Planning the 8th Annual Colorado Trail Ride
BusaDave9
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It's time to start planning our next Colorado Jeep-CJ.com trail ride. This is the 8th year in a row. This year we'll be using Silverton as our base.
The Colorado Trail Ride will be from August 20th through the 24th.
During this thread we may decide on specifics or change plans. Those posts may get lost in the middle of the thread so Please check back here to this first post in this thread for any updates.
Communication: Cell phones are useless after we leave town. Once we are on the trail we'll use CB radios to communicate. Although they are recommended they are not mandatory. We use CB channel 16.
A typical day of trail rides: We eat breakfast at 8 am. Some motels have some sort of breakfast otherwise join us at a restaurant to be decided the night before.
We leave town at 9 am. Make sure your tank is already filled the night before.
Every day seems to be sunny and warm in town. As we climb into the mountains it gets cool. Bring layers and a rain jacket.
We eat lunch on the trail. It's nice to bring a small cooler to carry a sandwich and water. If you don't have a small cooler several members often have a cooler larger than necessary. Someone is always willing to keep your lunch fresh.
Even though every morning seems to be sunny it always seems to rain most afternoons in late summer in the mountains. This is why we like to leave on the trail ride early.
When we get back to town, everyone wants to unwind but please refuel before nightfall. This helps to make sure we are all ready to leave at the same time in the morning. Then we all have dinner at a restaurant. In recent years our group has been too big to all eat at the same restaurant. We discus the next day's trail ride. This is especially important when volunteers help lead some of the trail rides.
Where are we going this year? Each year I like to add more trails we have never been on and this year I have 2 new trails (Arrastra Gulch & Porphyry Gulch). We have never been on these two trails during the Jeep-CJ trail rides. This is a testament to how many jeep trails there are throughout these mountains.
The tentative plan for trail rides:
Each day we will probably split up into approximately 2 groups (depending on attendance we might have 1 group some days). The meeting place for each trail ride will most likely be the motel or camp of the trail leader.
Pick from these trails:
Monday - trip 1 or 9
Tuesday - trip 2 or 4
Wednesday - trip 3 or 6
Thursday - trip 7 or 5
Friday - trip 8 or 10
Trip 1: Engineer Pass trail. From Silverton we'll head north on the highway and turn off at Lower Engineer Pass trail. After we reach the top of Engineer Pass we'll go to Animas Forks ghost town.
Warning: Lower Engineer Pass Trail (also known as Mineral Creek trail) has some rock crawling.
Trip 2: Minnie Gulch, Maggie Gulch and then Eureka Gulch. These are beautiful glacial valleys that also have silver mines.
Trip 3: Black Bear Pass & Imogene Pass. We'll start on Highway 550 at Red Mountain Pass and climb over Black Bear Pass into Telluride. Then take Imogene Pass to Ouray and the highway back to Silverton.
Warning: Black Bear pass may be intimidating for those with a fear of heights.
Trip 4: Poughkeepsie Gulch. We'll take Lower Engineer Pass trail, this time starting at highway 550 and going up to Poughkeepsie Gulch fork.
Warning: This is a more difficult trail. You need lockers to take your jeep up "The Wall". If you don't feel you are up to it you can watch the others and then take the bypass.
Trip 5: Arrastra Gulch. We will follow jeep trails that follow under an old aerial tram. At the top we will explore the land around the Black Prince Mine. We have never gone on this trail.
Trip 6: Corkscrew Pass. We'll start on the Million Dollar highway and go up Corkscrew Pass. Then we'll follow Cement Creek back to Silverton. If there is time we'll probably go up Prospect Gulch.
Trip 7: Beartown site and Stony Pass. This is an enjoyable trail that takes us deep into the mountains to Beartown site and Kite Lake.
Trip 8: Cinnamon Pass and American Basin. We head up the Animas River gorge then take Picayune Gulch and Placer Gulch around to Animas Forks Ghost town. Then we'll go over Cinnamon Pass to American Basin.
Trip 9: Brooklyn Trail, US Basin, Porphyry Gulch. We've often gone on US Basin but today we'll cross over to Black Bear. We've also gone on Black Bear but we would reach a fork. I would always say "turn right at this fork" but today we'll take the left for the first (time instead of going over Black Bear Pass).
Trip 10: Kendall Mountain and Deer Park. We climb to the top of Kendall Mt and look down on Silverton.
