About 8 years ago an employee from the local electrical company came to my house to check something on the furnace and was talking to me about my Jeep he saw in the driveway, the TJ I had at the time. He then went on about a place called Ouray, the 4x4 Capital of the World, and told me many stories about his trip there on the trails. Well, 30 minutes later I knew this would be THE place that I want to visit someday, and that someday has finally come. This August I'm planning a trip to Ouray to do nothing but offroading.

So who has been to Ouray? What are some great trails to take while there? Is there anything else around Ouray, or Denver area, that I MUST see before I come home?

Also, I heard you can rent Jeeps from some areas and take them on the trails, but if you have your own Jeep, is there any charge for using the trails?

 

i live 30 minutes from ouray

Coolest place in colorado if you ask me

 

Just got back from Ouray. You will love it. You don't have to pay to use the trails. A lot of the trails were closed due to record snow levels. More are opening up daily. Engineer Mountain is open. You can go to Animas Forks and then head up engineer mtn and go over to Lake City for lunch and return via Cinnamon Pass back to Animas Forks (an old mining town..lots of old houses) then back to Silverton and then to Ouray. Out of Ouray is Yankee Boy Basin. Beautiful waterfalls where Coors did their commercials. You can take Imogen off of Yankee Boy for a few miles until you hit the snow....it maybe opened when you get there. Ophir Pass is another good trail. It starts between Ouray and Silverton and goes to the town of Ophir and then you can go to Teluride. If Imogen is open you can catch it in Teluride to Ouray. If not you can go around on Last dollar rd to Ridgeway and down to Ouray. Get a map book by Wells.

 

well there is always LAKE CITY, I am heading there to my summer house for the summer. So many fun trails all over the place in the San Jauns.

 

Get yourself the "Guide to Colorado Backroads and 4-wheel drive trails!

Look at the passes, and also look to heading down toward Silverton. Black Bear into Telluride is breath taking! Ophir pass is fun, Engineer pass is beautiful, Imogene pass is nice, Owl Creek, Yankee boy basin, Clear lake, Cinnamon pass, Poughkeepsie Gulch it's incredible the amount of trails you can find. Basically anywhere around there is awesome!

 

I've been there, Lake City to. Cool place, did some camping and summited Mt. Sneffels. We did a couple of the mountain passes in a TJ, but non of the hard-core trails. It was a great trip and I can't wait to do it again.

Here is a pic taken from most of the way up on Sneffels:

 

I've got 2 weeks of vacation starting on Sept first, and I'm driving out to Ouray then Moab. I recommend Charles Wells' guide books, I ordered them off Amazon and have really enjoyed looking over them and they have done nothing but increase my excitement for the trip.

Nice pic above btw.

 

Ouray and the surrounding areas are awesome. You will have a great time.

 

The locals are saying that Black Bear may not open this yr because of the amout of snow.

 

My dad was just near black bear and he said there was alot of snow. I am looking forward to Stoney pass again if the river isnt too high to cross