Alpine Loop - Lake City, CO feedback?

[BoverW]

Sounds like a good series of trails. Any idea how long this is? Any need for extra fuel?

40-50 miles.

Maybe a full day. As others mentioned, it depends on how many stops you take and photo times.
I would suggest taking a lunch break at Animas Forks after Cinnamon Pass. It is in the middle of the route.

If you are short of time during the afternoon, you can take the forest road to Silverton (Rt 10 if my memory is correct) right after the hurricane pass. Distance-wise, it is more than Corkscrew Gulch, but you can cruise through easily. Corkscrew Gulch will be better if you want to stay at Ouray.

A full tank of gas is more than enough. Lake City has an old-fashioned gas station pretty close to the trailhead. Both Silverton and Ouray have gas stations.

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[Fordified1]

Check conditions before you go. They’re having an issue with landslides because of the weather.

 

[DefNotBuddyLee]

Heading down there this weekend. Will be in Silverton, but will do all the loop and Black Bear and Imogene.

Imogene just closed down again (San Miguel Sheriff Facebook posted 8 hrs ago) and I doubt Black Bear will reopen any time soon. We were there a week ago when the rains washed alot of the trails out. Shelf road even started to give way on one of our trails. We still had fun but the rain def did a number on some trails. Be sure to check that trail is open before driving out to trail head.
To make matters worse, US 50 bridge near Gunnison was closed down due to cracks found. The detour sucked, and incolves an escort down a BLM road. We were told they stop running at 8 pm. Not sure if that is true, but plan accordingly. Hopefully someone local can chime in.
Hopefully things are better by the time you get there.

 

[Durangatan]

Hopefully someone local can chime in.

A big rain event for this weekend. Then drying.

 

[jzweedyk]

FYI-Black Bear Pass is officially closed for the season after the recent rockslides/mudslides a couple weeks back.

Also, I know Imogene Pass has rockslide/mudslide issues as well and is currently closed both Telluride & Ouray sides as well. Unknown repair & reopening date, but looks like repairs could run into September.

Imogene Pass is open, I did it three days ago from Ouray to Telluride. Correction it looks like they closed it again. Black Bear is still closed.

 

[RLEW0083]

Heading down there this weekend. Will be in Silverton, but will do all the loop and Black Bear and Imogene.

Black Bear is closed for the season and beware, Imogen Pass run is this coming up so the trail will be shut down.

 

[MikeOU]

Just got back from Creede/Lake City area last Friday. We did not make it to the Alpine Trail. We did go through Rat Creek Loop and Bristol Peak Trail in a stock Badlands Sasquatch with no issues. Both of those trails are a 3 or 4 rating on OnX. Assuming Alpine trail is similar level of rating.

 

[Taltyman]

Ouray County Alerts

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Been getting reports of closures all around the county for a while now. Evev 550 south of Ridgway

Also code red mobile app
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[Durangatan]

Imogene Pass is open, I did it three days ago from Ouray to Telluride. Correction it looks like they closed it again. Black Bear is still closed.

My guess... Things closed now will likely remain closed. The county sheriff and SAR is spread a bit thin. I think if roads are not dialed they'd rather keep them closed than scrambling to get someone out of trouble. Things are pretty saturated. That being said, there are still a lot of roads to travel.

 

[Fordified1]

My guess... Things closed now will likely remain closed. The county sheriff and SAR is spread a bit thin. I think if roads are not dialed they'd rather keep them closed than scrambling to get someone out of trouble. Things are pretty saturated. That being said, there are still a lot of roads to travel.

Yes they already said Black Bear is done for this season.

 

[Maury]

I'll give a little feedback on the loop as we just did it this weekend. '22 Wildtrak mostly stock, for reference.

We started from Lake City with Cinnamon pass. Real easy trail and scenic all the way to the pass. It's an absolute joy to drive as it's not exactly a dirt road but no stress and you get to 12,600'. We then went down county rd. 2 to Silverton in time for lunch. We had rain on and off the whole time, and at the top the wind was fierce. Didn't take many photos we just enjoyed the ride.

Next day we took Mineral Creek in Ouray, with the goal of getting back to Lake City via Engineer pass. The weather was better but the trail was wet almost the entire way up until Engineer pass proper. Mineral Creek is not exactly easy, but my wife did an excellent job spotting in a couple spots. We climbed the whole way in 4L, it was rough. I should probably have aired down more as we saw some slippage on some of the obstacles (ran 36 PSI both days). Lockers FTW. A couple smacks on the skid plates later, and we partnered with a lone jeep for the rest of the way. At that point we had done the worst but it still felt safer given the lack of space to maneuver should things get dicey.

Engineer west was washed out and had a couple big ruts. Nothing too serious, but the turn assist did not work too well on wet rocks for some reason.

It was a blast for sure. I think Mineral Creek will be challenging on anything smaller than 32". However, although lockers came in handy I didn't bother undoing sway bars and it was fine. In one place we were starting to slide towards the edge on wet rocks, but my wife found a great line and we managed without repositioning.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

I'll give a little feedback on the loop as we just did it this weekend. '22 Wildtrak mostly stock, for reference.

We started from Lake City with Cinnamon pass. Real easy trail and scenic all the way to the pass. It's an absolute joy to drive as it's not exactly a dirt road but no stress and you get to 12,600'. We then went down county rd. 2 to Silverton in time for lunch. We had rain on and off the whole time, and at the top the wind was fierce. Didn't take many photos we just enjoyed the ride.

Next day we took Mineral Creek in Ouray, with the goal of getting back to Lake City via Engineer pass. The weather was better but the trail was wet almost the entire way up until Engineer pass proper. Mineral Creek is not exactly easy, but my wife did an excellent job spotting in a couple spots. We climbed the whole way in 4L, it was rough. I should probably have aired down more as we saw some slippage on some of the obstacles (ran 36 PSI both days). Lockers FTW. A couple smacks on the skid plates later, and we partnered with a lone jeep for the rest of the way. At that point we had done the worst but it still felt safer given the lack of space to maneuver should things get dicey.

Engineer west was washed out and had a couple big ruts. Nothing too serious, but the turn assist did not work too well on wet rocks for some reason.

It was a blast for sure. I think Mineral Creek will be challenging on anything smaller than 32". However, although lockers came in handy I didn't bother undoing sway bars and it was fine. In one place we were starting to slide towards the edge on wet rocks, but my wife found a great line and we managed without repositioning.

Great shot! Thanks for sharing your adventure with us!

 

[jzweedyk]

We did Engineer Pass yesterday and aired down to 12 psi. Much more comfortable, and we didn't slip once, only used rear locker once.

 

[Fordified1]

We did Engineer Pass yesterday and aired down to 12 psi. Much more comfortable, and we didn't slip once, only used rear locker once.

Yea I aired down to 18-20. 36 is too much. I run 32-35 daily on pavement.

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