Engineer Pass

[summitrunner]

I do not recommend Mineral Creek in a real vehicle.

The Explorer Sprort Trac and an FJ Cruiser are two completely different vehicles. I don't think an FJ will have a problem unless the driver is really inexperienced. Last October, I did the Mineral Creek route in a stock 1999 Pathfinder. The road was very time consuming and rough, and I scraped bottom a few times, but it was doable (a spotter would have been nice though). Since an FJ is much more of an off road vehicle than the 1999 Pathfinder, I don't think it will have a problem.

I would not. The risk far outweighs the reward, especially if this FJ Cruiser is your everyday vehicle. If it is your rec vehicle and you are prepared to potentially damage it severely, then have at it.

[Sugar Madison]

I do not recommend Mineral Creek in a real vehicle.

The Explorer Sprort Trac and an FJ Cruiser are two completely different vehicles. I don't think an FJ will have a problem unless the driver is really inexperienced. Last October, I did the Mineral Creek route in a stock 1999 Pathfinder. The road was very time consuming and rough, and I scraped bottom a few times, but it was doable (a spotter would have been nice though). Since an FJ is much more of an off road vehicle than the 1999 Pathfinder, I don't think it will have a problem.

+1

I did Mineral Creek in a friend's FJ Cruiser last year (he loaned it to me for a week). It wasn't a big deal, no issues at all. I'd take it again without a second thought.

[TallGrass]

"Real vehicle"? Maybe street-biased vehicle, which running boards lean to. Stock Jeeps run up and down Mineral Creek road all the time. As has been said, it's more about the driver.

[Scott P]

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[summitrunner]

If it is your rec vehicle and you are prepared to potentially damage it severely, then have at it.

The FJ is built for such roads and it makes little sense to get one without taking it on rough roads. You would be wasting money to buy one and to keep it on pavement or on graded gravel roads. If you want to do so, a Subaru would be a much better choice and much easier on the pocketbook. For an FJ, this road shouldn't present any problems. Just because your POS Explorer Sort Trac had problems, doesn't mean that an FJ would.

The Explorer Sport Trac was always a piece of sh** and anyone who bought one made an extremely poor choice. It did poorly off road, yet was worse on gas than any number of real off road vehicles and even worse than full sized trucks.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do? ... 0&id=28718" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It isn't fair to compare the experiences on the road between the two vehicles. I wouldn't take an Explorer Sport Trac on that road either. No one is recommending that.

Thanks, Scott. I disagree with your statement, I hope that is OK! I know that when we speak about 4WD vehicles or roads in this site, it does become a bit of a caveman/ego contest (I will refrain from the vulgarity you displayed...). I am comfortable with my abilities. I would not drive a "real" vehicle on that road. Dirt bikes, ATVs, quads, etc. would be so much more fun, safe, and would not be at as high of a risk to getting damaged. Is it possible your vehicle, on that day, could have had a much different experience? Certainly! I talked to a wrecker in the area after my experience, and he told me about some nightmares in modified vehicles on that road. He said I was lucky. I talked to a BLM ranger on the road as we were going down at a restroom before it got bad. He said his agency does not allow government vehicles to drive that road past that restroom. "Too much paperwork," he said. My experience allows me to recommend not driving that road.

My stock, worthless, poor choice of a vehicle does great with MPG, in snow and ice, and during my off road experiences I had no other issues. I did bend my tow hitch and running boards. I had no other issues with my poor decision of a vehicle that day. I guess as others have said, it is the driver, isn't it?

I will still not recommend that road in a vehicle you plan to dive to work in the next day.

[Scott P]

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[TallGrass]

Have you looked into renting a Jeep? Lake City will and only prohibits Poughkeepsie Gulch, while Ouray renter prohibits PG and Black Bear (LC is cool w BB). Both are fine with Mineral Creek from AF to Ouray. They are "real vehicles" and will even rent to Texans. Clearance and angles on a Sport Trac aren't that good especially with a hitch and boards. Saw a line of plated vehicles going up MC the next morning when I stopped back for a photo.

The OP needs no rental.

[CHeimCO]

It's the middle of the night, I can't sleep and my two passions this summer just collided, hiking and wheeling.

I've read some, what I would consider, good advice on in this thread and some... other advice. I'm a life long hiker, but pretty new to the wheeling scene and can testify to the learning curve. Every time I go out I learn and get better. Get to know your vehicle and how it's off road features work. Knowledge and experience are key to off road success, those will have a much greater impact on your trip than what you're driving. To another beginner I highly recommend traildamage.com as others have mentioned. Though I have not driven engineer pass... yet... it isn't rated at all difficult. You just have to keep in mind their ratings are presuming an experienced off-road driver. My advice is to stick to trails with a max rating of 3 to get your feet wet and see what is all about before doing anything rated 4 or higher. My jeep is also my daily, as such, I'll probably never risk anything higher than 5. I say go for it, Engineer Pass looks like a blast!

[San Juan Ron]

FYI to some of you posters, Engineer Pass and the Ouray Mineral Creek Spur are not the same thing. Engineer Pass is a relatively simple 4WD road. The Ouray Mineral Creek Spur is a lot more adventuresome and requires more experience. Ron

[TallGrass]

^ and they all meet at Animas Forks, from which you can bail south to Silverton on a 2WD packed road then take the highway N to Ouray. Pit johns and historic structures there too!

[thebeave7]

Another side note. There is construction going on on the South side of Red Mountain Pass, narrowing the road to a single lane with a stop light. During peak hours the delay could be 20min (that's what I waited yesterday). At night I'd imagine its a lot shorter with less traffic.

Eric

[XterraRob]

Oh yeah, be careful of Poughkeepsie lol. That's also a bad detour if you somehow get lost on the many trails. I think they've actually bypassed some of the obstacles now though?