RV Trip to Telluride and Ouray Colorado

[TCHB]

Went on a little RV trip to the high country of Colorado. RV ran great and pulled the monster mountains nicely pulling the Jeep. Lots of off roading in this area of the country. It is about 625 miles from Havasu. Weather was in the mid 40s at night and 70 during the day.
https://www.ouraycolorado.com/

 

[LazyLavey]

View attachment 799213 View attachment 799214 View attachment 799215 View attachment 799216 Went on a little RV trip to the high country of Colorado. RV ran great and pulled the monster mountains nicely pulling the Jeep. Lots of off roading in this area of the country. It is about 625 miles from Havasu. Weather was in the mid 40s at night and 70 during the day.
https://www.ouraycolorado.com/

Thanks for the link. always appreciate referrals

 

[H20 Toie]

Just went thru that area in august on bikes. we were on the way to sturgis. amazing how beautiful the country is.

 

[snowhammer]

We took the trip over the winter holidays so really cool to see it now. Thanks for the pics

 

[Devious_Chris]

Beautiful out there!


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[Sleek-Jet]

The weather is perfect this time of year in Southwest Colorado... My favorite place on this Earth.

 

[TCHB]

Jeep had a big event in Ouray where there was at least 100 Jeeps going on different runs. Not many side by sides in this area. There is also a great hot springs to hang out in at night close by the RV park. They call this area the Switzerland of America.

 

[TCHB]

Yes lots of MC people riding on the Million Dollar Highway!!!!!

 

[JB in so cal]

My aunt and uncle used to own a RV park on the Animas river in Durango. I worked a summer when I was 14. Use to run hay rides out to the narrow gauge RR that runs to Ouray. Beautiful country.

 

[2Driver]

At the bridge into Ridgway there is a costa rican restaurant that makes great ceviche

 

[Sleek-Jet]

My aunt and uncle used to own a RV park on the Animas river in Durango. I worked a summer when I was 14. Use to run hay rides out to the narrow gauge RR that runs to Ouray. Beautiful country.

Which RV park?

 

[28Eliminator]

I did a run there about 30 years ago with the CA4WD association. Beautiful country. I beat Ivan Stewart in an obstacle course race in my bronco there [emoji106][emoji16]. Years later he paid me back by rolling me over in my 1600 car at the Gold Coast 300.. [emoji1787]


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[JB in so cal]

Which RV park?

Wish I remembered. Had a fishing pond...sold it like 25 years ago.

 

[TITTIES AND BEER]

My asshole brother lives in CO I’ll go somewhere else, thanks for the pics

 

[Sunset]

View attachment 799213 View attachment 799214 View attachment 799215 View attachment 799216 Went on a little RV trip to the high country of Colorado. RV ran great and pulled the monster mountains nicely pulling the Jeep. Lots of off roading in this area of the country. It is about 625 miles from Havasu. Weather was in the mid 40s at night and 70 during the day.
https://www.ouraycolorado.com/

Last Dollar Highway dirt road has great views from Telluride to Ridgeway.

 

[76 Hondo]

Made a trip up there for a memorial service for a buddy of mine, Creede CO., little mining town in the San Juan mountains, head waters of the Rio Grande.

 

[TCHB]

Wish I remembered. Had a fishing pond...sold it like 25 years ago.

We stayed in Ouray at the 4J RV park right in town.

 

[rrrr]

My family rented a house in Ophir every summer in the 70s. That was before Telluride was 'discovered'.

 

[JB in so cal]

Hermosa Meadows was my uncle's park. Animals washed them out a couple times and I think it's probably condos or homes now.

 

[RodnJen]

One my favorite parts of the country. Went to Durango/Ourey as a kid with my family. We had a ‘75 Dodge Maxivan pulling an 18” Golden Falcon trailer. Great times.

A couple years back we stopped in AZ for a visit then spent 4 days in Telluride, amazing. We all agree it’s a place we want to get back to. Vail/Avon area is nice in the summer, but a different vibe than Telluride.

 

[Kbach]

We love the Silverton/Durango/Ouray area. Been going there over 35 years on family vacations. It's usually our vaca spot every other year.

