Colorado Advice

[Mike and Carol]

Mike and Carol – You mentioned Pikes Peak. I’d recommend that you take the cog railway ( http://cograilway.com/ ) instead of driving. That way' date=' both of you can look around during the trip up and down. Bill [/quote']

Bill, we took the train to the top. It was worth it and we had a good time. Got to know our seat neighbors and had a good chat. We've been in Colorado Springs all week, relaxing and seeing the sites. We head to RMNP in the morning. Mike

 

[dharmardr]

Ann and I are headed CO as well. We are leaving New England on the 19th of Sept, heading first to Spearfish and after a stay there to CO to dry camp on a friends property in the mtns, in Jefferson County. We will be in CO until the 2nd week in Oct, then heading south to Sand Dunes, Santa Fe, and then try to find our way slowly home to CT.

 

Grayson and Ann

[topgun2]

Mike & Carol - looks like the weather was good and glad that you had a nice ride on the train - see any wildlife (other than Carol that is).  Have fun in RMNP - it should be a bunch less crowded now that we are past Labor Day.  Pictures, pictures, pictures.

 

Did you say that you were headed through Leadville once you get done with the Park?  If so, there is a nice little coffee shop there right across from the city hall.  They have good coffee, good bakery items and WiFi.  Also, if you can find a place to park - Vail is worth a stop if for nothing else than to people watch and smell the flowers.  The Red Lion Inn serves a mean burger and the owner - Phil Long - puts on a good show starting at a little after 7 pm.

 

Bill

[geO]

I went to CO in Aug and I really enjoyed San Luis state park. The view from this free camp site is amazing. Each afternoon the winds would pick up the sand from the dunes and look like rain. I was told the state park had a issue with the water and somehow lost its status as being a state park. Nice view of the dunes.

[Mike and Carol]

We made it back from our month in Colorado (and Utah and Arizona). We had a great time and appreciate all the advice from everyone. I’ll post some pictures once we get used to being home.

 

We enjoyed everything. Garden of the Gods is pretty amazing considering it’s a city park. The weather while we were at RMNP was great, some snow at the higher elevations but mostly sunshine and agreeable temps. We visited Estes Park and Breckinridge. Black Canyon NP was unique and well worth the visit. The Campground (South Rim) was close to the canyon and pretty well maintained. We visited Crested Butte while there.

 

The drive through Montrose, Ouray, Silverton to Durango was scenic!  Mesa Verde NP is historically fascinating, the Rangers there do a great job. We made a change at Mesa Verde and headed northwest to Moab instead of east to Sand Dunes NP to avoid some weather.

 

In Moab we stayed at Horsethief Campground, which is BLM. It’s in between Canyonlands NP and Arches NP so we could see both while there. Moab is an interesting little town.

 

Then we dropped south into Arizona and spent a couple of days at Petrified Forest NP before heading east to TX and home.  The end result of the trip was a very dirty truck and trailer and a couple of big smiles. Mike

[wdw0528]

Mike & Carol - we are on a similar trip and have been looking for you.....well not you specifically!  We left Atlanta headed for Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico (many of the same places) but we did a plant tour in Hohenwald on the way. We have been trying to spot an Ollie on the road ever since we left the plant but no luck. Currently in Albuquerque and headed for a grand kid visit in Fort Worth on the way home.

 

Sounds like your trip was as good as ours-thanks for sharing and we’ll keep an eye out for you :-)

 

 

 

Darrell & Kathy

[Mike and Carol]

Mike & Carol – we are on a similar trip and have been looking for you…..well not you specifically! We left Atlanta headed for Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico (many of the same places) but we did a plant tour in Hohenfeld on the way. We have been trying to spot an Ollie on the road ever since we left the plant but no luck. Currently in Albuquerque and headed for a grand kid visit in Fort Worth on the way home. Sounds like your trip was as good as ours-thanks for sharing and we’ll keep an eye out for you ???? Darrell & Kathy

Darrel & Kathy, seems like we should have run into each other!  We even stayed in Albuquerque on our way back to San Antonio. We didn’t see any other Olivers either, but did see lots of fiberglass trailers. We saw a Casita with an interesting paint job camped near us at Black Canyon NP. I had to take a picture....

 

[John E Davies]

http://cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/Parks/ridgway

 

Has anyone stayed here? I reserved a site for early July for four nights. Electricity but no hookups, plus deep shade over the site. It’s an extremely popular boating destination so it will be packed, but we will be leaving Saturday morning, so maybe we will avoid the worst.

 

We will park Mouse and explore the high passes solo in the Cruiser. If the weather is good we will try Ophir Pass  - Telluride - Imogene Pass - Yankee Boy Basin one day, Engineer Pass - Lake City - Carson ghost town - Cinnamon Pass another day. That leaves one day extra for foul weather delays or for just farting around in Ouray (hot springs) or Silverton.

