So um....me and some buddies are headed up to Ouray during the summer months.

Just curious for people who go up there regularly, whats the best time of the year to go? Good trails to hit for amateurs? anything else I should know of or be aware of?

Thanks fellas!

-Bill

 

hey bill. i was 99% done with a nice long reply to you, and my dang browser crashed... so, i'm back and will hit the highlights and if you want more details, PM or e-mail me. i can recommend a pile of roads for you. engineer pass is the "graddaddy" of passes, according to some. it's certainly a challenge. you can do it with your 31s, (i did) but i bottomed out a few times due to a couple unwise moves. be really careful on the lower extent of the west side -- dropoffs, one-lane road, nowhere to back up on a curve, etc. nasty. ophir pass is similar to engineer but not as severe, however you can get your heart pumping pretty good on the scree field when you can see a wrecked vehicle down there for a good portion of that traverse. there are tons of great driving experiences to be found all over the mountains -- you can certainly find your share near ouray, but other areas beg for some company. visit my site (url below) and look in the "photo articles and references" menu (then sub-menu "colorado lists") for a mostly complete list of colorado passes, with lat/lon -- that way you can locate those near your route. timeframe? any time past approximately july 4 is great -- some passes open before then, some after. you can be snowed on any time, anywhere in the mountains, especially at or above treeline -- i was heavily snowed on, one july 10 a couple years ago. fall is of course gorgeous -- late sept or first week of october for the ouray area. again sorry i don't have the energy to keep on typing out another book for you. just send me a note if my site whets your appetite. -- leif