Colorado Passes - LC 200 Stock (1 Viewer)

[MRego]

I am about to start my last voyage with my LC200 base in "stock form" before diving into the mod pod (suspension, tires, etc).

When I say "stock form" I mean OEM spacers and 285/65/18 BFGs. Other than that, no other mods to my truck. My plan is to hit a couple Colorado passes - Imogene and Engineer at least.

What is the collective opinion on the Colorado passes I can comfortably do with my rig? I won't be heavy, just my wife and I.

Thank you all

 

[linuxgod]

I am about to start my last voyage with my LC200 base in "stock form" before diving into the mod pod (suspension, tires, etc).

When I say "stock form" I mean OEM spacers and 285/65/18 BFGs. Other than that, no other mods to my truck. My plan is to hit a couple Colorado passes - Imogene and Engineer at least.

What is the collective opinion on the Colorado passes I can comfortably do with my rig? I won't be heavy, just my wife and I.

Thank you all

How much experience do you have offroad? How much damage are you willing to accept? Are you just going to Ouray/Telluride or planning other areas?

You can do Imogene in your vehicle. (Or I should say "one could do Imogene in your vehicle... I don't know your skill level). I led it last year. Without a lift you may scratch the bottom of your bumpers in some spots. Sliders are a good mod but again if you take decent lines you won't need them. Alpine Loop (including Engineer pass) should be fine too from what I remember but it's been a few years.

 

[MRego]

How much experience do you have offroad? How much damage are you willing to accept? Are you just going to Ouray/Telluride or planning other areas?

You can do Imogene in your vehicle. (Or I should say "one could do Imogene in your vehicle... I don't know your skill level). I led it last year. Without a lift you may scratch the bottom of your bumpers in some spots. Sliders are a good mod but again if you take decent lines you won't need them. Alpine Loop (including Engineer pass) should be fine too from what I remember but it's been a few years.

Thanks. On a scale from 0 to 10, I would give me a 4 on off-road experience. Driven a couple trails in Death Valley, Arizona and Moab (but not the hardcore rock crawling stuff). I am willing to take some damage, but of course would love to leave unscathed. When I was in AZ, I definitely missed some additional ground clearance that our 200s do not have in stock form, but was able to avoid damage (except for the occasional mud flaps brushing).

 

[linuxgod]

I found traveling Imogene from Telluride to Ouray is easier than the reverse, though I found the Ouray-to-Telluride route is more dramatic as you start off in the woods and climb out into the tundra.

You can find some videos of Imogene on youtube, to give you an idea of how hard it is. I could drive your truck through unscathed, but whether you could only you can decide. I would say it's no harder than a trail in Moab like Fins N Things, with less likelihood of damage. There are rocky bits where you'll want to watch your line but if you have someone else in the vehicle who can get out and spot your tire placement it's doable. Again most likely scenario will be scraping the bottom of your bumpers, based on the trail condition I ran it in last year

 

[Vestal]

You'll be fine as long as you avoid Black Bear (assuming no skids/steps). Biggest issue for most stock suv's is power loss for climbing at altitude, but not for V8. Don't limit yourself to the popular routes either. Fire roads around Norwood/ Lone Cone and all the way up to Fruita are spectacular and much less crowded.

 

[linuxgod]

You'll be fine as long as you avoid Black Bear (assuming no skids/steps). Biggest issue for most stock suv's is power loss for climbing at altitude, but not for V8. Don't limit yourself to the popular routes either. Fire roads around Norwood/ Lone Cone and all the way up to Fruita are spectacular and much less crowded.

I'd generally agree. Black Bear is doable on 33s with no lift, but requires very very careful tire placement. I led someone through it who had 34s and no lift and his bumpers took some abuse (scratches and dents) on the part leading up to the steps but was otherwise fine. He did scrape a slider on a rock but that was because we were descending BBP in rain and hail and he slid whereas it would be fine it it was dry.

 

[RET2]

I'd generally agree. Black Bear is doable on 33s with no lift, but requires very very careful tire placement. I led someone through it who had 34s and no lift and his bumpers took some abuse (scratches and dents) on the part leading up to the steps but was otherwise fine. He did scrape a slider on a rock but that was because we were descending BBP in rain and hail and he slid whereas it would be fine it it was dry.

