Trailhead car rental

[douglas]

So I've been hanging on to my old Nissan Armada, mostly to get me to tougher trailheads and go on camping trips with the family. It's dying quickly and I don't really want to put more money into it. Has anyone ever rented to get to some of the tougher trailheads? Are Jeep rentals crazy expensive? Would a standard pick-up truck (cheaper rental, I think) be sufficient? The tougher trailheads I have left are Antero, Castle, Uncompahrge, Sneffels, and the Crestones. I know they are accessible to smaller cars down lower, but I like to get up the road a bit.

[Ptglhs]

I've rented a jeep once. It wasn't "crazy" expensive, but it was a bit pricey. I did it because I was doing Culebra and wasn't going to hoof it from the ranch house. Be prepared to pay about 100 a day. A few points from my experience and what I've been told by agents with rental places:

Very few comapnies will alllow you to specify car make and model. Hertz will. If you are okay with just a pickup or large suv then you can rent those as a class from other providers..

Get the additional insurance. And read the fine print! A lot of car companies and insurance contracts won't cover you if you go off roading or on a "non maintained" road. County roads usually qualify, FS roads usually don't. The last thing you want is some rental company going after you for 60k for a vehicle they say you totaled.

A couple of specific lifted jeep or ATV rental companies exist. Buena Vista Jeep Rentals is one. It's 180$ a day, and they don't open early enough to allow you to pick up the Jeep the day of a climb, unless you are sure of great weather in the afternoon. Those companies use your own insurance so you'd be out a deductible and filing a claim if you damaged their car.

You could always go on a weekend and stick your thumb out or a sign that said 4wd TH. I've done that with Sneffles, Wetterhorn, Handies, and coming down Uncompaghre. Ride share posts on here work as well, those got me to 11k on Princeton and Little Bear, and to the 4wd TH for Crestone Needle.

[Hiker Mike]

So I've been hanging on to my old Nissan Armada, mostly to get me to tougher trailheads and go on camping trips with the family. It's dying quickly and I don't really want to put more money into it. Has anyone ever rented to get to some of the tougher trailheads? Are Jeep rentals crazy expensive? Would a standard pick-up truck (cheaper rental, I think) be sufficient? The tougher trailheads I have left are Antero, Castle, Uncompahrge, Sneffels, and the Crestones. I know they are accessible to smaller cars down lower, but I like to get up the road a bit.

I rented a Jeep a few years ago from BV Jeeps in Buena Vista. It was about $200 a day. Pretty pricey I thought but I was sure glad I had to get up the road to Antero.

Mike

[TomPierce]

Years & years ago, back when I drove an Acura coupe, I rented a slightly lifted Jeep Wrangler to get up to the old South Colony Lakes TH. Definitely a 4wd road. The newer, lower TH's are bumpy but no big deal IMO, but I can see where you might not want to take a nicer car up there. Anyway, I rented I think (?) from Anderson Jeep Rentals in Salida, pretty sure that was the name. Nice outfit and the cost wasn't stupid expensive.

-Tom

[Dayute]

Check out Turo.com. Its like the Uber of car rental, you rent from private people through the Turo app. You can get something a little more off-road capable with less restrictions.

[Dayute]

Check out Turo.com. Its like the Uber of car rental, you rent from private people through the Turo app. You can get something a little more off-road capable with less restrictions.

Prices aren't bad either, Just checked a random day in April and there were tons of Jeeps, Subarus, and Toyotas available for about 50$/day.

[disentangled]

Check out Turo.com. Its like the Uber of car rental, you rent from private people through the Turo app. You can get something a little more off-road capable with less restrictions.

Prices aren't bad either, Just checked a random day in April and there were tons of Jeeps, Subarus, and Toyotas available for about 50$/day.

i didn't know about this site and i can imagine it being *very* useful this summer. my car has gotten me to some crazy places but there are limits. thank you for posting the info.

[andrew85]

Can only speak on South Colony but I rented a Surbaban and a Tahoe from Enterprise (only 4x4's available those days) for Crestone Needle and Kit Carson respectively for ~$70/day w/LDW and made it to the upper trailhead pretty comfortably (minus the pipe, did bottom out both times on the way down). If going through a common car rental, emphasize that you need 4x4 and they may upgrade you with no additional charge (assuming you reserved something that typically comes in 4x4).

Check out Turo.com. Its like the Uber of car rental, you rent from private people through the Turo app. You can get something a little more off-road capable with less restrictions.

Prices aren't bad either, Just checked a random day in April and there were tons of Jeeps, Subarus, and Toyotas available for about 50$/day.

i didn't know about this site and i can imagine it being *very* useful this summer.  my car has gotten me to some crazy places but there are limits.  thank you for posting the info.

Turo can be very useful if driving short distances, but they're not unlimited mileage. Most cap you at 200 miles/day (many 100 miles/day) and the additional miles are usually $0.75/mile and given that most trailheads are pretty far, it can get more expensive than you realize pretty quickly. You have much more of a variety though, I see Jeeps quite often and I got a pretty off road capable Tacoma from there as well. The mileage worked out because I'd rented it for three days so now I had 600 miles to work with instead of 200, but I still feel more comfortable going with regular car rental agencies if only for unlimited mileage and better insurance options.

[Cide]

Not sure your towing capacity or interest in this but......I've summitted half of my peaks while riding a dual sport in. If you can get a little 125 or even a 200cc used dual sport you could haul it to the 2wd and rip it up to the 4wd. Used dual sports are pretty cheap as well. Just a thought.

[justiner]

Or just bring along a mountain bike and do the last 2 or whatever miles by bike.

[seano]

I wonder what the Colorado 14er pioneers would think about this versus what they had to do back in the day

The Model T was (and is) a surprisingly capable off-road vehicle. Note the clearance next time you see one.

[justiner]

The Model T was released in around 1908. The last 14er to be sumitted was Crestone Needle in 1916.
I think most of the 14ers were done during survey periods in the 19th Century (so, by horseback).

Fair to say, most 14ers were already summited before the model T was released. Ellingwood's writeup of climbing the Needle with Eleanor Davis is quite interesting, with details of trains, horseback rides, burros and lots of resoling of leather shoes.