 

[H20 Toie]

We love the Silverton/Durango/Ouray area. Been going there over 35 years on family vacations. It's usually our vaca spot every other year.

View attachment 799302

Great pic love the plate

 

[H20 Toie]

Silverton is a great town. love the cool hotel on the main street, all the people there are great, got really messed up there couple years ago, i know thats hard to believe

 

[ONE-A-DAY]

Agreed, riding back roads through Colorado is amazing. Silverton, Estes Park, Buena Vista, etc., can’t wait to do it again next year.

Just went thru that area in august on bikes. we were on the way to sturgis. amazing how beautiful the country is.

riding

 

[rrrr]

Agreed, riding back roads through Colorado is amazing. Silverton, Estes Park, Buena Vista, etc., can’t wait to do it again next year.

riding

My dad bought a new FJ-40 Land Cruiser in 1970 for the family to use exploring southwestern Colorado and northern New Mexico. He bought one way tickets for my brother and I from Albuquerque to Denver, and we picked up the Capri Blue four wheeled mule at Burt Chevrolet, the only Toyota dealer in New Mexico and Colorado that had one in stock, and we drove it home. It cost $2,250.00.

We spent many summer weeks exploring the Southwest, using United States Geological Survey 1:24000 topographical maps. The maps showed every road and trail, along with the outline of all structures.

Trips on the 4WD trails led us to derelict hammer mills used to extract gold. They were huge buildings and fascinating to explore. We found many ghost towns, only accessible by the narrow tracks carved out on the mountains by thousands of wagons hauling hopes and dreams to and from the long abandoned gold mines.

I imagine many of these trails are closed to the public now. Some have become virtual highways, like the road between Silverton and Ophir. In the 70s, it was just a trail that was only passible with a serious 4WD vehicle between early July and late October. In the winter, snow accumulation reached depths in excess of 15', and opening the trail by July 4th required the use of bulldozers to remove the snow over the pass. It was still 6 or 8 feet deep at the end of June.

Now the former trail is an impeccably groomed road topped with decomposed granite, and it can be used by any air conditioned vehicle with a bit of ground clearance.

It really was fun back in those days, travelling through the beautiful peaks and valleys, catching fresh rainbow trout to dredge in corn meal and pan fry, and enjoying the solitude of travel in a slower time.

This is a copy of the 1:24000 topographical map for the Telluride area. You can see the switchback jeep trail southeast of town. It leads to Ouray.

.

 

[Sleek-Jet]

Wish I remembered. Had a fishing pond...sold it like 25 years ago.

I was living in Durango back then, was the RV park south of town on the River?

 

[dave29]

My aunt and uncle used to own a RV park on the Animas river in Durango. I worked a summer when I was 14. Use to run hay rides out to the narrow gauge RR that runs to Ouray. Beautiful country.

I live in the North Animas Valley on the river. The only park that's on the river is north of us and just below Bakers Bridge where Butch and Sundance jumped off the cliff into the river. After the 416 fire last year we had really heavy rains that wiped out the RV park. They were under 3 feet of mud. During the past year they rebuilt it and now it's just beautiful. It's a KOA and you can park your RV about 10 feet from the river. I highly recommend it.

I took the attached picture about a week ago. Weather has been perfect.

 

[rrrr]

I live in the North Animas Valley on the river. The only park that's on the river is north of us and just below Bakers Bridge where Butch and Sundance jumped off the cliff into the river.

My dad had a high school friend that lived in Durango, a big guy with a nice wife and six kids around the same age as me and my siblings.

He owned a successful dude ranch outside of Durango. We would go fishing with them when we passed through on our way to Silverton and Ophir.

He had a bit part in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the first rider to jump from a boxcar on the D&RGW narrow gauge train, and rode with the posse chasing Butch and the Sundance Kid. He was active in politics, and was elected to the Colorado Legislature in 1970.

In a totally bizarre development, he left his family in 1975, moved to the San Diego area, and joined the Heaven's Gate cult. He acted as the cult's business manager, making real estate deals on properties that members deeded over to the cult upon their enlistment.