BBP in rain and hail, what could go wrong? Which brings up a good consideration ...weather, guaranteed to change.

 

[MRego]

Thank you all. Yes, I am staying away from BBP. I like the idea of the more secluded fire roads around Norwood/ Lone Cone. Any specific ones you can think of or should I just point and shoot?

 

[linuxgod]

BBP in rain and hail, what could go wrong? Which brings up a good consideration ...weather, guaranteed to change.

Did I mention that was the first time I'd done BBP? Or the first time I'd led it? Or actually the first time I'd ever led a trail, period.

I still give props to @laserturbo91 for being brave enough (or foolish enough) to follow me

 

[montegofd3s]

Just left that area and would say that if you plan on doing engineer I wouldn't access it via Mineral Creek in a stock vehicle. I did drag the rear in a few spots. With a good spotter and being more careful it may be possible without a scratch, but I would just use a different route. I always suggest people do California pass (easy to tie with corkscrew or alpine loop trip) as I think the top is the most beautiful view of all.

 

[Vestal]

Thank you all. Yes, I am staying away from BBP. I like the idea of the more secluded fire roads around Norwood/ Lone Cone. Any specific ones you can think of or should I just point and shoot?

Best thing to do is have achat with someone at the US Forest Ranger Stations (Norwood Ranger District 1150 Forest Norwood, CO (970) 327-4261, Ouray Ranger District Montrose (970) 240-5300. They'll be able to tell you what fire roads are open. They change based on maintenance, fire danger/activity and logging operations.

If I was to suggest a route it would be go over Imogene if coming from Ouray or Ophir Pass if coming from Silverton. (Ophir is a great novice route with legit views especially late in afternoon) From Telluride go down to Dunton and work your way over to Lone Cone/ Miramonte Campground and then more county (dirt) roads to Hwy 141. From there you can go to La Sal's/Spanish Valley and on to Moab in an easy hour, or head north through Naturita up to Gateway (decent car museum and family resort there) and then go back way into Moab through Castle Valley (spectacular), or go up into Escalante recreation Area and then to Colorado National Monument outside Grand Junction (great mtn biking for all ages/levels).

 

[laserturbo91]

Did I mention that was the first time I'd done BBP? Or the first time I'd led it? Or actually the first time I'd ever led a trail, period.

I still give props to @laserturbo91 for being brave enough (or foolish enough) to follow me

You knocked it out of the park!

BBP in rain and hail, what could go wrong? Which brings up a good consideration ...weather, guaranteed to change.

Go figure, it was dry the whole trail until we got to the crux.

 

[Artie]

We leave for that area in one week and have been pouring over maps and trail apps… really interested in what this thread has to offer.

We plan on camping on Los Pinos trail and doing alpine loop and some others before heading to Montrose to do Rimrocker. Our goal is to take as many dirt routes as possible but we will be dragging our Conqueror camper so that will make things interesting and limit our choices when towing.

When are you going to be out that way? We aren’t experts by any means but we could pull each other out of trouble should the need arise.

 

[montegofd3s]

We leave for that area in one week and have been pouring over maps and trail apps… really interested in what this thread has to offer.

We plan on camping on Los Pinos trail and doing alpine loop and some others before heading to Montrose to do Rimrocker. Our goal is to take as many dirt routes as possible but we will be dragging our Conqueror camper so that will make things interesting and limit our choices when towing.

When are you going to be out that way? We aren’t experts by any means but we could pull each other out of trouble should the need arise.

Just did rim rocker to Moab as well. That was a fun trail. We moved fairly quickly and ended up going up La Sal Pass to camp for the night. It is a beautiful landscape. I don't think you will have much of a problem. Coming down one or two spots on the Montrose side of the Delores River might be tight, but very manageable. We saw some good camping spots in the trees before you get to buckeye rec area as well, but we had plenty of daylight and decided to press on.

 

[Artie]

Just did rim rocker to Moab as well. That was a fun trail. We moved fairly quickly and ended up going up La Sal Pass to camp for the night. It is a beautiful landscape. I don't think you will have much of a problem. Coming down one or two spots on the Montrose side of the Delores River might be tight, but very manageable. We saw some good camping spots in the trees before you get to buckeye rec area as well, but we had plenty of daylight and decided to press on.

Thanks for the intel!

