Alpine Loop - Colorado: First Overland/Camping trip. Driving from Texas. Trip Planning.

[JDGreens]

No I have a Jeep XJ the older couple from Teas had a Four door F-250 (they are doable in one but at stock height they were hitting a lot. Here is my rig that is getting a lot of work to it before the high mountain passes get open.View attachment 94144View attachment 94147View attachment 94149

 

[Ross Hoffman]

Nice ride man, one day I hope to build a more capable trail rig. But for now the F250 is gonna have to fit the bill!

 

[JDGreens]

You will be fine with your set-up on most of these trail we are talking about. But just for the sake of not wanting to break anything. I would stick to mild and moderate rated trails, especially if you are alone.

 

[JDGreens]

Nice ride man, one day I hope to build a more capable trail rig. But for now the F250 is gonna have to fit the bill!

To be honest I wish my 2002 F-150 super cab was a 4x4 it would make a great overland rig in my opinion.

 

[Ross Hoffman]

Yeah 10-4. My biggest concern is getting pigeonholed on a trail and have to back out or down a precarious trail. Next would be having a breakdown, but yeah, trying to stick to easy/mild trails should help avoid being hard on the pickup.

 

[JDGreens]

The club I wheel with is doing the 4-mile area April 27 but if I go it will be just to ride along.

 

[smlobx]

We’re still planning on going towards the end of June so I’m keeping an eye out for trails that might be open early that are doable in a larger rig..

 

[JDGreens]

There are plenty of trails to do in the lower elevations that are open year round but there are some trails that don't open till after June 15th that are great areas to explore. Nearly all trails are open June 15th but do to snow pack will tell which ones are going to be doable. Mid July nearly everything will be open unless like sometimes BlackBear doesn't open at all.

 

[Timberdan]

I used to live in Lake City Colorado and would do the Alpine loop all the time. I had usually took a F250 short bed extended cab over the Loop, but would occasionally take my 93 Dodge dually over the passes. The roads should be open in late June. There is a ton of camping in the area that is free or you can pay to stay at a campground. My favorite campground was Deer Lake Campground near the top of Slumgollian Pass. Be sure to check out the Carson ghost town off of Hinsdale county road 30. Plan your route so you go down Engineers Pass to Lake City and up Cinnamon pass because of the shelf road.

 

[Craig M]

Hey group

I'm trying to plan a trip out to Ourey/ Telluride/ Silveton area and have never been to CO was just curious on how the weather will be the first of September???

Plan for a bit if everything. Temps range from around freezing at night to mid 60's. Expect the temps to drop 5 degrees for every 1000 feet in elevation gain when camping away from any of the towns mentioned. Both snow and rain are possible at any time. Sept is generally 2nd highest precipitation month after Aug.

Boort

Yeah, we've been going for over 10 years now, though only once in September, and that was our experience.. I think the lowest we got on the mountain was mid 20's (that was at ~11,000')

Other than the one year in September, and one year when we went again in December, we usually stick to July.. We've gone as early as the first week of June, and as late as mid August. I specify all of that just to say, the trip in September was by far our favorite!! And that is 100% due to the fall colors.. It's absolutely amazing.

BTW.. If you're there on the 21st of Sep, you should try to go to the Lake City Wine Festival.

We went in 2015 for our close friends' wedding. They had just moved to Lake City (from here in DFW) and had the wedding on Friday and everyone stayed for the wine festival..

It's pretty awesome!

 

[Lotsapapa]

We just got off of this trail this last week. My suggestions are not to do it on a weekend if you can help it, lots of traffic. Watch the weather rain causes slides. We went from Lake City to Ouray, so most of the tough stuff we where going down hill. If you start from Ouray you see the hardest stuff first- no shame in turning around. We came across a newer stock F150 that was dragging and scraping EVERWHERE, once we passed them we waited after all the tough spots. The truck was leaking fluid and they had to keep airing up one of the tires. We where in a older Taco with a 3” lift and I would not want to take a non-modified truck over this trail. The owners of the truck where warn out and scared, “ just get us a hotel room and a bar” is what was said as we said goodbye to them. This is not for the faint hearted in my opinion.

 

[Ross Hoffman]

We just got off of this trail this last week. My suggestions are not to do it on a weekend if you can help it, lots of traffic. Watch the weather rain causes slides. We went from Lake City to Ouray, so most of the tough stuff we where going down hill. If you start from Ouray you see the hardest stuff first- no shame in turning around. We came across a newer stock F150 that was dragging and scraping EVERWHERE, once we passed them we waited after all the tough spots. The truck was leaking fluid and they had to keep airing up one of the tires. We where in a older Taco with a 3” lift and I would not want to take a non-modified truck over this trail. The owners of the truck where warn out and scared, “ just get us a hotel room and a bar” is what was said as we said goodbye to them. This is not for the faint hearted in my opinion.

So we finally made the trip, and back. As mentioned in previous post, I am glad I rented a Jeep and did Ophir pass and last dollar road. Yes, after doing last dollar I did feel like my F250 would be up for it, maybe next time.......
But as for Ophir pass, soooo much traffic. My truck would of been the elephant in the room, wouldn't of been worth it. Traffic aside, there was probably one switch back that I would of been pretty nervous about(I have little overland/trail experience) and maaaybe a narrow shelf road or two.

 

[Craig M]

So we finally made the trip, and back. As mentioned in previous post, I am glad I rented a Jeep and did Ophir pass and last dollar road. Yes, after doing last dollar I did feel like my F250 would be up for it, maybe next time.......
But as for Ophir pass, soooo much traffic. My truck would of been the elephant in the room, wouldn't of been worth it. Traffic aside, there was probably one switch back that I would of been pretty nervous about(I have little overland/trail experience) and maaaybe a narrow shelf road or two.

As long as it's not wet, Last Dollar Road can be done in anything. It will get a little bumpy for non-high clearance, but I passed a couple passenger cars when we did it in July (in my 2wd van).. Even so, I really enjoyed it. The scenery is fantastic, as would be expected!

View attachment 113150

I've done pretty much every trail / Pass in the Alpine Loop area, exept Ophir, so I need to hit that next year (by then the van will be 4x4, or I'll tow the Jeep along).