 

On Saturday we will start to work our way due north, maybe Black Canyon south rim and CO Nat Monument.

 

Then through western WY to Lander (Wind River Mts), Bighorn Mts, Cody (Firearm Museum), Yellowstone area, maybe the Park itself.

 

Maybe cut east to Billings for the Red Oxx factory store, north west to Helena (Glass center and cool downtown). This depends on if we are feeling burned out and also potential smoke and heat.

 

Then home direct. Three days down, five days in western CO, ten+ days in WY and MT. Should be fun and not too hard in terms of miles per day. The longest haul will be to Ouray, 1100 miles. We will go NOWHERE  near SLC, woohoo!

 

Comments for places to dry camp are most welcome. Nat Parks and Monuments are OK, I have the Geezer Pass.

 

Thanks.

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

 

 

 

 

[topgun2]

John - I really don't know exactly where to start.  But, I'll through out some ideas for you to consider.

 

No, I've never stayed at that State Park, so no help there.

 

Assuming that the Black Canyon you are referring to is the Gunnison - There is a fairly decent WalMart in Gunnison - its on your right as you take the road headed north of the center of town.  There is a very nice NFS campground called "one mile" if you head towards the Taylor Res.  There is plenty of free camping up near the Reservoir and towards the little town of Tin Cup.  Speaking of which - Tin Cup is worth the drive in your TV.  The problem with this area is the ATV's which are every where.

 

If it is on your route and you go through Dubois, WY there are a couple of places there of interest.  Just to the south-east of Dubois there is a BLM boondocking spot.  It is right on a lake and there are OK pit toilets.  If you head north out of town (towards Horse Creek) there is a NFS camp about seven miles up that road.  It is right on Horse Creek and they have pit toilets and a hand pump for water.  From there you can head up to "Double Cabin" (another twenty miles up the road).  There are boondocking sites up there and another NFS camp ground, but, I'd stay at Horse Creek and drive the TV up instead of hauling your Oliver.  Another place to stay or at least stop is West of Dubois. It is a NFS camp on the left near the summit of the mountain.  There are electric/water sites here in addition to "no-services" sites.  Decent pit toilets are also available.  If you simply stop here, there is a very nice water fall to see.  On the right side of the road just before you get to this camp there is a road to (I think) Brook's Lake.  There are numerous boondocking spots along this road.  If you want more detail on this area just PM me.

 

Once up towards Cody, one of my favorite NFS camp grounds is west of Cody by about 20 miles or so - Rex Hale.  They have a very few sites that have water/electric but you would need to reserve those well in advance.  The other sites - some near the river - are decent and all have access to pit toilets.  Note that the East entrance to Yellowstone is just down the road one way with Cody the other way.  Elk Creek camp just to the east of Rex Hale is another possibility but it is much smaller.  There is a nice hiking trail out of Elk Creek and you can take your TV on a bit of a drive out of there also (I don't know how far that jeep trail goes though).

 

Bill

[ScubaRx]

The ghost town of Animas Forks, about 12 miles from Silverton, is well worth the time.

[donthompson]

Hi John,

 

I've spent a lot of time exploring the high country around Lake City, Ouray and Silverton.  I've never tried to explore the jeep trails in my Touareg.  Instead, I've rented Jeep Wranglers.  Rarely do I see anything but Jeep Wranglers on the trails and when I have, the driver was either paralyzed with fear or during my last trip, high-centered and stranded.  I've included some photos below I took on June 23 in 2016.  Note the amount of snow!

 

If you visit Ouray, drive to Orvis Hot Springs in Ridgeway.  Beautiful hot springs.  You can camp there too--just in a parking lot, but when you pay to camp you have access to the hot springs.  Be prepared--it's a clothing optional place.

 

Don

[John E Davies]

John – I really don’t know exactly where to start. But, I’ll through out some ideas for you to consider. Bill

Bill, thanks so much for the detailed info, I need to waypoint your recommendations. Unless you perhaps have gps locations?

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[John E Davies]

The ghost town of Animas Forks, about 12 miles from Silverton, is well worth the time.

Yep, that is a very cool spot, we have been there twice. If you are doing anything involving the Alpine Loop, you end up in Animas Forks. It is central to maybe eight different 4wd trails, plus the graded road to Silverton.

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[John E Davies]

Hi John, I’ve spent a lot of time exploring the high country around Lake City, Ouray and Silverton. I’ve never tried to explore the jeep trails in my Touareg. Instead, I’ve rented Jeep Wranglers. Rarely do I see anything but Jeep Wranglers on the trails and when I have, the driver was either paralyzed with fear or during my last trip, high-centered and stranded. I’ve included some photos below I took on June 23 in 2016. Note the amount of snow! If you visit Ouray, drive to Orvis Hot Springs in Ridgeway. Beautiful hot springs. You can camp there too–just in a parking lot, but when you pay to camp you have access to the hot springs. Be prepared–it’s a clothing optional place. Don

 

Don, thanks for the info and pics. We picked July so that snow will hopefully not be an issue. Normally I would go to the SW in late Spring, but 13,000 ft dirt passes present special challenges, especially on those north facing slopes.....

