Beginner Off-Road Trails Near Ouray, Colorado

Cty Rd 14. - Dexter Creek Rd

Dexter Creek Road leads you to national forest land with a few dispersed camping sites starting about one mile in. The road starts out a graded, gravel road which very quickly gets to a steep…
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Total Miles
2.3
Tech Rating
3 Easy
Best Time
Sp / Su / Fa

Culver Creek - Cty Rd 14A

Culver Creek, Cty Rd 14A, branches off of Dexter Creek, Cty Rd 14. The first part of the road is graded gravel to a parking area where you can park and hike. From there, the…
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Total Miles
2.4
Tech Rating
3 Moderate
Best Time
Sp / Su / Fa

Baldy Trail

Baldy Trail branches to the left off of Culver Creek Trail at Thistle Park meadow. It will take you to a meadow with primitive camping. Then, it travels farther up to the Baldy hiking trail…
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Total Miles
0.6
Tech Rating
3 Moderate
Best Time
Su / Fa

Camp Bird Mining Rd - Cr 361

Total Miles
1
Tech Rating
2 Easy
Best Time
Sp / Su / Fa

Corkscrew Gulch, Hurricane Pass

Wind between two peaks of the Red Mountains and enjoy some really beautiful country. Logging trucks are common on the lower portion of the trail. Parking and camping are available at the bottom of the…
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Total Miles
6.7
Tech Rating
3 Moderate
Best Time
Su / Fa

Cow Creek

County Road 12 turns into the rutted dirt trail of Cow Creek. It is a narrow trail with few places for passing vehicles. There is a stretch of shelf road as it ascends and parallels…
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Total Miles
4.7
Tech Rating
3 Easy
Best Time
Sp / Su / Fa

Red Mountain Mining Area

You'll see the famed shaft house at Yankee Girl Mine and follow and old railroad grade on this fun, easy trail. The southern section features high mountain views.
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Total Miles
8.7
Tech Rating
3 Easy
Best Time
Su / Fa

Mineral Point

This in-and-out trail is a short, 3.5-mile round-trip trail with views and history. You will see a sign indicating the road is a dead end. At the very end of the trail are some ruins…
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Total Miles
1.3
Tech Rating
3 Easy
Best Time
Su

California Gulch

This trail starts at the Animus Forks Ghost Town, and the start of the famous Alpine Loops. This is a remote and beautiful drive that passes by many old mining buildings. Make time to stop…
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Total Miles
4.4
Tech Rating
3 Easy
Best Time
Su / Fa

Picayune & Placer Gulches

This trail features a lot of old mining ruins and great mountain scenery. Treasure Mountain Gold Mining Company and the Sound Democrat Mill are especially unique and well-preserved. There are some fun side roads along…
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Total Miles
6
Tech Rating
3 Easy
Best Time
Su / Fa

East Dallas Trail

Easy wide dirt trail mostly through private property with access to National Forest land and dispersed camping at the end. The first third of the trail is a smooth dirt road that can get muddy…
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Total Miles
8.5
Tech Rating
1 Easy
Best Time
Fa / Su / Sp

West Fork Cimarron Road

This beautifully scenic route takes you past Chimney Rock and up into the Uncompahgre Wilderness/National Forest. There are scattered primitive campgrounds all along the way. The first mile and a half (or so) of this…
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Total Miles
3.2
Tech Rating
3 Easy
Best Time
Su / Fa

Owl Creek Pass

This is an enjoyable and easy 45-mile trip over Owl Creek Pass between the Uncompahgre and Cimarron Rivers. We found a few water-filled potholes in August, but nothing that would stop a passenger car with…
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Total Miles
43.8
Tech Rating
2 Easy
Best Time
Su / Fa / Sp

Cimarron Owl Creek Pass

This is a very scenic, pastoral drive down Cimarron Road into the Uncompaghre National Forest. There are many side roads leading to various forks of the Cimarron River, with plentiful dispersed camping sites along the…
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Total Miles
19.5
Tech Rating
1 Easy
Best Time
Sp / Su / Fa

