Need advice from Colorado guys

[Dan_from_HB]

Guys,

My best buddy and I are planning to take our wives (yes, they ride also) for a Colorado riding vacation next summer. We want to park our RV's in one town and ride maybe 60-80 miles a day in the mountains on a big loop, stopping in whatever towns have a motel along the way. Total of about a week.

I am looking for advice on what general area this might be accomplished in, and what agency I might get maps from to start planning this thing. None of the bikes are dual sported.

I am not concerned about altitude, but difficulty is an issue since the women are not experts. The first place that comes to mind is Basalt area and the trails the Colo 500 uses.

Any recommendations for scenic trails and two track roads would help.

Thanks.

Dan

[Guest Guest]

Rampart is open though not near enough of it. Don't actually see that much damage on the southside of Rampart trail road for them to have shut it down. Went by it and rode there today. did over 80 miles on all kinds and levels of trails. Ride there during the week not on weekends

too many people and since they've shut down so much of the place,not enough room. Go and park right in the place. Campsites available. Bring a gas grill don't use open fire. G. Benz PS.on road in from Sedalia stop at Sprucewood Inn and get map you can figure your trails according to your skill level easier this way. They'll tell you how to get back to the main entrance you pass it to go to Sprucewood Inn. ?

[ September 06, 2002, 08:21 PM: Message edited by: George Benz ]

[CuLayTur]

Here's a great side for information about outdoor activities in Colorado: http://coloradoguide.com/recreation/index.cfm?Section=Activity .. If you select the Motorcycle options you will be a screen with the different regions of Colorado and a whole lot of varying possiblities.

Curt

[Dan_from_HB]

Thanks for the help, guys.

Dan

[LarryCO]

Dan,

The best choice for you in my opinion is heading to Crested Butte. Hundreds of miles of single track and jeep roads, 3 13K+ ft mountain passes, and some of the most beautiful scenery you'll see in CO. There's a town to get good eats/drinks in...and plenty of places to pull your camper off and camp. I suggest just up Cement Creek Rd...about 3 miles in...just south of the town of Crested Butte. We were just there this past week and had an awesome time!

Larry

[endurodog]

Crested Butte would get my vote, also known as the Taylor Park area. If you have a plate on your bike you can go over to Aspen with some short road sections, or down to Gunnison.

[Hoop]

Consider using Ouray or Silverton or Lake City as a base to park the RV. From any of these towns, you can make day trips to the others, as well as to Telluride. Most is easy jeep trail, but there are some challenging spots. Lots of spectacular scenery, old mills, etc. Lake City has some great single track nearby on the Cannibal Plateau and Lost Creek area near Carson ghost town. Great stuff, and lots of good stuff for beginner-type riders. You do need some sort of license plate, though, since there is some highway riding required, and the Lake City sheriff is picky about it.

In my opinion, Crested Butte / Taylor Park doesn't have as much scenery or as much easy stuff as the area around Ouray. I was at Cement Creek campground week before last, also spent 3 nights at Westcliffe riding the southern half of the Rainbow Trail (not for beginners, either).

Try L&M Productions or Latitude40 for maps. The Chamber of Commerce of any of these places will send you a bunch of info, too. In Ouray, the place to be is the 4J Campground. In Lake City, I forget the name, but there is a campground right in the middle of town on the river. Silverton has a couple of reasonable campgrounds, and there are a lot of places that you can dry camp for free along the Animas River if you want to go cheap.

[John_H]

I'll second that area around Silverton and Ouray. Many fond memories ? in my 4X4 and pretty nice up there this time of year. You might check in with DR.billZ on the DRZ forum. He was going to spend a few days riding up there.

[endurodog]

Lake City and Ouray are nice, and there is much more to look at but in my opinion the trails are almost all rocky 4x4 trails and not as much fun as the Crested Butte area, I was in both areas last week with a very large group of guys (300+) and this was the groups opinion too.

Lotso scenery = Ouray

Lotso good riding = Crested Butte

You have some good choices.

[Merfman]

Originally posted by endurodog:

Lake City and Ouray are nice, and there is much more to look at but in my opinion the trails are almost all rocky 4x4 trails and not as much fun as the Crested Butte area, I was in both areas last week with a very large group of guys (300+) and this was the groups opinion too.

Lotso scenery = Ouray

Lotso good riding = Crested Butte

You have some good choices.

I'm with Dawg on this one. If you're looking for scenery, hit Ouray and Engineer, Cinnamon, Hurricane, Corkscrew, California, Red Mountain, Black Bear and Imogene passes. Take a trip up Yankee Boy basin on the way back to Ouray.

For killer trails, get the Latitude40 maps and ride to your heart's content in/around CB.

Merf

PS, www.latitude40maps.com is the place to find the maps...

[Dougie]

I think it depends on how well your wives can ride. My wife goes anywhere I go. She is an excellent rider and has gone over all passes in the Ouray, Lake City, Crested Butte, and Buena Vista areas.

That said, if your wives can ride pretty much anything, I'd go to Crested Butte. From there you get Gunsight, Scofield, Pearl and Taylor passes. These are mostly rocky jeep trails but are very scenic. For a more challenging ride, there are a lot of miles of single track ranging from easy to very hard. You can ride into Aspen and spend the night there if you wish. I'm not sure, but you probably could also make it down to Gunnison to spend the night.

You can also drive up to Taylor Lake and ride Tin Cup, Hancock and Tomeichi passes. These are a little more challenging but still not expert difficult.

Personnaly, I prefer the town of Crested Butte. You get the Aspen atmosphere without the snobery and outrages prices. To me, Ouray and Lake City are fun areas to ride but the towns are boring. Crested Butte has a variety of excellent eateries, bars and shopping. And the views around the town are top notch. Mountain peaks where ever you look.

From Ouray, you could ride into Telluride and spend the night there. That town is real nice but sort of like Aspen. Or you could also ride over Lake City. But again, not much to do.

Either way, you can't lose. Awesome riding down that way.

[ September 10, 2002, 04:08 PM: Message edited by: Dougie ]

[Dan_from_HB]

Thanks, again, guys. This is great information. Where else but TT?

We'll get some detailed maps and work out the options. I'll let you know where we wind up going (even if it is next summer!)

Dan