 

We rented a Wrangler in 2008. It was fun but the ones you get at the rental stores are base models with wrong axle gearing and dinky tires. It made it up a “Difficult” rated section of the Loop without a scrape or grinding the belly. The problem is that they are underpowered, noisy, dirty and cold. Plus expensive.... My Land Cruiser 200 will go on most of those trails without any worries and it is comfy and warm. Plus we can stop and tent camp one night if we feel like it. Having a rental makes it more stressful in terms of having to return it by a certain time.

 

OTH we will be going alone, so we will be sticking to the most popular tourist trails, avoiding the “body damage likely” ones for sure. Like

 

Poughkeepsie Gulch ....

   ..... Fun starts at 6:00.

 

Black Bear into Telluride: ... 

    .... watch 8:00 to 10:00 especially.

 

From my past experiences in Colorado the rating scale for trails is biased to scare folks who have never used 4Low. Like your typical vacationing family from Europe that wants a Western adventure. As long as the weather is dry, these EASIER routes are usually neither hard to navigate nor dangerous, though body damage can indeed happen. They can be very bumpy at times and you should air down to 20 psi before starting off, and go very slow. Not a big deal if you have oversized tires and ten inches of ground clearance.

 

As you know, the scenery is stunning beyond words.

 

I am a sucker for well preserved ghost towns and mining relics and this area is riddled with them.

 

For those younger folks considering a visit, a small ATV or a dual sport motorcycle makes a lot more sense if you don’t mind the weather exposure and dust. They navigate these trails way more easily and much, much faster than a full sized Jeep crawling along in Low. You can do 200 miles a day on a plated dirt bike over trails that a Jeep would struggle to do 25 to 50 miles in the same time period.

 

Drop. Dead. Gorgeous: .... 

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

 

 

[topgun2]

John -

 

If you ( or anyone else for that matter) will PM me with your email address I will email you a listing of a number of spots in both Colorado and Wyoming.  I have prepared this as a "Word" document and it includes GPS coordinates, camping spots, some places where you could get water, do laundry, visit old mining camps, boondocking spots etc.  I'm not attaching it on the Forum because I'd prefer only actual Oliver owners have this information.

 

Bill

 

 

[topgun2]

An email has been sent to all those that have requested the Colorado/Wyoming info. If for some reason you do not receive it - just PM me. Again, anyone who would like this information - just PM me with your email address and I will get it right out to you.

Bill

[SeaDawg]

We spent some time this month in Ouray, Silverton, and Durango.

Ridgeway state park was highly recommended by another traveler we met, but the construction between the park and Ouray led us to give it a pass. Beautiful place.

In ouray, we stayed at 4j + 1+1, a (gasp) RV park in town. Nice people, great location. walk to town, the hot springs, easy access to the perimeter trail. (Not as easy as it looks on the paper map)

Silverton is a cute town. Avalanche brewery has both great food, and great beer. Bring your growler

Highly recommend molas lake campground just south of Silverton by 5 miles, in season. Amazing views, beautiful lake.

In Durango, we caught up with old friends, enjoyed the breweries and food. Pretty town, with every convenience. Amoitheater was closed.bstayed at United campground, an RV park, near a $1 trolley stop to old Town.

Backtracking, near Gunnison, highly recommend elk Creek and Stevens Creek. relatively close to town, no service, on beautiful blue mesa reservoir.

[SeaDawg]

One more recommendation outside Colorado springs. Mueller state park. About 10500 elevation. beautiful sites and views.

[Rumline]

One more recommendation outside Colorado springs. Mueller state park. About 10500 elevation. beautiful sites and views.

 

That one's in my back yard. We drove through the campground last year and were somewhat disappointed to see that most of the sites are under or around heavy tree cover, so there's not too many views from the campsites themselves. If you go for a walk/hike you can see the Sangre de Cristo mountains to the south and Pikes Peak to the east. I think the RV sites at the south end on the west side of the road are the only ones that have views.

[Alison]

John, I haven’t stayed at Ridgway, but if you are interested in seeing them, I’ll scan and post the pages from my Moon Colorado Camping book that describes the three campgrounds.

 

Alison

[SeaDawg]

Alison, maybe our early arrival gave us better views? We still had snow in places, so not much for brush growth. We were in a recently opened loop. Not pikes view, but just above it. Happy for a scenic spot after a long drive from Kansas City.

Early May.

[SeaDawg]

Molas lake before opening to camping. I'd recommend site one and maybe 2 in the lower loop we hiked. It was fenced off in May. The premium RV spots up the hill, well, big views for a bigger price.

 

 

 

Sherry