Please help me plan a CO & Moab trip

[Rob Dirt]

So far in late July, I plan to ride from Trinidad,CO to Salida,CO through Telluride & on to Moab,UT. I want to ride as many awesome mountain passes as I can in that area of CO. Anything in the area that's a must ride/see?
Then on to ride the White Rim (clockwise).
Any & all advice is welcome (places to eat, sleep, ride, hike, ect...)
Thanks, Rob.

[enduro-ince]

Hey Rob, The bummer about Colorado mts and Moab is that its really hard to do both. Trying to stay positive here but you got to know the heat in Moab in July is insane, hovering around 100 degrees everyday. I'd be hesitant to ride the WR trail then. Its remote with very little shade and probably very few people in July. If ya have a partner that helps. Not trying to be your mom here, just saying.

The good news is there is a ton of great riding in the San Juan mts.
If you can push your dates back to the begginning of August, most everything will be open by then.

If your interested in some really nice mountain type singletrack I can line ya out on the good stuff.

You are riding a 400cc bike correct??

[Rob Dirt]

Originally Posted by enduro-ince

Hey Rob, The bummer about Colorado mts and Moab is that its really hard to do both. Trying to stay positive here but you got to know the heat in Moab in July is insane, hovering around 100 degrees everyday. I'd be hesitant to ride the WR trail then. Its remote with very little shade and probably very few people in July. If ya have a partner that helps. Not trying to be your mom here, just saying.

The good news is there is a ton of great riding in the San Juan mts.
If you can push your dates back to the begginning of August, most everything will be open by then.

If your interested in some really nice mountain type singletrack I can line ya out on the good stuff.

You are riding a 400cc bike correct??

Yes on all of the above. My bro-in-law is supposed to go with me on his KTM520. Does my bike need a tag? I know that Moab is going to be HOT, but I live where it's always 90%+ humidity & it gets close to 100 deg.F at times.
I need great advice like this because I don't know any better. I'm trying to cram to much into one trip because my poor ass will probably never get another chance.
If you can help me find some "really nice mountain type singletrack" that would be greatly appreciated.

[enduro-ince]

How much time will you have?
You'll need to be plated with insurance to be legal on any highway here.
If you do decide to go to Moab I can help with an almost all dirt route from Telluride to Moab. Just remember its a dry heat and you need to drink a shit ton of water just to survive. Scary huh?

It'll make for a hell of a ride report when you have pics of singletrack at 12000 feet and pics of the moab desert all in one trip.

[FatChance]

Tom covered most of it very well. You do need a plated bike to even do the White Rim Trail because it goes through the Canyonlands National Park. Mid-summer desert heat way out in the Utah desert and far from help is totally different than Alabama heat. People don't die in Alabama if they break down. People DO die if they break down or have an accident in the Utah desert in the summertime. You would be making a bad mistake to think the situations are comparable. SW Colorado high country is the place to be in late July/early August! Keep doing your research, get educated, be safe and you'll still have a great trip!

[Rob Dirt]

I will just ride mountain passes on my tagged KLX400 for 10 days.
Any tips on where to ride? So far all I know about is Black Bear, & I'm not sure about it's exact location. I have a Garmin 60csx & alot of map software. What map is best TOPO, Roads & Rec., City Nav, or something else? Any advice about locations would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to PM me or email me robklx400@yahoo.com

[unaweep]

Let enduro-ince help you. Realistically, if you spent 10 days in the San Juans, you'd still miss out on some fantastic riding in the San Juans.

Ince and I ride in Moab whenever possible- we're both about a two hour drive away, just from different locations. We abandon Moab in late April, early May and come back in mid to late October.

No matter your skill level, everybody has a great ride when ince is leading.

[Lone Rider]

Originally Posted by robklx400

I will just ride mountain passes on my tagged KLX400 for 10 days.
Any tips on where to ride? So far all I know about is Black Bear, & I'm not sure about it's exact location. I have a Garmin 60csx & alot of map software. What map is best TOPO, Roads & Rec., City Nav, or something else? Any advice about locations would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to PM me or email me robklx400@yahoo.com

I've been told that the Benchmark Map books are great. Having used the CO DeLorme, I'll say that the trails and roads aren't as clearly marked on the maps as I wanted. There are some good websites for CO passes, both mtn bike and 4x4; easy to search out - bookmark browser function is your friend.

