Please give me feedback on this Colorado Itinerary

[nitrag]

I would like some feedback on this Google Map I created for Colorado offroad trip.

I am planning this trip for August 2015. I am going with a group of approx. 10 drivers. All have lockers, 3" lift, tires, skids, sliders, etc. Not worried about outfitting.
Greens are mostly connecting trails, Yellow is 3-6 difficulty and Red is a 5+ difficulty/want to do trail. I got my ratings and info from TrailDamage.com

I've highlighted a possible travel route from Denver to Telluride.

Does this make sense? Northeast to Southwest?

Which of these areas are not worth the detour? We have 8 or so trail days. But the even bigger question, how long do these trails take? How many trail/offroad miles should we plan for one day? Or how many miles per day on Green/Yellow/Red trails? I know Colorado is HUGE, trying to put into perspective. The pace would be quite leisurely. Leisure much more important than covering all the trails.

Are camping off to the side of most of these trails OK? In a meadow or something? If not, we can find some legit campsites, just would be cool if we could stay en route and not have to travel out of our way to a public campsite.

I have included more trails than we intend to do. But if you follow the path of the "Estimated Route" and inferred that we want to do Yellow/Red's mainly and staying on Greens just to connect to other trails...is this too much to do in 8-10 days??

Does anyone know if the "TAT 31 Hard3" section is do-able in our vehicles?

PS - Please feel free to use the KML file with all the tracks/waypoints, it took me a few days to scrounge and put this together.

Google Map:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zAXyjc-yXFOw.k6g8Ps-FhStw

Thanks! :rockon:

 

[Bijan]

Hey bro, I would love to join you

The route makes sense but I personally don't think it's ALL doable in 8 days.

ALL passes / trails are worth it going to. It's going to be up to you which you pick. 1 trail can last up to 10 hours if someone gets stuck. Most trails to my knowledge are around 1-3 hours. Of course you know you can't go too fast on the trails...

You're allowed to camp off any FSR (forest service road). They're all pack it in - pack it out sites. Don't leave a trace. If you see circle rock fire pits, you're most likely in a good spot. BRING WARM CLOTHES - EVEN IN THE SUMMER!

You're NOT allowed to go off trails. It's unlikely but possible to get fined $500 for disrupting the tundra in certain areas.

Personally....I would head STRAIGHT to Telluride...then come back east toward Slaughterhouse Gulch, Stillwater Pass, and Switzerland Trail.

I havent heard of "tat 31 hard3"

I highly recommend someone in your crew having a 1500lb winch.

Minimum you'll pay for a tow is $400.
If rangers / police catch people towing or pulling people out - there's a possible $1000 fine and jail sentence. (stupid right?)

 

[nitrag]

[MENTION=120787]Bijan[/MENTION], thanks for the quick summary. If timing works out we will let you know when/where.

1/2 the group will have a winch. Curious why you say 15,000lbs versus 10,000. Or was that a typo? Is there a particular situation where you needed 15k?

Starting to realize the lows are probably going to be in the 40s. Layers. Got it.

TAT is short for Trans American Trail. It's random backcountry roads going cross country. Google it. Hard 3 is an interesting section. I searched the web pretty good and still not sure if it is large enough for 4x4. Still need to research more but probably won't have time for it. I'm definitely realizing we will have 9 days for trail riding MAX (more likely 6-7) and then 4 days for round trip to Atlanta. So yea..we might start telluride and work our way northeast. Closer to Denver near breckenrdge where we were going to start seems like a lot of the same trails.

Keep ideas coming folks.

 

[nitrag]

I'm having a hard time determining if the America the Beautiful USGS Annual pass $80 would be worth it for me.

We are planning, Black Bear, Imogene, California Gulch, Alpine Pass, up to Salida/Leadville area.

From my understanding most of this is US National Forest and not a park. I called and the pass doesn't cover campgrounds.

Do we need it? Is it worth it? I wish it covered camping...

 

[Bijan]

I'm having a hard time determining if the America the Beautiful USGS Annual pass $80 would be worth it for me.

We are planning, Black Bear, Imogene, California Gulch, Alpine Pass, up to Salida/Leadville area.

From my understanding most of this is US National Forest and not a park. I called and the pass doesn't cover campgrounds.

Do we need it? Is it worth it? I wish it covered camping...

'are you on FB? join group TRD: toyotas rockin denver