MOAB/Colorado July 24 - August 4 (Complete)

[Jackboeker83]

My buddy and I are planning a trip to Moab from the 24th to the 28th then we will head to Colorado until the 4th. We are both in the Army and I am stationed in NY and he is stationed in OH. The overall dates for the trip are locked in but not how long we are at each location... we are pretty fluid in that aspect.

MOAB
We have done some research and are looking at doing about 4 of the main trails in Moab (Fins and Things, Hells Revenge, Metal Masher and Poison Spider) along with other easy site seeing trails like Shafer Trail when we have time to burn. Does anyone have a good location to camp or advice on trails we should look at? I know its going to be hot as hell during that timeframe.

COLORADO
We plan to start in Telluride and hit up most of the passes and trails in that area then head north as we go from trail to trail and head closer to home. We want Colorado to be more of an "overland" (move each night and see cool things) vs hardcore trail (not against it). I have ridden in Colorado but most of it was north in the Denver area so not sure if anyone has any advice they are willing to give.

I am in a 23 JLUR diesel with 1ton and 40s, my buddy is in a 19 JLUR on 38s. We are open for any type of trail and a cool experience. If anyone wants to meet us for a day or more, please feel free as we don't know the area and would love to ride with someone who does.

 

[unicornsandrainbows]

You have a great wheeling list already, so I won't add much to the plate there. I am more in the "tame/overlanding" trail boat. My main addition would be to do the full trifecta with Poison Spider - make it a long point-to-point with Golden Spike and Gold Bar Rim (hopefully this isn't what you already had in mind).

Easy trails if you have time to burn - Gemini Bridges, Long Canyon, and Onion Creek, Fisher Towers.

Fins and Things and Hells Revenge are accessed through Sand Flats Recreation Area. There are about 100 camp spots there, so with those two trails in mind, snagging a camp spot there would save you the day pass. Or, for temperature's sake, there are many campgrounds off Highway 128 (toward Castle Valley) that are along the river and would be cooler.

For bonus points, you could do Rimrocker Trail from Moab to Montrose, CO

Colorado -
The entire Alpine Loop does not disappoint. It starts in Silverton, over Cinnamon Pass to Lake City over Engineer Pass to Ouray. Bonus options - Start just west of Telluride and take Ophir Pass, this will drop you west of Silverton. Then after the Alpine Loop, you can take the Million Dollar Highway to the start of either Imogne or Black Bear Pass - Either of these will drop you in Telluride. There are tons of dispersed camping options along this route. The summer thunderstorms in the San Juans get wild, so avoid camping on the summits.

 

[Jackboeker83]

You have a great wheeling list already, so I won't add much to the plate there. I am more in the "tame/overlanding" trail boat. My main addition would be to do the full trifecta with Poison Spider - make it a long point-to-point with Golden Spike and Gold Bar Rim (hopefully this isn't what you already had in mind).

Easy trails if you have time to burn - Gemini Bridges, Long Canyon, and Onion Creek, Fisher Towers.

Fins and Things and Hells Revenge are accessed through Sand Flats Recreation Area. There are about 100 camp spots there, so with those two trails in mind, snagging a camp spot there would save you the day pass. Or, for temperature's sake, there are many campgrounds off Highway 128 (toward Castle Valley) that are along the river and would be cooler.

For bonus points, you could do Rimrocker Trail from Moab to Montrose, CO

Colorado -
The entire Alpine Loop does not disappoint. It starts in Silverton, over Cinnamon Pass to Lake City over Engineer Pass to Ouray. Bonus options - Start just west of Telluride and take Ophir Pass, this will drop you west of Silverton. Then after the Alpine Loop, you can take the Million Dollar Highway to the start of either Imogne or Black Bear Pass - Either of these will drop you in Telluride. There are tons of dispersed camping options along this route. The summer thunderstorms in the San Juans get wild, so avoid camping on the summits.

A lot of great information. I really appreciate the detailed response and will look into the trails you mentioned. It’s going to be a blast for sure. Just gotta have an outline and go from there.

 

[GP NOIR]

I suggest Top off the World in Moab because the view at the end of the trail is spectacular.

 

[Jackboeker83]

I suggest Top off the World in Moab because the view at the end of the trail is spectacular.

It’s on our list. This is what we have so far. I know its a lot to tackle for each day but this if everything aligns perfect when we get there. If we have to cut some things or move them around then we will. I also have all the trails mapped out online and organized into folders so I can hide everything else and only see what trails we are currently doing on the map. I used the Moab book (can't remember the name) everyone recommends, YouTube and the internet to see what places we should look at. Once again... not set in stone but its a good place to start. I will post a refined itinerary once we get close with an invite to anyone who want to join.

