Four-Wheeling Through Colorado’s High Country

Descending on the Four-Wheeling Capital of the World

What’s better than adventuring your way through hundreds, or better yet, thousands of miles of rough terrain in a dialed-in rig? Doing it with a group of good friends on incredible trails while discovering the most beautiful places imaginable. If that sounds good to you—and it should—meet a group that does it at least a few of times a year.

Embarking on new off-road journeys any chance they get, a group of friends that go by the moniker of twentyfour adventure oftentimes explores new terrain on courses that take them days or sometimes even weeks, when time provides, to complete.

Usually their journeys take them across multiple states, always in search of adventure, new challenges, unbelievable experiences and always making good memories. We caught up with the members of twentyfour adventure as they came back from their most recent trip. Join us as they recount the trip for us.

Colorado. Home of stunning vistas, vibrant forests, towering mountain peaks, and historic mining towns. You’d be hard-pressed to find a more picturesque backdrop as you put your vehicles to the test on some of the country’s best four-wheeling trails and mountain passes.

“TWENTYFOUR ADVENTURE OFTENTIMES EXPLORES NEW TERRAIN ON COURSES THAT TAKE THEM DAYS OR SOMETIMES EVEN WEEKS TO COMPLETE.”

Colorful Colorado

Our journey across the state began at the Wyoming/Colorado border, where we set up camp in the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest. It was there that we shortly found the spectacular landscapes for which “Colorful Colorado” is so appropriately named. We settled down just after sunset along the Red Dirt Reservoir, too tired to notice that we had camped alongside some particularly inquisitive guests. Some free-range cattle had decided that our campsite was also an ideal grazing ground, and created land mines of fertilizer for us to navigate around throughout the night.

We broke camp early the following morning, and set out shortly after sunrise. Our schedule was tight, and we needed to hit over 200 trail miles to our next camp in the San Isabelle National Forest, which would take us the better part of the day. Our route took us right alongside the Colorado River for several hours, before finally leading us through Hagerman Pass just outside of Leadville, Colorado.

Continental Divide

Hagerman Pass is a rocky, moderate trail that passes through several scenic overlooks, reaching just under 12,000ft elevation before crossing the Continental Divide. Remembering what our history classes taught us (and maybe some help from Google), this line separated the continental water drainages between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Any water drainage west of the divide flows into the Pacific Ocean, whereas water east of the divide flows into the Atlantic; a sound piece of information in case you find yourself needing a topic starter around the campfire. After descending Hagerman Pass, we found a campsite nestled deep within the San Isabelle National Forest, and settled in to our million-star hotel beneath the Milky Way.

Alpine Loop

Lake City was our next destination, and another full day of trail driving was ahead of us. We arrived about mid-day, immediately noticing that there were a lot more off-road vehicles than we had seen all trip. As one of the three cities nestled deep in the “Alpine Loop” of the San Juan Mountains, Lake City sees its fair share of off-road recreation, which garners much of its tourism income. We stopped for a quick gas and lunch break in Lake City, and headed out towards Cinnamon Pass.

Cinnamon Pass, by itself, is a fairly easy trail to navigate, and we reached its 12,640ft peak encountering plenty of other rental Jeeps and off-road rigs along the way. We opted not to continue on the Alpine Loop through Engineer Pass, deciding to take the more difficult way through Poughkeepsie Gulch. It was here that we suffered our first failure of the trip, a wellplaced rock sliced through the sidewalls of our Tacoma. As further luck would have it, as soon as we’d reached the final difficult obstacle, aptly named “The Wall”, the weather began to turn, and with it brought high winds and rain.

The obstacle, challenging enough when dry, was near impossible to scale while wet with our heavily laden vehicles. With the rain quickly turning the moderate trail into a dangerously slippery one, and the daylight quickly fading, we opted to continue down the mountain through Mineral Creek and find camp. We settled into camp in the San Juan National Forest a few minutes before midnight, with our morale low from the challenging day.

“WITH THE RAIN QUICKLY TURNING THE MODERATE TRAIL INTO A DANGEROUSLY SLIPPERY ONE AND THE DAYLIGHT QUICKLY FADING, WE OPTED TO CONTINUE DOWN THE MOUNTAIN.”

Mounting Challenges

A good night’s sleep was just what was needed to refresh our mental states and help fuel our moods for our next trail. As one of the more difficult trails in the San Juan Mountains, Black Bear Pass is particularly well known for its steep descent along a narrow mountain shelf, and its numerous off camber switchbacks—frequently claiming vehicles of those who are inattentive or make just one wrong move.

Rounding the bend of the first switchback, we crossed Bridal Veil Falls, which fell directly across the trail and into the striking valley below. After 10 miles and another series of tight switchbacks, we finally reached the bottom of Black Bear Pass, the historic city of Ouray, Colorado, nestled between three towering mountain peaks, one of which we had just descended from.

After a quick lunch stop, we again hit the trail, ascending the other mountain pass that surrounds Ouray. At 13,114 ft, Imogene Pass is the highest mountain pass in the San Juan Mountains and the second highest in all of Colorado. Despite also being a narrow shelf road, we found it to be relatively easy, compared with the white-knuckle experience we had encountered only hours before on Black Bear Pass.

Low Oxygen, High Morale

We reached the peak and snapped a few photos, the effects of high altitude apparent with our low amount of energy. We descended into our final mountain town, the city of Telluride, aptly known as the “Four-Wheeling Capital of the World”. We spent our final day nestled between the base of Imogene and Telluride, before making the final trek back home.

For images from their latest adventures, follow twentyfourseven adventure on Instagram: @TFS.ADV

THE SWITZERLAND OF AMERICA

Any respectable off-road enthusiast would be remiss if they passed up on a chance to visit Ouray, Colorado, especially if you’re already driving through the area. Known as “The Switzerland of America” for its scenic views and architectural charm, the town of approximately 1,000 people is home to what vehicle-bound adventurers like to call “The Jeeping Capital of the World” due to its wide and numerous variety of vehicle-friendly (and sometimes unfriendly in a good way) trails.

Located in southwestern Colorado, Ouray is a prime basecamp for not only off-road explorations, but any number of activities such as hiking, biking, or camping. Visit ancient Native American ruins or even ride on a historic steam train, Ouray has plenty of attractions to pique your interest. If you need a break from the road, Ouray is also home to many charming bed & breakfasts and unique hotels, as well.

For more on Ouray, Colorado, visit these online resources: ci.ouray.co.us

ouraycolorado.com