Jeep plunges 450 feet off Colorado mountainside
- Thread starter CrazyDrei
- Start date
NevadaLover
Forking Icehole
New to the internet are ya!
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Folks, the "trails" here in Colorado are NO JOKE. These trails are generally not hard or difficult from a traction perspective, but they have SERIOUS consequences for those not paying attention to what they are doing.
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PLEASE be careful if you come to Colorado!! Even just a moment of inattention can result in some very serious injuries, or even death on many trails here.
That's for letting me get this PSA out. Please return to planning your next trip!!
This thread has been interesting, as my wife and I are planning a last minute trip to Mesa Verde and up to Ouray this weekend. We have not driven many shelf roads, my wife does not like them at all, but we would like to see some of the scenery and mining history in the area. In the interest of not becoming fodder for internet discussions I've been trying to do some research. We just bought the Wells book (Guide to Colorado Backroads & 4 Wheel Drive Trails) and have been looking through that. Last Dollar Road looks like a good mellow option when we head from Mesa Verde to Ouray. The Red Mountain mining area looks really cool. Ophir Pass is a maybe.
You guys seem really knowledgeable about the area, so can you suggest any other off pavement drives that are high on views but lower on exposure and risk? We have a lightly modified Xterra so the vehicle is pretty capable, it's mainly the passenger and the driver not wanting to get murdered by the passenger that limits where we go.
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Frogprince
Observer
One of my favorite roads out there was the Red Arrow Mine. It heads up in the mountains outside of Mancos and ends in a bowl at tree line. There is an old mine and if you hike up to upper lake there was an old Elevator pulley system. The road isn't for people who are nervous of a shelf road. It was built for Ox and Cart and is just wider than a vehicle.
Lots of roads just up Echo Basic Canyon including some pretty loops that are wind thru mountains and meadows. I grew up in that area so spent some time out and about. Another option is Hovenweep out in the Canyons. Different ruins and pretty much anywhere out in the Hovenweep area you can find pottery shards on the ground.
Well we definitely will avoid Red Arrow Mine road then!
Hovenweep is really cool, we went there maybe a decade ago and really enjoyed it.
Frogprince
Observer
Don't blame you. It is a beautiful spot. There are some other roads that are no where near as bad. It does take some getting used to drive on the old mine roads. Most of them where built for a ox and cart. Jeeps are small enough that there is more than enough room.
Sorry I was always told it was Red Arrow Mine. Gather on Google Maps it is Rush Basin. Worth the Google to see it. You can see the road from the sat and there is a picture that shows the area.
shade
Well-known member
I've found the FunTrek books to offer accurate route descriptions. If it doesn't sound like fun for both of you, don't do it. If you run up against a section that starts bothering one of you, try to find a pull-out and walk the obstacle together. Make a plan so that the driver & spotter can talk their way through, and have a pair of FRS radios so no one has to raise their voice to make a point. After checking it out, if it still makes you too uncomfortable, consider turning around.
One of the things I love about the San Juans is the accessibility to all sorts of meandering trails that won't be in many books. We spent a day wandering around between Lake City & Creede after deciding to see if we could find a way up to the cell tower that overlooks Lake City. Once there (beautiful view), we kept going and found that we were on part of a large backcountry ski/snowmobile trail network, complete with a yurt. We ended up in a huge alpine meadow filled with sheep, found a very old family burial plot, and some other interesting things along the way back to the highway. Other than a pair of sheep dogs, we didn't see anyone all day.
Great advice, thank you. I have my ham license and we have a couple of handhelds we can use.
The route descriptions are brief but good in the FunTrek book. Exposure on a trail or road is so subjective, isn't it? I'm comfortable with a certain level of off camber or exposure. My wife is comfortable at several levels below that. I was hiking in Zion with a buddy of mine one time and discovered that he is absolutely terrified of heights. Normally this big tough confident guy, he was shaking in fear and covering his eyes getting within 6 feet of a cliff edge that I was comfortable with walking on the outside of him. We didn't make him do Angel's Landing!
1stDeuce
Explorer
In the Silverton area I'd say stoney pass and the buffalo boy tram house are great areas. The roads are steep but plenty wide.
If you can tolerate a little exposure, driving to the top of black bear pass from 550 is a possibility. Just go back to 550 from the pass rather than on down to telluride.
Just south of black bear on 550 is porphyry gulch. It has a little exposure near the top but it's probably one of the more scenic basins in the area. Do walk the half a mile from the parking area up to bullion king lake at least if you are able.
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If you can tolerate a little exposure, driving to the top of black bear pass from 550 is a possibility. Just go back to 550 from the pass rather than on down to telluride.
Just south of black bear on 550 is porphyry gulch. It has a little exposure near the top but it's probably one of the more scenic basins in the area. Do walk the half a mile from the parking area up to bullion king lake at least if you are able.
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AbleGuy
Officious Intermeddler
You guys have been posting some really great, helpful info on Colorado Jeep trails here....but later, dang it, this good stuff will be kinda hard to find by others, buried as it is in a thread titled with a different initial focus. Please consider moving the better “where to go rambling” trail reference comments to a new thread covering that general topic. I’d probably do it myself but I’m feeling just too dang lazy and completely unmotivated at this moment ? thx, cheers?