My wife and I along with my brother/sister in-law have gotten into trail riding buggies. We are wanting to plan a trip next summer some where cooler than here. Does anyone have any experience with the Alpine Loop in CO? Is it worth the trip? We are looking for a 2-3 day ride, if possible. I am fat and old and I would prefer not to camp and sleep in a tent, if I can keep from it. Any recommendations on the best places to stay for 4-6 people? A drive in/drive out scenario would be perfect if it exists. TIA for any first hand info.

We are also open to other locations, I just want it to be cool!!

If you are on facebook look up Bill Bowling. He lives up there in Lake City & is an author of several books with a few about the old mines up there. Also rents cabins. Mines of the Alpine Loop is his book & a facebook group he has

All over Denver news this morning, a Texas driver tried to go up Black Bear Pass when it wasn't open yet, he had to get towed down the mountain.
Make sure you're route is open for travel and you have the right vehicle.

Might look into if there are any FS cabins in the area, they rent for pretty cheap an while usually bare bones they keep you warm and dry and have beds.

We stayed in Silverton. There’s a big Jeep thing in July, you may have to plan around that.

Done, thank you.



I saw that, I think. Red Toyota? No plans to act crazy on my part.

Thanks for the heads up! Do you know if you can drive your buggy (SXS) to the trail head or do you have to trailer from where you're staying?

Silverton is not OHV friendly. Lake City is OHV friendly. I believe you may need to buy a OHV permit though (check link below). We had a Jeep rented so a permit was not needed.

https://cpw.state.co.us/aboutus/Pages/OHV-Progam.aspx

I would base out of Lake City if you want to do the Alpine Loop. We did it just a few months ago. It was fun. On arrival to Lake City, before you head off on the trails, be sure to check in with the visitors center for the most recent info. They have free maps and guides. They are super friendly.

There's also other places you can go after the Alpine Loop if you base out of Lake City.

This is really important and helpful.
1. Download free app COTREX. From inside the app download the maps for your region to use offline. Do it over WIFI.
2. Download the offline maps for Google Maps within the app for the greater area. Do it over WIFI.

Crede is a pretty cool town to also visit. Do the Bachelor Loop and also Last Chance Mine tour. One the way be sure to see the North Clear Creek Falls Overlook.

Poker Alice Pizza in Lake City sadly has been closed for a couple of years.

When we were there about 10 years ago you could drive sxs anywhere in town. I believe it has changed. We rented a jeep for our Pass trip.

Silverton had a sheriff that was a POS, and caused friction. He is no longer there, but staying in Lake City would be best IMO.

https://silvertoncolorado.com/ohvrules

Many OHVers have given Silverton the finger.

Lake City has been happy to welcome them and their $s.

My daughter and her family go to Lake City, Co. every summer. They got back last week and they always enjoy the Alpine Loop. She said last week there were fewer tourists, maybe because of the early start of school. She said they had a great time. They saw bears, elk, deer, and moose. She has 2 youngsters and they also enjoy the area and it was definitely cooler than Texas.

Sounds like Lake City is the place. Thanks everyone!

Pass on Silverton. They don’t even want you close to the town. There is more often than not, a park ranger or sheriff that sits at the trail head. The entire state is becoming Commiefornia when it comes to OHV’s and even licensed vehicles on the trails. DO NOT ride on any paved road. The authorities and their grace period have expired and now they just cite you and tow your SXS. A lot of the trail heads aren’t big enough to park multiple trucks with trailers and you can’t park on the side of any road, pave for dirt.

As far as the Alpine Loop, it’s beautiful. Nothing is hard in a SxS, not even Black Bear, but you can’t really do BB in a SxS since it is one way and you would have to trailer back at the end.

Look for cabin on the trails in Lake City, there aren’t many and they book up way in advance.

If y’all ever want to hit some Oklahoma trails or Arkansas trails let me know, I’m always down to ride.

Great, certainly will! We were at Cross bar ranch this past weekend. We've never been and made the mistake of taking the onion patch trail right off the bat. The girls were done after about 30 minutes with no way to turn around. After that it was just hot. I definitely want to go back, I think there were some good trails we didn't even get to. We also went to Wolf Pen Gap in the spring. We will do that again.

Go past WPG up to Mulberry Mountain. Less crowded and much nicer.

So, we have decided to stay in Lake City based on suggestions here. Based out of Lake City, how many days of trails can we cover without duplicating and without having to trailer to a different location? We are thinking of leaving on arriving on a Sunday afternoon/evening and staying 3-5 days and heading home. For simplicity sake, wed like to stay in one location all week, if this makes sense.

I believe that's a good idea to stay in Lake City for what you want. There's plenty of riding. I'd also be sure to head to Crede one day for the Bachelor Loop. It can be done in a truck but would be fun on a 4x4. Be sure to stop and check out the old mines. Make time for the Last Chance Mine tour and also visit Crede.

From what I remember, you’re going to see the same couple of trails everyday in order to get to the loop and other trails. Your other option is to trailer to other trail heads but that eats up time and isn’t really close.

I love LC, but for trail access points I prefer to stay in Ouray.

Realistically you can do the Loop in a day pretty easily, about 50 miles. That of course doesn’t include the numerous off shoot trails which is where the real beauty of that area is.

Hopefully this map will help.

Tons to do for a week if you make Lake City your base. You can also venture north up to Pitkin and Tin Cup and do Cumberland Pass. You can go up to Crested Butte. And there is public access on the Lake Fork of the Gunnison if you fly fish, just don't trespass onto the private sections.

Highly recommend this. I prefer the Pitkin area over any other place in Colorado.

I have a very capable SxS, but there was 1 trail headed from Pitkin back to Tincup that I would not do in a lesser rig or inexperienced driver. I think it was Calico. If you’re coming from the Tincup direction it actually shows to be closed, but from the Pitkin side at the top, there was no signs. There was multiple times of hanging a tire 3-4 feet in the air with a 200+ foot drop a few feet away. That wasn’t the worst part though. We hit a few miles of boulders that has washed down, from basketball to half a Volkswagen in size and they were loose. There were a few times of just riding the skid plate on rolling boulders for a couple hundred feet down a steep section of the trail.

Perfect, thanks! We cant wait!

What dates are you going?

We really like this area. We get cabins at Three Rivers Resort in Almont. Fishing is fantastic all around that area with a handful of great small lakes and of course the river. Great rides everywhere, favorite is from Mirror Lake all the way to St. Elmo ghost town and back. Fish at the lake first light, then take the long ride and back. Take lunch every day. Another great ride is to Texas Lake. Good ride then good fishing for a few hours then head back.

We just got back from there a couple of weeks ago, ended up at 161 miles of trails on the odometer. I recommend this area. Weather was outstanding, it was nice to be wearing a hoodie.

Looks like week of July 8th, 2024