MTBing Mountain Passes in San Juans

[MichaelWG]

Hey guys - haven't posted here in a while so I'm not sure whether this is "mountaineering-related" enough, but I've seen similar posts in the past so hopefully this is kosher.

Girlfriend and I are planning to be in the Ouray area for ~5ish days in late June, and we're looking into mountain biking some of the 4x4 roads in the area - something like Imogene or Black Bear Pass from Ouray (though ideally a little easier). She's an avid / strong road biker but has basically 0 mountain biking experience (and is a little timid about it), hence the idea to ride a steep road rather than winding single-track.

A chill / scenic option that comes to mind would be Ouray to Yankee Boy and back, but I'd like some longer options too. I've driven the Alpine Loop and passed some bike packers, but I'm blanking on where exactly it would have been / what the best segments would be. Doesn't have to start in Ouray, btw - open to Silverton, Lake City, etc.

Appreciate any ideas / advice!

[justiner]

It's doable, I've done a few. The problem is that you have to share the road with the 4WD enthusiast and some willl f-- with you. You'll often see a lot of bikepackers around Stony Pass, as that's where the bikepackers have to exit off the Colorado Trail onto the 4WD track a bit to the east to take a Wilderness Detour down into Silverton (the CT goes south then west into the Elk Creek Basin)

Ouray to Yankee Boy would not be chill. It'll be busy with 4WD enthusiasts. It's also pretty steep of a road if I'm being honest.

[supranihilest]

Those would all be good options. For something even easier if she finds even the 4WD roads too intimidating, Owl Creek Pass from Ridgway is graded gravel all the way up and down. The views of Courthouse Mountain and Chimney Rock are awesome. If you wanted to add a little more from the top of the pass you could continue to the Wetterhorn Basin trailhead which has some rocky stuff and a crossing of West Fork Cimarron River that a mountain bike would handle. Make a full day of it, leave the bikes at the trailhead and hike up to treeline for views of Coxcomb Peak and others. The drawbacks to Owl Creek Pass are that the road from Ridgway (or US 50 from the north if you start there, for some reason) is really long and doesn't offer exciting riding by itself.

Although not a mountain bike route, Dallas Divide from the western junction of SH-62 and Ouray CR-24 is also nice, just be aware of traffic going at 60mph. The views from the Divide are among the most well known in Colorado. Also not a mountain bike route or even a gravel route, this one is full on road riding.

People do bike the Million Dollar Highway from Ouray but I've never seen a mountain biker on the highway, just road bikes. Depending on what you meant by "something like Imogene or Black Bear Pass from Ouray" I'd recommend driving to the start of the pass road and not biking the Million Dollar Highway itself, since it's fairly dangerous to bike and would probably not be fun on a mountain bike.

Like Justin said, be aware of angry offroaders. Some can be aggressive. I've never had anyone get in my face but I have had them yell and swear at me for having the audacity to hike the roads, and one guy did block the road and threaten me for driving down the 550 side of Black Bear Pass, thinking the entirety of the pass is one-way - it is not. And don't forget you'll be sucking down their dust, but that's unavoidable.

[MichaelWG]

Thanks, guys, appreciate the input!

Yea I didn't mean to make the ride up to Yankee Boy sound like a cake walk or anything, but I've done it as a run and didn't find it overly intense. I guess it could be a different story on a bike, though. My thinking with this option was that the road is pretty wide and smooth most of the way up so there wouldn't be many sections where we'd have to share the road with stressed out OHVers. I'm not married to this option, though.

Owl Creek Pass looks promising base on the distance / vert profile, I'll read up on that one.

I also contemplated bringing our road bikes and doing the Million Dollar Highway or Dallas Divide, but I had the same thought about 60mph traffic. If we're going to bike on roads as opposed to dedicated bike paths we usually stick to things like Independence Pass where traffic is a bit slower moving. In either case (road or MTB), we'd aim to start early to avoid cars.

I guess I'm open to regular chill single track rides too if y'all have any recommendations that are scenic and not overly technical.

[Chicago Transplant]

Some of the less traveled 4x4 roads might be better options? Looping California Gulch from Animas Forks would have less vehicles than Cinnamon or Engineer as an example. I definitely agree with starting early, OHVs tend to sleep in, any times I have hiked 4x4 roads I don't tend to see anyone in the morning going up.

I personally try to avoid traffic, and single track terrifies me, so my solution is to bike ski resort service roads. They offer good views, well graded dirt, and low traffic as the only people usually driving them are the people doing off season ski resort maintenance. To that effect, maybe the service roads at Telluride ski area would be good?

[seano]

I haven't been in the area in awhile, so I can't speak to the details of the roads, but there are thing that are easy for a Jeep but absolute hell for an MTB, like softball-sized rocks and loose gravel. I remember the Mountain Loop having plenty of these near Ouray, and Jeeps and motorcycles tend to ruin the surface for bikes.

If I were you, I'd drive over to Phil's World near Cortez.

[SkaredShtles]

<snip.
I guess I'm open to regular chill single track rides too if y'all have any recommendations that are scenic and not overly technical.

You might look into the RAT system down in Ridgeway. I've heard rumors that the trails are pretty chill down there.