Where to ride near Delta Colorado?

[Jon M]

This summer, the family vacation will be in/around Delta Colorado. I am looking for trail recommendations near Delta and on the Grand Mesa. I am limited on transportation to/from the trailhead due to the tow vehicle being a motorhome (breaking family camp just to move the utv is a pain). Therefore I am looking for trails and trailheads that are located near a campsite or... trails where it is legal to drive on the road to get to the trailhead.

So...
What trails have you ridden around Delta? Grand Mesa?
What campgrounds and campsites would you recommend on the Grand Mesa?
What are the state and local laws regarding driving utv's on the street?

Any recommendations and/or advice is appreciated.

 

[Rayger143]

This summer, the family vacation will be in/around Delta Colorado. I am looking for trail recommendations near Delta and on the Grand Mesa. I am limited on transportation to/from the trailhead due to the tow vehicle being a motorhome (breaking family camp just to move the utv is a pain). Therefore I am looking for trails and trailheads that are located near a campsite or... trails where it is legal to drive on the road to get to the trailhead.

So...
What trails have you ridden around Delta? Grand Mesa?
What campgrounds and campsites would you recommend on the Grand Mesa?
What are the state and local laws regarding driving utv's on the street?

Any recommendations and/or advice is appreciated.

@CID ?

 

[Stinky]

There are plenty of trailheads that an rv can reach.

On the north side of town....there are.2.roads that go way the heck up in to the Grand Mesa NF...to 9,000'. They are Pick.up type roads. But, it is in the NF and there are some ponds up there to fish in

To the west, there is the Uncompahgre. It has a trails system on the north end. I am sure that would take you a few weeks to explore them all.

To the south, there are trails around Ouray, Telluride, Silverton and Lake City.

The trails are all pretty much ATV friendly.

Check out the Grand Mesa and Uncompahgre websites.

 

[CID]

@CID ?

Although I live there, Colorado was too rocky for my dirt bike skills. When I got the Talon, it opened up all of Colorado for me but I’ve spent most of my time in the desert or close-in areas west of Denver. I tried to get UP to the Grand Mesa on a HOT summer day and the RV couldn’t handle the heat plus the steep grade, I had to turn around. 😢 I was approaching from the NW near Palisade. Not sure how the approach is from the south/Delta side.

The only Colorado experience I have away from Denver, is Lake City which is very OHV friendly. You have access to the Alpine Loop rides from there (although Silverton has banned OHVs from their streets because of rude hooligans (loud stereos, loud exhausts and late night rowdiness) ). I’m not sure if you can stay on the county roads to the NE of town and make the full loop or not.

We aren’t plate-able in Colorado and I don’t know if reciprocity applies to out of state plates or not but we are legal on the entire Alpine Loop, pavement included.

 

[100Acre]

@SouthParkColorado
@Alan aka Davinci

 

[100Acre]

I’ve driven up and over the G Mesa and there are campgrounds at the top. Never have I ridden anywhere around there though. I had look on Google Earth to find Delta. No Idea around there…

 

[Jon M]

Thank you all for the reply and information. Plans have been made to camp in Uncompahgre National Forest. I have heard there are a lot of atv and utv trails up there with little to no riding restrictions. Will spend a week up there and explore the area. Trail/scenery reports to follow in a few months...

 

[lee]

Uncompahgre NF is on my short list.

Link to the MVUM (official forest service map for where you can drive / ride):

Grand Mesa Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests - Maps & Publications

Grand Mesa Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests - Maps & Publications

www.fs.usda.gov

Thease maps are also available on Avenza maps for free (on the limited free viewer).
But they are geo referenced so you can have a GPS style map (but the map is plane jane).

I also have the National geographic map # 146 & # 147

https://www.natgeomaps.com/ti-147-uncompahgre-plateau-north-uncompahgre-national-forest

In the area look for the hanging flume along the Dolores / San Miguel rivers.
Also you can ride the eastern half of the Rim Rocker Trail.

Home | Rimrocker Trail

rimrockertrail.org

Let us know how it goes.