Date

Week Day

Location

Primary Trail

Difficulty

Location

Distance

Est Time

Alternate Trail

Difficulty

Location

Distance

Est Time

Total Time

23-Jul​

Sunday

MOAB

Poision Spider, Golden Spike, Gold Bar Rim and part of Gemini Bridges

Red

Central Moab

20+ miles

All Day

NA

NA

NA

NA

NA

All Day

24-Jul​

Monday

MOAB

Fins and Things

Red

Central Moab

9 miles

3-5 hours

Hells Revenge

Red

Central Moab

7.8 miles

3-5 hours

6-10 hours

25-Jul​

Tuesday

MOAB

Onion Creek Fisher Towers

Green

East Moab

23 miles

2-3 hours

Top of the World

Red

East Moab

19 miles

3-5 hours

5-8 hours

26-Jul​

Wednesday

MOAB

Gemini Bridges, Metal Masher

Red

Central Moab

13 miles

4-6 hours

Wipeout Hill Loop

Blue

NW Moab

5.9 miles

2 hours

6-8 hours

27-Jul​

Thursday

MOAB

Potash Road, Shafer Switchbacks

Green

South Moab

18 miles

2-4 hours

Long Canyon

Green

Central Moab

7.5 miles

1 hour

3-5 hours

28-Jul​

Friday

Telluride

Ophir Pass - Black Bear pass

Blue-Red

Telluride

20 miles

3-4 hour

Imogene Pass

Blue

Telluride

12 miles

3-4 hours

6-8 hours

29-Jul​

Saturday

Telluride

Poughkeepsie Gulch

Blue

Telluride

7 miles

3 hours

Engineer Pass

Blue

Telluride

28 miles

4-6 hours

7-9 hours

30-Jul​

Sunday

Crested Butte

Taylor River - Taylor Pass

Green-Red

Crested Butte

24 miles

4 hours

Pearl Pass

Red

Crested Butte

19 hours

4 hours

7-9 hours

31-Jul​

Monday

Crested Butte

Paradise Divide

Green

Crested Butte

27 miles

2-3 hours

Travel to Camping spot

NA

Denver

2-3 hours

4-6 hours

1-Aug​

Tuesday

Denver

Camping in one spot

2-Aug​

Wednesday

Denver

Camping in one spot

 

[Johnny]

My buddy and I are planning a trip to Moab from the 24th to the 28th then we will head to Colorado until the 4th. We are both in the Army and I am stationed in NY and he is stationed in OH. The overall dates for the trip are locked in but not how long we are at each location... we are pretty fluid in that aspect.

MOAB
We have done some research and are looking at doing about 4 of the main trails in Moab (Fins and Things, Hells Revenge, Metal Masher and Poison Spider) along with other easy site seeing trails like Shafer Trail when we have time to burn. Does anyone have a good location to camp or advice on trails we should look at? I know its going to be hot as hell during that timeframe.

COLORADO
We plan to start in Telluride and hit up most of the passes and trails in that area then head north as we go from trail to trail and head closer to home. We want Colorado to be more of an "overland" (move each night and see cool things) vs hardcore trail (not against it). I have ridden in Colorado but most of it was north in the Denver area so not sure if anyone has any advice they are willing to give.

I am in a 23 JLUR diesel with 1ton and 40s, my buddy is in a 19 JLUR on 38s. We are open for any type of trail and a cool experience. If anyone wants to meet us for a day or more, please feel free as we don't know the area and would love to ride with someone who does.

I am doing the same thing. We are heading out 7/24 to MOAB for 4 days then on to Telluride. Let’s see how things work out, try and get together.

 

[Mile High JK]

28-Jul

Friday

Telluride

Ophir Pass - Black Bear pass

Blue-Red

Telluride

20 miles

3-4 hour

Imogene Pass

Blue

Telluride

12 miles

3-4 hours

6-8 hours

I personally prefer to run Imogene Pass with Black Bear. Ophir Pass isn't much more than a dirt road. Imogene has much better views along with old mining ruins to check out.

 

[Colorado4x4]

Sounds like you have a lot of bases covered! I would definitely run Black Bear with Imogene.
The whole alpine loop is kick ass. You can make a giant loop and day or two with Engineer, Cinnamon, Hurricane, Corkscrew, Poughkeepsie. It’s just awesome over there. Taylor and Pearl Pass are really cool.


Moab is going to be hot as hell like you said. Bring a shit ton of water on the trails, and when you think you have got enough water for the day, pack some more! Man, unless you have ran a lot of trails in Moab, running the tri-fecta on the first day could be a lot, depending on your tolerance for a long day on the trail. The good thing about doing it first is that you are fresh and all amped up. Small groups help with keeping the pace, which you will have. We’ve ran the tri-fecta a couple of times in 8 or 8.5 hours with a small group and we were hauling ass. We’ve also ran it in 12 or more hours a few times with larger groups, less experienced drivers and a few technical problems and several people don’t want to look at a Jeep ever again .

