jasonlisan wrote: Yes, Yes & Yes!! Tons of riding and you get up to 13600' in elevation, words cannot express the views you see. My wife's grandparents live in Silverton, we'll be there Fourth of July weekend, there will be 4 SxS's and a ATV in our group. Tons of miles to ride.
Yeah - amazing views in the San Juan Mountains / Alpine Loop. Views like these:
And be sure stop at the Animas Forks ghost town along the way. You can walk right up to (and sometimes into) the old houses.
Most of the trails in that area will still have snow at the end of June / beginning of July, but most trails are normally plowed and open by then. The pictures above are from the last week of June, 2011.
2003 Country Coach Intrigue, Cummins ISL 400
Toad: 2006 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (LJ) toad, with just a few mods...
Other rig: 2005 Chevy Silverado 3500 Duramax Dually / Next Level 38CK Fifth-wheel Toy Hauler w/ quads, sand rail, etc...
Wife & I were on Alpine Loop in August/2011.
It rained and sleeted on Engineer Pass......
Very cold with wind!!.....
It gets real cold If you don't have the right gear.....
Be prepared!!
Pat
We took the Old 500 gold mine tour last summer (east of Silverton) and the kids loved it. We stumbled onto a valley that was stuffed with toyhaulers & other campers with all kinds of atv's, not too far from town. My thing is road bikes but this place looked ideal for atv's.
fly-boy wrote: Beautiful pictures! I think we are gonna really enjoy it!
Thanks - that was our favorite stop last year, and we're going back again this year.
Jay Pat makes a good point about the cold / wet weather. The rain / monsoon season starts in early July in the San Juans, so you should be prepared for wet weather. It's usually just an afternoon shower, but can be really cold.
NOAA NWS wrote: For western Colorado and eastern Utah, the Southwest Monsoon generally begins around the second week of July...
But the monsoon season can shift back or forward by a couple weeks, so you should be prepared. Still, it's definitely worth the trip - even with the afternoon rains.
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