Originally Posted by aypanthony

Hello,

I read up on the other "Colorado" thread, and wanted to make another one, based on where my family will be. I am heading out to the Estes Park area of CO with my family. After much research(on Traildamage), I created a list of possible trails. We wont have time to do them all, so I need some help choosing the best. For me it is hard to understand what "Difficult level" I should be looking at based on my Jeep(3-4? 4-5? lower? higher?). There is a good chance I will have to wheel alone with my family, since coordinating with others may be difficult. I don't want to do anything hardcore, since this is a road trip(towing a trailer) and don't want to break anything major, but we also want the best Jeep experience I can get for my family. We are from Minnesota, and I have logging road type offroading experience. Keep in mind, I want to offroad to get to scenic locations and see historical landmarks, not to rock climb for the sake of rock climbing.

My Jeep: JK Unlimited Sport, Manual, 3.73 gears. 33X12.5X15 tires, TF Leveling Kit(spacers), TF QD's, hood mounted lights and sliders.

Recovery gear: Hilift jack, recovery strap, MV50 air compressor, and Currie tire deflator, basic hand tools(not including survival supplies, of course).

Trail list in no particular order: (please comment on difficulty based on my Jeep and recommend me other trails in the general area).

Kingston Peak
Lock Lomond
Oh-My-God Road Pretty much a gravel-dirt road, cars do it
Russell Gulch Same as OMG road
Chinns Lake
Fall River Road Same as OMG road
Johnny Park Road Fun in the beginning. My jeep is similar to yours and I had no problem doing JPR
Pierson Park Road Haven't done it, but I don't believe it's a tough road
Kawuneeche Road
North Supply Creek
Gross Reservoir Same as OMG road
Yankee Hill
Silver Creek

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Originally Posted by aypanthony

Hello,

I read up on the other "Colorado" thread, and wanted to make another one, based on where my family will be. I am heading out to the Estes Park area of CO with my family. After much research(on Traildamage), I created a list of possible trails. We wont have time to do them all, so I need some help choosing the best. For me it is hard to understand what "Difficult level" I should be looking at based on my Jeep(3-4? 4-5? lower? higher?). There is a good chance I will have to wheel alone with my family, since coordinating with others may be difficult. I don't want to do anything hardcore, since this is a road trip(towing a trailer) and don't want to break anything major, but we also want the best Jeep experience I can get for my family. We are from Minnesota, and I have logging road type offroading experience. Keep in mind, I want to offroad to get to scenic locations and see historical landmarks, not to rock climb for the sake of rock climbing.

My Jeep: JK Unlimited Sport, Manual, 3.73 gears. 33X12.5X15 tires, TF Leveling Kit(spacers), TF QD's, hood mounted lights and sliders.

Recovery gear: Hilift jack, recovery strap, MV50 air compressor, and Currie tire deflator, basic hand tools(not including survival supplies, of course).

Trail list in no particular order: (please comment on difficulty based on my Jeep and recommend me other trails in the general area).

Kingston Peak
Lock Lomond
Oh-My-God Road Waste of time, unless your just taking a short cut from the casino's to I-70, I did it in a RX-7 once
Russell Gulch
Chinns Lake
Fall River Road Nice easy drive, you will have to pay for the National Park entrance fee.
Johnny Park Road Boring
Pierson Park Road
Kawuneeche Road
North Supply Creek Lots of beetle kill.
Gross Reservoir
Yankee Hill Very Rocky and lots of atv's
Silver Creek

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Originally Posted by RoysRig

Not many good trails near Estes, I've looked and looked, never really found anything memorable.

If you can do a little bit of a drive, Head towards Georgetown. Many good trails up there that can be done alone. (lots of other people up there already). Look for Argentine Pass, McClellan, Geneva Creek, webster pass. All some of my favorites. Lot's of old mines/ghost towns up in those areas. None of these are going to get you into any trouble.

When are you coming out here? I'm always up for a trip up to McClellan and even though it's rated a 5, I've been doing it stock and see all kinds of stock 4x4's up there all the time.

BTW.... my sig pic is from the top of McClellan, overlooking Grays and Torreys peaks.

Originally Posted by nthinuf

It's been 10 years or so since I was on them, but I enjoyed the loop in through Middle St Vrain and out through Coney Flats. They aren't too far south of Estes Park, have some decent scenery, and there is a nice water crossing toward the end of coney.

As noted, Oh-my-god road is just a dirt road, but it may be worth the trip for the scenery and to watch the families expressions while they are next to the edge looking waaayyy down the hill. And then you can take them to beau jo's in Idaho Springs.

Originally Posted by aypanthony

Hmmm, Beau Jo's ehhh? Is this a place where I need a lot of one dollar bills?

Originally Posted by PsychoCupcake

It's a pizza place! Like 25 lb pizzas. Haha. God I miss that place