 

[Jackboeker83]

28-Jul

Friday

Telluride

Ophir Pass - Black Bear pass

Blue-Red

Telluride

20 miles

3-4 hour

Imogene Pass

Blue

Telluride

12 miles

3-4 hours

6-8 hours

I personally prefer to run Imogene Pass with Black Bear. Ophir Pass isn't much more than a dirt road. Imogene has much better views along with old mining ruins to check out.

Sounds like you have a lot of bases covered! I would definitely run Black Bear with Imogene.
The whole alpine loop is kick ass. You can make a giant loop and day or two with Engineer, Cinnamon, Hurricane, Corkscrew, Poughkeepsie. It’s just awesome over there. Taylor and Pearl Pass are really cool.


Moab is going to be hot as hell like you said. Bring a shit ton of water on the trails, and when you think you have got enough water for the day, pack some more! Man, unless you have ran a lot of trails in Moab, running the tri-fecta on the first day could be a lot, depending on your tolerance for a long day on the trail. The good thing about doing it first is that you are fresh and all amped up. Small groups help with keeping the pace, which you will have. We’ve ran the tri-fecta a couple of times in 8 or 8.5 hours with a small group and we were hauling ass. We’ve also ran it in 12 or more hours a few times with larger groups, less experienced drivers and a few technical problems and several people don’t want to look at a Jeep ever again .

So I do plan on doing Imogene and Black Bear Pass the same day. I will take Ophir Pass from West to East then jump on Black Bear Pass to Telluride then from Telluride I will take Imogene Pass. All one day. I just didn't have space to write 3 different trails.

As far as running the tri-fecta first... that was our hope. Its the first trail so we should be ready to go. We both have pretty built Jeeps with a few years experience wheeling. This trip is going to be pretty fluid both in MOAB and Colorado. If we don't make it all the way or get tired then we will adjust fire. I know I was pretty ambitious with the planning but I wanted to have options.

 

[jpkjeep]

The poison Spyder, golden spike and gold bar loop is an awesome day. Personally my favorites are Prichett, Cliffhanger and Moab rim.

If you do Prichett be careful on down and dirty. It's totally washed out and the Normal line from years past is almost impossible. There's a new route to the left of it by the winch anchor.

If your looking for any hard trails 21RD and Billings are a good time. There's some sweet challenging stuff in Montrose also.

I'll probably be game for joining on a Black Bear run if that's in your plans.

 

[boardsurfer]

So after Ophir - BB - Imogene, you'll be left in Ouray with a 90 minute drive back to Telluride. Instead, take Imogene to Ouray, BB back to Telluride and call it a day. Then take Ophir across to Poughkeepsie the next day, but you'll still have that 90 minutes back to Telluride.

Your problem is staying in Telluride instead of Ouray. All the trails are on the Ouray side of the pass off highway 550.

 

[Jackboeker83]

So after Ophir - BB - Imogene, you'll be left in Ouray with a 90 minute drive back to Telluride. Instead, take Imogene to Ouray, BB back to Telluride and call it a day. Then take Ophir across to Poughkeepsie the next day, but you'll still have that 90 minutes back to Telluride.

Your problem is staying in Telluride instead of Ouray. All the trails are on the Ouray side of the pass off highway 550.

Great point! By me saying "Telluride", I mean that's the area we will be in. The Colorado part of the trip to include Telluride is an "overlanding" trip where we will just camp wherever we can. I did an absolutely horrible job of explaining this in detail in my original post and I apologize for that. It made sense to me when I posted it but I am now reminded of the elementary task of writing a paper on making a PBJ sandwich.

 

[boardsurfer]

Great point! By me saying "Telluride", I mean that's the area we will be in. The Colorado part of the trip to include Telluride is an "overlanding" trip where we will just camp wherever we can. I did an absolutely horrible job of explaining this in detail in my original post and I apologize for that. It made sense to me when I posted it but I am now reminded of the elementary task of writing a paper on making a PBJ sandwich.

haha! All good brother. The whole area is ridiculously awesome, you really cant go wrong, just tryin to help you streamline a little.

 

[GP NOIR]

You could run Top Off The World, then Onion Creek. Right before you get to Taylor Ranch, the road forks to the left and goes up through a saddle and drops down into a canyon. If you keep following that road, it’ll take you to a camping area with vault toilets and picnic tables. The road requires a high clearance vehicle and I wouldn’t do it without 4 wheel drive. It’sa beautiful area to camp.

