Aspen/South-Central Colorado off-roading

D

doro89

New member
Hi all.
My first thread on the website.

If all goes according to my plans, I will be staying in Colorado for a bit over 2 months, starting from Jan 27th till end of March. I'll be driving from Philadelphia. The first three weeks I'll be staying near Aspen and the rest will spend in Westcliffe. I'm assuming that most of Colorado will be covered in snow during my stay. But I'm still trying to figure out where can I go for light off-roading, preferably within hour drive of Aspen or Westcliffe. Also, I would be interested in possibly getting a group together for a weekend. I already checked out offroadtrails.com and found a couple of nice looking trails.
Previous I only passed a few times on i70 through Colorado (SLC-Philly and LA-Philly) so did not have a chance exploring. Hoping for it to work out and have an adventurous experience in Colorado.
 
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Your options at that time of year are going to be pretty limited. Most everything above 7-8000 feet will be snowed in, and even if a trail looks snow-free, it will be gated closed by the Forest Service to prevent damage due to wet spots. You'll need to think desert, not mountains. Grand Junction is about 2.5 hours from Aspen, and has some good trails in the area that should be open most of the year. You also might check what's available in the Alamosa area. Or hop over to the east side of the Wet Mountains to the Canon City/Pueblo area and see what the foothills have to offer.
 
RonJR said:
Your options at that time of year are going to be pretty limited. Most everything above 7-8000 feet will be snowed in, and even if a trail looks snow-free, it will be gated closed by the Forest Service to prevent damage due to wet spots. You'll need to think desert, not mountains. Grand Junction is about 2.5 hours from Aspen, and has some good trails in the area that should be open most of the year. You also might check what's available in the Alamosa area. Or hop over to the east side of the Wet Mountains to the Canon City/Pueblo area and see what the foothills have to offer.
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Thanks for the info, I might try Grand Junction. Any specific trails you can recommend?
Also might be able to do a 2-3 day trip to Moab, it's only 3.5 hours away.
In South CO there is sand dunes so might be able to go there as well.
 
The Rattlesnake Canyon access road from the top of Colorado National Monument is good. It can get impassable when wet (slick miry clay), and occasionally gets a dusting of snow, so check weather first. It's closed from Feb 15 to Apr 15 every year, so you'll need to pick your times. It's a fairly easy hike from the end of the 4wd road to the arches in Rattlesnake Canyon. A really neat place.

Bangs Canyon trail off of Little Park Road just east of the monument is fun for the first couple of miles. Some good slick rock and ledges, plus a bit of sand in places. I haven't been further.

Stay out of Billings Canyon (also east of the monument). That's for folks with highly built rock crawlers only, who have a trailer to haul the wreckage home.

There are a number of trails north of I-70 in the Grand Junction area, but I have no direct knowledge of any of them.

Great Sand Dunes:
You can't drive on the Sand Dunes themselves (National Park), but you can drive the Medano Pass primitive road along the east side of the dunes that heads through the sand along Medano Creek, which is great fun. It's closed after the first 5 miles or so in winter, but you'll get a good taste of driving in sand. Check the park website for latest conditions.

Have fun!
 
RonJR said:
The Rattlesnake Canyon access road from the top of Colorado National Monument is good. It can get impassable when wet (slick miry clay), and occasionally gets a dusting of snow, so check weather first. It's closed from Feb 15 to Apr 15 every year, so you'll need to pick your times. It's a fairly easy hike from the end of the 4wd road to the arches in Rattlesnake Canyon. A really neat place.

Bangs Canyon trail off of Little Park Road just east of the monument is fun for the first couple of miles. Some good slick rock and ledges, plus a bit of sand in places. I haven't been further.

Stay out of Billings Canyon (also east of the monument). That's for folks with highly built rock crawlers only, who have a trailer to haul the wreckage home.

There are a number of trails north of I-70 in the Grand Junction area, but I have no direct knowledge of any of them.

Great Sand Dunes:
You can't drive on the Sand Dunes themselves (National Park), but you can drive the Medano Pass primitive road along the east side of the dunes that heads through the sand along Medano Creek, which is great fun. It's closed after the first 5 miles or so in winter, but you'll get a good taste of driving in sand. Check the park website for latest conditions.

Have fun!
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Thanks for the info!
 
Check out the "Stay the Trail Colorado" website. Some good info on there. This is EXTREMELY fragile and over used country, so TREAD LIGHTLY,,,,,,,,PLEASE or our trails will get closed. During the winter, as said around Aspen trails won't be passable. Make a weekend trip toward Moab. Lots to see and explore. Petroglyphs @ Thompson Springs are pretty neat. Dinosaur tracks on Klondike bluffs. Etc. Too much to see and explore in a life time. Near Westcliff, again not much during the winter. You could explore around Texas creek. Take a run down to Jim Bishop's castle, not to be missed. The Great Sand Dunes could be interesting. Or Head out to Picketwire Canyon for a weekend. But yes expect it to be winter.............
 
By the way, this is the west, nothing is less than an hour away. Most excursions will be all day affairs. Shelf Road was mentioned. If its dry, a very nice drive is the loop, Shelf rd , Phantom canyon,Canon city. You can stop and loose a few bucks in Cripple creek while your at it. And probably the best winery in Colorado is in Canon City @ The Abby.
 
hounddogman said:
The Bank is a fun little trail that is open year round . Not exactly worth driving halfway across the country for but if your in the area than it's fun. https://www.trailsoffroad.com/trails/210-the-bank And it's at the bottom of Shelf Road https://www.trailsoffroad.com/trails/456-shelf-road.
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Oldmanb777 said:
Check out the "Stay the Trail Colorado" website. Some good info on there. This is EXTREMELY fragile and over used country, so TREAD LIGHTLY,,,,,,,,PLEASE or our trails will get closed. During the winter, as said around Aspen trails won't be passable. Make a weekend trip toward Moab. Lots to see and explore. Petroglyphs @ Thompson Springs are pretty neat. Dinosaur tracks on Klondike bluffs. Etc. Too much to see and explore in a life time. Near Westcliff, again not much during the winter. You could explore around Texas creek. Take a run down to Jim Bishop's castle, not to be missed. The Great Sand Dunes could be interesting. Or Head out to Picketwire Canyon for a weekend. But yes expect it to be winter.............
Click to expand...

Thank you guys for the helpful info.
 
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