This may not make sense to you but the way I look at land travel there is: You have waterways, low areas/valleys, and high spots/mountains. How you decide to travel thru and across those different places is what gets interesting. CO has many different high spots/mtn ranges that break up the low areas/valleys - not just one bigass hunk of mountains, they hang out in groups. The pass roads/trails jump you over a high spot and into another low area. 'Low' being relative... Some pass roads/trals are mild and some have real teeth to them.

For me, the high stuff is what's mostest killerest, offering views of landscapes that really makes you appreciate the country - big 'wow' factor. Gaining and dropping altitude extremes as fast as you can in CO means you'll want to have proper clothing/gear if you're multi day riding.

I hope riding rocks doesn't piss you off too much cuz that's what you got. Not being geared-down (ratio) can make you work a lot more than you would like. Rain at high elevations is cold. Being light is more better.

USFS maps are good, but be aware that there are many different Nat'l Forests in CO. I'm going to get a few or more of these the next time I do a trip in CO.

OK, there's too much to see, too many road/trails to run...so it's not a worry that you're going to miss something on your ride, because you can't hit it all.

Ending... Get some maps, do some Googling, ask questions in the Rockies Forum after you start a rough plan. More than 1/2 the people there are pretty nice folks.

You will look at things differently after this trip....

[MWadv]

Go to ColoradoByways.com and check out "The Alpine Loop" it's a must in late July. Two 14k passes. Ouray to Lake City to Silverton back to Ouray,

[byways]

Stick to the San Juans in late July.

In the deserts of Utah then, you risk not just the triple-digit heat but flash floods and washed out roads as well. If you could push it back to, say, the first week or so of Sept. it will be hot but perhaps not as bad. Still can have major flooding from those summer monsoons, however.

[Lone Rider]

Originally Posted by byways

Stick to the San Juans in late July.

In the deserts of Utah then, you risk not just the triple-digit heat but flash floods and washed out roads as well. If you could push it back to, say, the first week or so of Sept. it will be hot but perhaps not as bad. Still can have major flooding from those summer monsoons, however.

Your well-written guide book for CO would also be helpful in his trip planning.

How to link the destinations and also be totaly overwhelmed along the way....oh my....

[fataldata]

Mosquito Pass in Alma, CO I think it lets out around Leadville. Lots of mining ruins. Theres also Weston Pass To come back on from Leadville. In the Summit County area Georgia, Webster and Boreas passes. Basically there is lots of dual sport riding in the Colorado high country.
I ride a KLR650 so all these are ridden as loops utilizing State Highways and county roads which require tags. If your going to be on the western slope look around Fruita and Grand Junction.

[Gehrcke]

You will have a great time. You are planning at trip very similar to what me and a couple friends did with our jeeps last fall. Colorado to Moab in one trip.

Black Bear pass was awsome. Love the views and the history out there. Simply, outstanding.

Be very careful. On our wheeling adventure, we picked up a gentleman in the middle of nowhere that was riding his dual sport in Moab. He was partially dehydrated and was overcome with the heat. There is no way he was riding out of where he was with the condition he was in.

Even in mid-September the temps were 80's to 90's with no humidity. It takes a toll on us that are used to 90 degree temps with 90% humidity.

What I'm trying to say is have a great time. Take lots of pics. Take lots of breaks.

Happy riding.

[FatChance]

Originally Posted by Lone Rider

ask questions in the Rockies Forum after you start a rough plan. More than 1/2 the people there are pretty nice folks.

Nah, most of us are jerks.


One thing to consider is that we're currently at about 160% of normal San Juan snowpack after the big storms in the last couple weeks. Plus, the snowiest months of the year are still to come as spring gets closer. Some of the higher passes in the San Juans might not be passable until later in the summer than normal. Enduro-ence has reported seeing a report that Black Bear might not be open until August!!! It's too early to tell, of course, so keep track of snow conditions as well. It is entirely possible to have the Moab desert be deadly hot and too much snow in the San Juan high country on the same day and only separated by 50-60 miles.

[enduro-ince]

Originally Posted by FatChance

. It is entirely possible to have the Moab desert be deadly hot and too much snow in the San Juan high country on the same day and only separated by 50-60 miles.

sheeeesh, talk about a buzz kill............