Adam490
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@JACKAL knows some fantastic 50 inch trails to take a P1k up in that area
CID
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One of the best 'ride from town' areas is Lake City which has direct access to the 70+ mile Alpine Loop, a bucket list ride for many. Lots of 12k foot passes. Be aware that Silverton has banned SxSs from town, so I'm not sure the full loop is still rideable; you might have to do two 'out and back' rides from Lake City, like riding a horseshoe to both ends, starting from the middle.
Do some research on altitude sickness preparation, it's a real thing. There are things you can do the week before to help eliminate it but since I live at 6k feet, it's never been a problem for me.
The blue 'figure 8' track is the Alpine Loop with Lake City in the upper right and Silverton in the lower left. It may be possible to bypass Silverton (orange line, lower left) but I don't know that, do your homework.
Do some research on altitude sickness preparation, it's a real thing. There are things you can do the week before to help eliminate it but since I live at 6k feet, it's never been a problem for me.
The blue 'figure 8' track is the Alpine Loop with Lake City in the upper right and Silverton in the lower left. It may be possible to bypass Silverton (orange line, lower left) but I don't know that, do your homework.
I agree that Lake City is good. A little more rustic is Pitkin Colorado. It has access to some really good riding, including access to Taylor Pass, Tincup Pass, Cumberland Pass, Taylor Park, etc. Not sure about cabins since I camped when I was there.
highpocket74
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Taylor Park has cabins and you can ride from there to several passes. We went in 2015 with a group of 12 RZRs and had a blast. Great ATV trails and we only passed a few vehicles in 4 days of riding.
Get the funtreks book and map. They are terrific planning tools. Before we ever left home we had 4 days of riding planned out using the book and map. If you've never been the passes are freaking COLD (in the 30s) even in July! You have to take the Taylor Pass trail where you ride in the creek. That was the most memorable part of the trip for me. Slaughter House Gulch trail was like something straight out of a Grit movie! It's a fun place without all the Jeep traffic.
Unzip and drop the files into google earth to see our 2015 tracks on the mountains in 3d. It's very cool!
Get the funtreks book and map. They are terrific planning tools. Before we ever left home we had 4 days of riding planned out using the book and map. If you've never been the passes are freaking COLD (in the 30s) even in July! You have to take the Taylor Pass trail where you ride in the creek. That was the most memorable part of the trip for me. Slaughter House Gulch trail was like something straight out of a Grit movie! It's a fun place without all the Jeep traffic.
Unzip and drop the files into google earth to see our 2015 tracks on the mountains in 3d. It's very cool!
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C
Not knowing exactly what type of riding you might enjoy. Another spot would be Marble Co. --- look up Crystal Mill and Lead King Basin... We road a couple days in this area then migrated over to Pitkin to round out the week.
around Mid July when we went the wildflowers at Lead King were beautiful and the marble carving festival was going on in town (if you can call it a town - not much there)
Road riding in Colorado is not easy. a few locales allow it -most roads are no go. be aware.
around Mid July when we went the wildflowers at Lead King were beautiful and the marble carving festival was going on in town (if you can call it a town - not much there)
Road riding in Colorado is not easy. a few locales allow it -most roads are no go. be aware.
Nothing crazy just looking to cover some ground and looking for views and attractions mines settlements etc.
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highpocket74
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The trails are wide but not all roads. There are some roads too. Pie Plant Mill trail had a 50" section but we made it with the big RZR's. That was a cool trail in the trees. Taylor Pass was the only red trail we took because we had little kids with us. We stayed on greens and blues for that reason.
C
C
Being honest - everywhere we have been - Colorado, Wyoming, SD, Tennessee, WV, -all trips get compared to and fail to the Alpine Loop trip. Each trip and location offered a lot in their own way. If taking the pioneer to altitude MAKE SURE its been properly coolant burped
C
Cotrex app is Colorado sanctioned and works very well -free, easy to use.
highpocket74
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I had (2) RZR 800 and they handled everything fine.
This was our group picture taken at the end of the Texas Lakes trail on day 1.
Found some of my GPS track screen shots.
This was our group picture taken at the end of the Texas Lakes trail on day 1.
Found some of my GPS track screen shots.
C
Got me Jonesing to get back up there... We are slated for South Fork -Creede area in July tho
CID
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I was in Creede in October last year, this is my track log. It only took 3 days to ride it out and I rode the Most Scenic loop both directions. That short purple spur in the top center/left (by the black waypoint) gets up to 12,8xx elevation, worth the ride. Be aware of altitude sickness, it's real; watch for headaches. If someone starts getting a headache, get below 10k elevation ASAP. There are things you can do to temper or eliminate it beforehand. The black waypoints are all closed trails. I use GAIA GPS, it's free and works on Windows, Apple and Android; I use all three. Download that and you can overlay where I rode. I don't think I missed any trails while I was there.
I was in Creede in October last year, this is my track log. It only took 3 days to ride it out and I rode the Most Scenic loop both directions. That short purple spur in the top center/left (by the black waypoint) gets up to 12,8xx elevation, worth the ride. Be aware of altitude sickness, it's real; watch for headaches. If someone starts getting a headache, get below 10k elevation ASAP. There are things you can do to temper or eliminate it beforehand. The black waypoints are all closed trails. I use GAIA GPS, it's free and works on Windows, Apple and Android; I use all three. Download that and you can overlay where I rode. I don't think I missed any trails while I was there.
C
@CID assume that scenic loop is what is referred to as the bachelor loop? Thanks for sharing. Have you done any riding down around south fork?
CID
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No, I believe the bachelor loop is shorter, closer to the light orange track. I haven't ridden around South Fork.
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