to cover in the posts. Thanks again for your help and can't wait to get back.

 

Thanks - that sounds amazing. The town looks like Radiator Springs when you’re dropping down off the mountain.

No Subarus - we did see a pack of dual sport motorcycles, a bunch of jeeps and a few sxs. One of the jeep packs was led by a badass Tundra

 

Nice trip report @AZBoatHauler

 

Sweet. My sister lives here in Dolores. We did Ophir over to Silverton and then went from there to Animas Fork and then over California Pass back down. Saving Alpine Loop and Black Bear for when my Niece gets in from college.

 

A friend who lives in CO sent me a video of a mudslide on Imogene just a couple days ago. Looked like it came down the tall waterfall outside Telluride. They closed the trail. Glad that didn’t happen while we were up there!

The majority of the traffic I saw the week before were Jeeps. They were all coming down to Ouray just before the rain and brief hail as we were going up. I did see a pair of guys on dirt bikes later on and a guided Jeep rental tour coming up from Telluride.

 

Standing at 12,995ft. High pitched beeping was a marmot

 

Great pics. Love the GX. We had an awesome stay in Dolores. Please let me know how Alpine Loop goes for you — it is currently top of my list for next time I’m there.

 

Great trip, great pics, and great write up Adam!

I'm not sure I could do some of those trails. Staring down those cliffs would freak me out and being in the clouds and not being able to stare down the cliffs would freak me out even more. Creepy.

 

Great write up. Really enjoyed the pictures and descriptions that followed!

 

We did Alpine loop yesterday starting at Lower Engineer just south of Ouray up to Engineer pass, Lake City, Cinnamon Pass, California Pass, and out Corkscrew.
Lower Engineer is not recommended for LWB vehicle but with a 4" lift and 35" tires, should be fine. There was a Ram Rebel in front of me and he bashed the underside a lot. I had to spot for him and stack rocks a couple times but he made it. The GX made it through unscathed but I didn't get any video as it was busy with traffic. Once you go over Engineer's Pass, It gets boring to Lake City. Cinnamon Pass is nice but doesn't get fun until after you pass by the lake. Corkscrew is good fun especially in the rain.

 

My sister had this video on her phone of what must be the smallest obstacle on Lower Engineer. The previous obstacle gave us a little time before the next vehicle caught up. The Rebel with it’s 2” lift plus 2” air lift hit the rear bumper as the rear tires dropped in the hole. I didn’t pay attention to what size tires he had but they were not 35s.

 

Very cool thread. Thanks for linking it over in the Black Bear Pass thread, @AZBoatHauler.

After that thread and this one, my buddy, his wife, and I will be doing an Imogene trip on Labor day weekend. I am not looking forward to the crowds, but I think the trip will be fun. We are still discussing if we'll go in the Tundra or in their recently purchased 4 door Wrangler. I don't imagine either vehicle will have much trouble, but who knows. I have crap luck, so it might be more challenging than I am hoping for!

Anyway, what are your thoughts on running this trail on a stock suspension (TRD Off Road) Tundra with RCI engine, transmission, and tank skids, plus rock sliders? Tires are 275/70R18 that Discount Tire measures at 33.43" new, so I figure I'm at least on 33s. I might, maybe, hopefully be able to get my Falcon shocks installed for a bit of a level before the trip, too. Did you drag your hitch? Any pinstriping? I just want to be prepared for it so I don't cringe to hard with unexpected scrapes and bumps.

 

You’re gonna love it. I’m on stock Pro suspension and 285/75R18s. I have CB +2s in the rear, but all the weight I was carrying leveled me out as if they weren’t there. I might’ve scraped my RCI skid once or twice. Nothing bad enough to leave a dent. No pin striping or hitch dragging.

I will say, and maybe @AZBoatHauler and @Squatting Pigeon can chime in on this as well—I think it’s a bit easier to go the direction I did, from Ouray to Telluride. The trail is steeper and rougher with some shelves and an off-camber spot or two at the Ouray end. I just think that I would’ve been more nervous controlling the weight of my truck descending that part of the trail rather than ascending, especially in the heavy rain we had.

If you’ve got armor and sliders, you’re good to go. I’d definitely air down. I was at 18 or 20psi…don’t remember. My truck was as sure-footed as I could’ve hoped. Whatever y’all decide, it’s going to be an awesome trip. Enjoy!

 

I agree with @Terndrerrr, Ouray to Telluride will give you a smoother ride allowing you to climb rather than drop off the worst ledges.

I have the same size tires and made contact with my front skid a few times but I went the opposite direction. Sliders aren’t necessary IMO but are always nice to have. I did scrape my hitch a couple times but nothing heavy. Zero contact with brush/branches.

I agree on airing down - I ran it at 20psi and never struggled for traction.

 

So you feel that going the opposite direction you went would be a better trip? Does it not have a one way section like BBP?