These trail plans are tentative. We have 10 trail rides for only 5 days. I am assuming we will split up into 2 or 3 groups. This should give participants plenty of options. Some trails can not accommodate large groups. If I have a couple volunteers to help lead we can split up into enough groups to go on each one of these trail rides. Posi will be leading one group on trail rides. Later we will decide what trail rides will be options on which days. This depends on attendance.
Lodging
First off people need to understand that Silverton becomes a virtual ghost town in the winter. Many of the lodging options will not take reservations until the employees come back in the spring.
Here are some of my suggestions:
Red Mountain Cabins and RV Park - this place is just as soon as you enter the town of Silverton. I like staying in these cabins. There are also picnic tables that we can gather in the evening.
Expect to pay about $120 or more per night
Red Mountain Cabins
Canyon View Motel - this place is also just as you enter Silverton (across the street from Red Mountain Cabins).
Expect to pay over $90 per night
Welcome to Canyon View Motel!
Grand Imperial Hotel - I have never stayed here and I don't know if any members ever have. This Hotel was built in 1883. This place has been purchased by the railroad owner and remodelled to look as it did 100 years ago.
Expect to pay over $AMC 150 per night
grandimperialhotel
Triangle Motel - this place is centrally located.
Expect to pay over $90 per night
https://www.trianglemotel.com/
There are also RV campgrounds right in town such as:
Red Mountain Motel and RV Park
Silverton Lakes RV Resort
To see what our trail rides are like check out these links to our previous trail rides:
7th Jeep-CJ Trail Ride http://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/f63/7th-annual-colorado-jeep-cj-trail-report-28427/
6th Jeep-CJ Trail Ride http://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/f63/sixth-annual-colorado-jeep-cj-trail-report-26627/
5th Jeep-CJ Trail Ride http://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/f63/fifth-annual-colorado-jeep-cj-trail-report-25280/
4th Jeep-CJ Trail Ride http://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/f63/fourth-annual-colorado-jeep-cj-trail-report-23465/
3rd Jeep CJ Trail Ride http://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/f63/3rd-annual-colorado-jeep-cj-trail-report-19972/
2nd Jeep-CJ Trail Ride http://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/f63/2nd-annual-colorado-jeep-cj-com-trail-report-15621/
1st Jeep-CJ Trail Ride http://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/f63/jeep-cj-com-colorado-trail-ride-6722/
The Colorado Trail Ride will be from August 20th through the 24th.
During this thread we may decide on specifics or change plans. Those posts may get lost in the middle of the thread so Please check back here to this first post in this thread for any updates.
Communication: Cell phones are useless after we leave town. Once we are on the trail we'll use CB radios to communicate. Although they are recommended they are not mandatory. We use CB channel 16.
A typical day of trail rides: We eat breakfast at 8 am. Some motels have some sort of breakfast otherwise join us at a restaurant to be decided the night before.
We leave town at 9 am. Make sure your tank is already filled the night before.
Every day seems to be sunny and warm in town. As we climb into the mountains it gets cool. Bring layers and a rain jacket.
We eat lunch on the trail. It's nice to bring a small cooler to carry a sandwich and water. If you don't have a small cooler several members often have a cooler larger than necessary. Someone is always willing to keep your lunch fresh.
Even though every morning seems to be sunny it always seems to rain most afternoons in late summer in the mountains. This is why we like to leave on the trail ride early.
When we get back to town, everyone wants to unwind but please refuel before nightfall. This helps to make sure we are all ready to leave at the same time in the morning. Then we all have dinner at a restaurant. In recent years our group has been too big to all eat at the same restaurant. We discus the next day's trail ride. This is especially important when volunteers help lead some of the trail rides.
Where are we going this year? Each year I like to add more trails we have never been on and this year I have 2 new trails (Arrastra Gulch & Porphyry Gulch). We have never been on these two trails during the Jeep-CJ trail rides. This is a testament to how many jeep trails there are throughout these mountains.
The tentative plan for trail rides:
Each day we will probably split up into approximately 2 groups (depending on attendance we might have 1 group some days). The meeting place for each trail ride will most likely be the motel or camp of the trail leader.
Pick from these trails:
Monday - trip 1 or 9
Tuesday - trip 2 or 4
Wednesday - trip 3 or 6
Thursday - trip 7 or 5
Friday - trip 8 or 10
Trip 1: Engineer Pass trail. From Silverton we'll head north on the highway and turn off at Lower Engineer Pass trail. After we reach the top of Engineer Pass we'll go to Animas Forks ghost town.