 

[Jackboeker83]

Reviving the thread.

I’ll be in Moab on the 21st (a little earlier than stated above) if anyone wants to join. I have 1 buddy who is “supposed” to go with me but he may not go due to health issues. If he can’t go it’s not going to stop me from going. I’ll just wait at the trailhead and see if I can tag along with someone. After Moab I’ll be camping through Colorado if anyone is in the area.
The schedule above is still 95% accurate just move the dates sooner (I’ll get an updated schedule posted tomorro). Also it’s pretty fluid so if you want to join, I’m open to changing plans to hang with good people. (No Jeep Liberty owners “recommended” by their son tho)

 

[Ddays]

Something you may consider packing with you is one of those pop-up canopies. When you're out on those rocks in the middle of Summer & have to work on something, let me tell you - you'll be thrilled to have it. Been there in 115 degree weather & it's no fun working in that shit.

 

[Jackboeker83]

Something you may consider packing with you is one of those pop-up canopies. When you're out on those rocks in the middle of Summer & have to work on something, let me tell you - you'll be thrilled to have it. Been there in 115 degree weather & it's no fun working in that shit.

I saw a small compact one I was thinking of picking up the other day.

 

[Jackboeker83]

So I finally got back from my trip and the group had a blast.

We first started in Montrose, CO and headed to Moab, UT using the Rim Rocker trail. We ended up doing 220 miles over three days and it was a blast to see the elevation and scenery changes.

While in Moab we did (in no particular order): Gemini Bridges, Metal Masher, Potash Road, Schafer switchbacks, Long Canyon, Poison Spyder, Gold Bar Rim, Gold Bar Spike, Top of the World, Fisher Canyon and Onion Creek.

We had more planned but I had some technical difficulties with my new build (I'll explain later), so we lost a day of wheeling.

We then headed to Telluride, CO and did Ophir Pass, US Basin, Engineer Pass, Black Bear Pass (only got to the top since snow was still blocking the switchbacks), Poughkeepsie Gulch (one of my favorite trails) and Cinnamon Pass. We wanted to do Imogene Pass but they were conducting some repairs on a bridge and it was closed while we were there.

After that we headed up to Crested Butte and did Taylor Pass on our way to the Denver Area to make base camp for our last 3 days.

In the Denver area we found an amazing camp spot where two rivers came together and had a relaxing time there. While in that area we hit T-33 Crash Site, St. Vrain and made our way to Estes Park to check out the hotel where they filmed the Shinning at.

Damage report:
- 1 driver side King hydraulic bump stop missing (the shop didn't add the set screws but admittedly I didn't notice it was loose, I suspect it fell off on the Rim Rocker trail since that was a long chattery trail). I tightened the passenger side after we noticed but had a hell of a time keeping it tight so we just took that one off as well.
- bushings on the axle from the control arms are toast and make a horrible sound while flexing (I assume the shop over tightened them because the build only has about 2k miles on it)
- hydraulic steering ram lines made contact with my steering pump cooler and pulled the lines out of the adapter (happened in the middle of Metal Masher and I had to take the fuse out of my power steering pump and man handle it off the trail). Truth be told I had a ton of clearance issues with the PSC steering cooler and my hydraulic lines. The cooler got beat to shit and I ended up taking the ram assist off and capping the steering box and doing the rest of the trip without the ram. I am going to try and relocate the cooler being my grill instead of underneath my engine, I was making contact with all kinds of things.
- a few scrapes on my rock sliders and beadlocks but I surprisingly got away with very minimal damage.

Other than all that the Jeep performed really well and I had a blast. I unfortunately didn't get that many great pictures, most of my stuff is on the go pro or drone witch I haven't had a chance to access yet. At some point I will make a video and try to post it to YouTube at some point.

 

[RESURECTIONJK]

Looks like a great trip! Thanks for sharing.

 

[doubletapdaddy]

- hydraulic steering ram lines made contact with my steering pump cooler and pulled the lines out of the adapter (happened in the middle of Metal Masher and I had to take the fuse out of my power steering pump and man handle it off the trail). Truth be told I had a ton of clearance issues with the PSC steering cooler and my hydraulic lines. The cooler got beat to shit and I ended up taking the ram assist off and capping the steering box and doing the rest of the trip without the ram. I am going to try and relocate the cooler being my grill instead of underneath my engine, I was making contact with all kinds of things.

The 2.0, and the 3.6 both have the cooler mounted in front of the frame crossmember/under the radiator. Yours is mounted under the frame crossmember, which will definitely result in your lines being chewed up. Does the 3.0 not allow recommended placement? I've included PSC instructions as well as a picture of my set up so that you can get an idea of where it should go.