labor day in the San Juan Mountains
In September (of 2023) Anna and I were able to take a long weekend trip to the San Juan Mountains. Neither of us had been before and they definitely did not disappoint.
On the map below: day 1= Pink, day 2 = red, day 3 = blue, day 4 = lime green. Each red pin is a campsite that we stayed at. In total its about 120 miles of dirt tracks over the 4 days.
We started in Creede and entered via Stony Pass, a fairly easy overland trail with a few rutted out and rocky spots. We went about 30 miles in until we took a turn off for another trail going up to a lake where we planned to camp. Another 3 miles after turning off, a sidewall met its fate against what I am guessing was a very sharp rock and we had to stop for a flat. We got it changed out and continued on our way. We made it the last couple miles up to came, but I was definitely going to be taking it easy for the rest of the trip now that I didn’t have a spare. This first night we had a beautiful camp site by a lake above 12,000 ft with no one else around.
The second day we headed out over the pass and into Silverton and then Ouray via the Million Dollar Highway. After getting some lunch in Ouray we headed out into the Yankee Boy Basin/Camp Bird area to look for a camp site for the night.
This area was extremely popular and with all the trails being pretty easy it was hard to find a site. We lucked out though and found a stellar spot along an off chute with a decently steep climb that I think probably scared most people away. Our second camp site above 12,000 ft and no one around again.
The next morning we headed part way out of the trail before turning off to head up Imogene Pass. I’m not sure what I was expecting of Imogene but it was a fantastic track. Difficulty-wise it was all very tame with a few tight switchbacks that made passing interesting and some optional lines that made the drive up more fun. The views definitely did not disappoint and the novelty of being able to drive above 13,000 ft on an off road trail is pretty cool.
We headed down Imogene and into Telluride where we took the gondola to get some lunch. The Telluride Film Festival was going on that weekend so the town was very crowded. We left and drove over to Ophir Pass. Up and over we went, a little disappointed by it. Driving Imogene hours before might have biased us a bit, I’m pretty convinced a stock Subaru could do Ophir pass though. We drove back up the Million Dollar Highway a bit until we got to Mineral Creek trail.
At the time Mineral Creek was rated a 3 or 4, I think, on the Trails Offroad app, but it has since been upgraded to a 5 difficulty which I think is more accurate. This was the most fun trail that we did by far. Some fun obstacles and some pretty hard optional lines as well. Once we were at the end of Mineral Creek we connected onto Engineer Pass where we were planning to find a campsite for the last night.
Enginineer Pass was also pretty tame but with some of the best view of the trip I would say. Once over the pass and further into the east side of the trail there were a lot more people as this trail was mostly a dirt road into Lake City. Tons of good campsites along the trail so we found one far enough away from people. We were at about 11,000 ft that night.
The last day we woke up to another flat on the front passenger tire. Well, maybe not a flat but the tire had lost almost all of its pressure overnight. Filled it back up with the Morrflate and couldn’t hear a leak so figured it was slow enough to make it home. Sure enough it was, but by the next morning it was completely flat in the driveway.
Overall a fantastic trip. We did a tiny fraction of the trails and I can’t wait to go back.
Creede, CO
somewhere along Stony Pass
Stony Pass runs along the Rio Grande River for a ways
headed into this valley to find a campsite
TPMS confirming the sad truth
not a bad place for a flat
don't think a patch could have fixed it
first night camp
facing the other way in camp
not taking any more chances of another flat
an afternoon shower about to come through Ouray
shelf road heading into Yankee Boy Basin area
second night camp
had another short rain shower roll through
not sure how we were the only ones up here
the messy kitchen setup
yep, she's lookin good
obligatory
the money shot
top of Imogene looking West
the trail coming up from the Ouray side
looking west again
the iconic tunnel
Black Bear Pass was sadly closed
Telluride gondola
going up Engineer Pass
going down Engineer Pass
suspension bridge cabin
the valley where we camped the third night
night three camp
the first and only time we used the hammocks
a nice sunset to end the trip
an old dam on the way out to Lake City
the gorge from the same spot looking the other way