Warning: Lower Engineer Pass Trail (also known as Mineral Creek trail) has some rock crawling.
Trip 2: Minnie Gulch, Maggie Gulch and then Eureka Gulch. These are beautiful glacial valleys that also have silver mines.
Trip 3: Black Bear Pass & Imogene Pass. We'll start on Highway 550 at Red Mountain Pass and climb over Black Bear Pass into Telluride. Then take Imogene Pass to Ouray and the highway back to Silverton.
Warning: Black Bear pass may be intimidating for those with a fear of heights.
Trip 4: Poughkeepsie Gulch. We'll take Lower Engineer Pass trail, this time starting at highway 550 and going up to Poughkeepsie Gulch fork.
Warning: This is a more difficult trail. You need lockers to take your jeep up "The Wall". If you don't feel you are up to it you can watch the others and then take the bypass.
Trip 5: Arrastra Gulch. We will follow jeep trails that follow under an old aerial tram. At the top we will explore the land around the Black Prince Mine. We have never gone on this trail.
Trip 6: Corkscrew Pass. We'll start on the Million Dollar highway and go up Corkscrew Pass. Then we'll follow Cement Creek back to Silverton. If there is time we'll probably go up Prospect Gulch.
Trip 7: Beartown site and Stony Pass. This is an enjoyable trail that takes us deep into the mountains to Beartown site and Kite Lake.
Trip 8: Cinnamon Pass and American Basin. We head up the Animas River gorge then take Picayune Gulch and Placer Gulch around to Animas Forks Ghost town. Then we'll go over Cinnamon Pass to American Basin.
Trip 9: Brooklyn Trail, US Basin, Porphyry Gulch. We've often gone on US Basin but today we'll cross over to Black Bear. We've also gone on Black Bear but we would reach a fork. I would always say "turn right at this fork" but today we'll take the left for the first (time instead of going over Black Bear Pass).
Trip 10: Kendall Mountain and Deer Park. We climb to the top of Kendall Mt and look down on Silverton.
These trail plans are tentative. We have 10 trail rides for only 5 days. I am assuming we will split up into 2 or 3 groups. This should give participants plenty of options. Some trails can not accommodate large groups. If I have a couple volunteers to help lead we can split up into enough groups to go on each one of these trail rides. Posi will be leading one group on trail rides. Later we will decide what trail rides will be options on which days. This depends on attendance.
Lodging
First off people need to understand that Silverton becomes a virtual ghost town in the winter. Many of the lodging options will not take reservations until the employees come back in the spring.
Here are some of my suggestions:
Red Mountain Cabins and RV Park - this place is just as soon as you enter the town of Silverton. I like staying in these cabins. There are also picnic tables that we can gather in the evening.
Expect to pay about $120 or more per night
Red Mountain Cabins
Canyon View Motel - this place is also just as you enter Silverton (across the street from Red Mountain Cabins).
Expect to pay over $90 per night
Welcome to Canyon View Motel!
Grand Imperial Hotel - I have never stayed here and I don't know if any members ever have. This Hotel was built in 1883. This place has been purchased by the railroad owner and remodelled to look as it did 100 years ago.
Expect to pay over $AMC 150 per night
grandimperialhotel
Triangle Motel - this place is centrally located.
Expect to pay over $90 per night
https://www.trianglemotel.com/
There are also RV campgrounds right in town such as:
Red Mountain Motel and RV Park
Silverton Lakes RV Resort
To see what our trail rides are like check out these links to our previous trail rides:
7th Jeep-CJ Trail Ride http://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/f63/7th-annual-colorado-jeep-cj-trail-report-28427/
6th Jeep-CJ Trail Ride http://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/f63/sixth-annual-colorado-jeep-cj-trail-report-26627/
5th Jeep-CJ Trail Ride http://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/f63/fifth-annual-colorado-jeep-cj-trail-report-25280/
4th Jeep-CJ Trail Ride http://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/f63/fourth-annual-colorado-jeep-cj-trail-report-23465/
3rd Jeep CJ Trail Ride http://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/f63/3rd-annual-colorado-jeep-cj-trail-report-19972/
2nd Jeep-CJ Trail Ride http://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/f63/2nd-annual-colorado-jeep-cj-com-trail-report-15621/
1st Jeep-CJ Trail Ride http://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/f63/jeep-cj-com-colorado-trail-ride-6722/
Last edited:
You did great!