The cult claimed they were going to leave Earth on a UFO, and join a spaceship that was hidden in the tail of the Hale-Bopp comet, which was visible from Earth with a small telescope around that time period.

He died with 38 other cult members in a mass suicide committed on March 26, 1997.

This is a link to a New York Times article, written a few days after the suicide.

https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/31/us/for-cowboy-in-cult-long-ride-into-sunset.html

This is a link to a Wikipedia page describing the cult. It was some really strange stuff. For example, several of the male members traveled to Mexico to be castrated, in accordance with the group's beliefs.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven's_Gate_(religious_group)

 

[BajaMike]

I lived near Vail, Colorado the year I turned 21. Worked in an underground mine in the Winter, and on a ranch during the summer. Beautiful country all year around.

 

[Sleek-Jet]

I live in the North Animas Valley on the river. The only park that's on the river is north of us and just below Bakers Bridge where Butch and Sundance jumped off the cliff into the river. After the 416 fire last year we had really heavy rains that wiped out the RV park. They were under 3 feet of mud. During the past year they rebuilt it and now it's just beautiful. It's a KOA and you can park your RV about 10 feet from the river. I highly recommend it.
View attachment 799379
I took the attached picture about a week ago. Weather has been perfect.

There was a place south of town called "Rainbow Ranch", they had a stocked fishing pond with, you guessed it, Rainbow Trout. If I remember correctly it was a guest ranch type outfit.

 

[pwerwagn]

I live in the North Animas Valley on the river. The only park that's on the river is north of us and just below Bakers Bridge where Butch and Sundance jumped off the cliff into the river. After the 416 fire last year we had really heavy rains that wiped out the RV park. They were under 3 feet of mud. During the past year they rebuilt it and now it's just beautiful. It's a KOA and you can park your RV about 10 feet from the river. I highly recommend it.
I took the attached picture about a week ago. Weather has been perfect.

I believe you are talking about the "Durango north riverside" KOA? It is awesome, right on the west side of the river. I love that area. One of my dads good friends, Chipper Roberts, used to own some TV store, or Cable store there in durango, and we would go up and visit them.

We still vacation up there for a few weeks every year, but mostly we spend a LOT of time in silverton (actually in Eureka). In fact, My parents are headed to silverton for a few weeks right now. Im not a big telluride fan, other than the mtn village. The ouray hot springs are awesome though. We also really like Lake City, its more silverton-esque.

We've also stayed at the Alpen Rose RV park...and its nice, but way more full time RV'ers than the KOA on the river.

 

[76 Hondo]

I lived near to live near Vail, Colorado the year I turned 21. Worked in an underground mine in the Winter, and on a ranch during the summer. Beautiful country all year around.

Myself and 5 other guys from High School moved to Creede and worked underground in the mines that summer, who puts a bunch of white bread flour tortilla California kids in a mine, with dynamite! 18 YO and can drink 3.2 beer, new batch of tourist girls in town every week, and the local girls would do almost anything for a chance to get out of the small town. 2 of the guys stayed until they passed away, one from cancer, the other one was a bad drunk slid off the road coming home from the bar, walked up to the wrong cabin and couldn’t get in, laid down on the porch and froze to death.

 

[BajaMike]

Myself and 5 other guys from High School moved to Creede and worked underground in the mines that summer, who puts a bunch of white bread flour tortilla California kids in a mine, with dynamite! 18 YO and can drink 3.2 beer, new batch of tourist girls in town every week, and the local girls would do almost anything for a chance to get out of the small town. 2 of the guys stayed until they passed away, one from cancer, the other one was a bad drunk slid off the road coming home from the bar, walked up to the wrong cabin and couldn’t get in, laid down on the porch and froze to death.

Yes, it was pretty wild in the mine, my buddy and I worked in the Eagle Mine between Vail and Redcliff on the road to Leadville.....had to work 6 days a week, drilling and blasting all day long, filling 12 to 15 holes with six sticks of dynamite each, lighting the primers, “fire in the hole”, climb down the ladders a few levels and then sitting there smoking cigs and counting the holes as they went off, to make sure they all fired.