We’re hoping to do some stuff once in Utah but the heat will dictate a lot since we will be doing this with a 5 and 6 year old.

 

[92LXAZ]

Agree with @montegofd3s Mineral Creek is fairly brutal. Super slow going, bent running board was the only damage. Loved it though. As we all know pics/vids don't do much justice, the slope is what's deceiving in the video of course. Vid quality isn't great, too cheap to pay for a mo. subscription to get HD.

 

[Tex68w]

I have done these routes on motorcycles and Jeeps but never in a stock vehicle, that said, there isn't much that isn't doable with a stock 200 on slightly bigger meats. Expect some bumper and step damage especially if you don't have sliders.

 

[z531519]

took a buddy on a stock 200 thru Mineral Creek heading up Engineer Pass, both of us loaded down with RTT and all camping stuff (2 week trip) with our whole family (4 each) so his suspension was cranked down. Yet the 200 did amazingly well thru Mineral Creek with proper wheel placement... until it's not. Only bent the stock step boards but like mentioned, it was an accident as he didn't realize his tires are turned in towards the rock instead of straight so he pretty much drove on to it. Very preventable. Wet however is a diffferent story, as you can easily slide onto rocks. I was watching him the whole time and was very impressed what he got thru with his stock 200.

Honestly i think BBP is doable on stock 200, i don't remember any section that can cause damage -- other than the cliff drops where you will not have to worry about rocker damage if you go over it . Imogene has more questionable sections on the Ouray side. It's typically wet so you get unavoidable slip/sliding on some of the boulders. There are other less gnarly sections of the alpine loop though, Cinnamon, Stony, California, Ophir, Last Dollar that offers awesome views without the potential for damage -- some of them have less traffic too which you may find appealing -- yes lots of traffic up by that area.

 

[linuxgod]

took a buddy on a stock 200 thru Mineral Creek heading up Engineer Pass, both of us loaded down with RTT and all camping stuff (2 week trip) with our whole family (4 each) so his suspension was cranked down. Yet the 200 did amazingly well thru Mineral Creek with proper wheel placement... until it's not. Only bent the stock step boards but like mentioned, it was an accident as he didn't realize his tires are turned in towards the rock instead of straight so he pretty much drove on to it. Very preventable. Wet however is a diffferent story, as you can easily slide onto rocks. I was watching him the whole time and was very impressed what he got thru with his stock 200.

Honestly i think BBP is doable on stock 200, i don't remember any section that can cause damage -- other than the cliff drops where you will not have to worry about rocker damage if you go over it . Imogene has more questionable sections on the Ouray side. It's typically wet so you get unavoidable slip/sliding on some of the boulders. There are other less gnarly sections of the alpine loop though, Cinnamon, Stony, California, Ophir, Last Dollar that offers awesome views without the potential for damage -- some of them have less traffic too which you may find appealing -- yes lots of traffic up by that area.

BBP was pretty rough last year. Some folks without armor did it with me but I'm pretty sure everyone was lifted. The area before the steps had a lot of rocks and ruts that I didn't remember from a few years back and correct lines were critical to not damaging anything. It's not that it's not doable - someone *might* be able to do BBP in a stock 200 w/o damage if you take all the right lines, but I wouldn't count on it, especially for the OP.

Put your tire in the air like you just don't care...

 

[z531519]

BBP was pretty rough last year. Some folks without armor did it with me but I'm pretty sure everyone was lifted. The area before the steps had a lot of rocks and ruts that I didn't remember from a few years back and correct lines were critical to not damaging anything. It's not that it's not doable - someone *might* be able to do BBP in a stock 200 w/o damage if you take all the right lines, but I wouldn't count on it, especially for the OP.

Put your tire in the air like you just don't care...
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gotcha, understand that these trails change quite a bit every year with all that snow, we did it 2 years back. I just remember Mineral Creek has a lot more rock steps to sweat over and more potential for rocker damage, and if he can get past it, he should have cleared BBP. I had to do it solo since he's not a fan of the heights. and in all honesty, it's one and done for me too.

And like you said, it's all about the correct lines and your willingness to take damage if your chosen line did not go as planned. I'm on a lifted armored 80, but watching his rig from outside gave me a good perspective of what it can do. Personally i will need at least a rock slider on a stock 200 to even attempt these.