We got a bonus at the end of the month based on how many tons we put down the shoot, it was good money but hard, dangerous work. When the snow melted, we went to work on the huge Olson ranch, which is were the Beaver Creek ski resort is now. We partied in Vail on Saturday nights on the 3.2 beer, Sunday was our only day off, met a lot hot “snow bunnies”.

 

[BoatCop]

Telluride is a little pretentious. We went through there 2 years ago. If you do go, take a bit of time and take the (free) ride on the lift up to Mountain Village. Fantastic views and good way to just kick back and enjoy.

 

[rrrr]

Telluride is a little pretentious.

Almost every person in Colorado is pretentious. The percentage of pompous dickheads in the population has to be around 90%.

If you're from Colorado and reading this, of course you're one of the 10% of good people.

 

[76 Hondo]

Yes, it was pretty wild in the mine, my buddy and I worked in the Eagle Mine between Vail and Redcliff on the road to Leadville.....had to work 6 days a week, drilling and blasting all day long, filling 12 to 15 holes with six sticks of dynamite each, lighting the primers, “fire in the hole”, climb down the ladders a few levels and then sitting there smoking cigs and counting the holes as they went off, to make sure they all fired.

We got a bonus at the end of the month based on how many tons we put down the shoot, it was good money but hard, dangerous work. When the snow melted, we went to work on the huge Olson ranch, which is were the Beaver Creek ski resort is now. We partied in Vail on Saturday nights on the 3.2 beer, Sunday was our only day off, met a lot hot “snow bunnies”.

Miner, a Mucker, and a Mean Mother Fucker!

 

[dave29]

I believe you are talking about the "Durango north riverside" KOA? It is awesome, right on the west side of the river. I love that area. One of my dads good friends, Chipper Roberts, used to own some TV store, or Cable store there in durango, and we would go up and visit them.

We still vacation up there for a few weeks every year, but mostly we spend a LOT of time in silverton (actually in Eureka). In fact, My parents are headed to silverton for a few weeks right now. Im not a big telluride fan, other than the mtn village. The ouray hot springs are awesome though. We also really like Lake City, its more silverton-esque.

We've also stayed at the Alpen Rose RV park...and its nice, but way more full time RV'ers than the KOA on the river.

Just a FYI, there are new owners of Trimble Hot Springs which is on CR203. They're completely redoing the pools, locker rooms etc. Should be nice. Yes on the new KOA. It was called Riverside RV Resort. I've had to rescue more than a few people in inner tubes who take they're 5 and 6 year olds down river then get into trouble in the white water. Most of them are staying at the KOA and don't think about what they might encounter down river.
With respect to Telluride, we could never live there. It's ok to visit for a day of skiing but we're just not into the vibe of the area, to be polite.

 

[Sleek-Jet]

Just a FYI, there are new owners of Trimble Hot Springs which is on CR203. They're completely redoing the pools, locker rooms etc. Should be nice. Yes on the new KOA. It was called Riverside RV Resort. I've had to rescue more than a few people in inner tubes who take they're 5 and 6 year olds down river then get into trouble in the white water. Most of them are staying at the KOA and don't think what they might encounter down river.
With respect to Telluride, we could never live there. It's ok to visit for a day of skiing but we're just not into the vibe of the area, to be polite.

I wouldn't mind having a place at Trout Lake. But yeah, you need to fit in to live in To-Hell-You-Ride.

 

[JDub24]

Beautiful country.

Brother of my best friend owns this place and is dumping a bunch of time, money and cool shit into this place and is focusing on the Jeep and sxs crowd.

The owners name is Robert and he is a good old boy from Texas. Check out his website. I’m hoping to get the family up to check it out next spring.

https://www.riverruncabinsouray.com/

View attachment 799213 View attachment 799214 View attachment 799215 View attachment 799216 Went on a little RV trip to the high country of Colorado. RV ran great and pulled the monster mountains nicely pulling the Jeep. Lots of off roading in this area of the country. It is about 625 miles from Havasu. Weather was in the mid 40s at night and 70 during the day.
https://www.ouraycolorado.com/