Chattanooga Trail

This road will lead to the trailhead for the Columbine Lake hike. Vehicles are often parked on the shoulder, so use caution. The beginning of the Northern part of the trail will have you crossing…
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Total Miles
1.7
Tech Rating
3 Easy
Best Time
Su / Fa

Box Factory Park

This trail begins at the entrance to Double RL ranch, which is owned by Ralph Lauren. It is a great option if many of the passes are closed in the area, since the road stays…
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Total Miles
6.9
Tech Rating
3 Easy
Best Time
Sp / Su / Fa

Middle Fork Mineral Creek

This short offshoot from Ophir Pass leads to a very small campsite next to a river. There are two rock fire rings in the area. If you cross the river, the trail splits left or…
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Total Miles
0.3
Tech Rating
3 Easy
Best Time
Su / Fa

Minnie Gulch

An easy trail turning off CR2, and ending in the alpine tundra at a hiking trailhead. The trail passes several abandoned mining camps in various states of disrepair, and a decent size waterfall with a…
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Total Miles
2.8
Tech Rating
3 Easy
Best Time
Sp / Su / Fa

Maggie Gulch

Short, easy trail that turns off from CR2 and ends at the remains of the Intersection Mill, built in the 1890s during the CO gold rush. It also connects to a network of hiking trails…
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Total Miles
4
Tech Rating
3 Easy
Best Time
Sp / Su / Fa

Alpine Loop Silverton to Animas Forks

This trail starts paved, then turns to gravel. Heavily trafficked on weekends, visibility can be very poor due to blowing dust. No cell service once a couple miles out from Silverton. This is an avalanche…
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Total Miles
2
Tech Rating
2 Easy
Best Time
Sp / Su / Fa

Arrastra Gulch to Little Giant Basin

Just beyond the outskirts of Silverton, this road climbs up through a bunch of old mine sites to a mountain lake. Compared to the scenery of the Million Dollar Highway, this little nook is rougher,…
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Total Miles
4
Tech Rating
3 Easy
Best Time
Sp / Su

Cty Rd 6 - Christ of the Mines Shrine

This is a short little drive on the north side of Silverton. It starts on 15th street at the county courthouse. This easy drive takes you by the Christ of the Mines Shrine with wonderful…
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Total Miles
1.1
Tech Rating
1 Easy
Best Time
Sp / Su / Fa

Cunningham Gulch

Cunningham Gulch is a great side trail just outside Silverton, CO providing an excellent area for dispersed camping, stunning views of the San Juan's, old mining camps, and waterfalls spread throughout the area. The first…
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Total Miles
3.2
Tech Rating
2 Easy
Best Time
Sp / Su / Fa

South Fork Ilium Road

South Fork Ilium Rd, Cty Rd 63L connects to US 145 opposite the Ophir Pass trail. If you have just come down off Ophir, this road allows for some day use spots for respite and…
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Total Miles
5.7
Tech Rating
1 Easy
Best Time
Sp / Su / Fa

Little Cimarron Creek

This is an easy drive along a washboard logging road that winds through the National Forest following the Little Cimarron Creek and ends near tree line. Beautiful meadows and aspen groves line the trail. You…
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Total Miles
11.7
Tech Rating
1 Easy
Best Time
Sp / Su / Fa

South Divide

This is a series of well-graded or slightly bumpy roads that will take you from Ridgway to Olathe over the Uncompaghre Plateau. The south part has vast views of open ranchland, the center is in…
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Total Miles
80.1
Tech Rating
1 Easy
Best Time
Sp / Su / Fa

Lime Creek Road

Lime Creek Road follows the beautiful Lime Creek steep with history going back to a hunting trail used by the Ute Indians, to prospectors/pioneers converting the trail to a road in the late 1880s to…
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Total Miles
10.6
Tech Rating
3 Easy
Best Time
Sp / Su / Fa

NF 520 - Rio Grande Reservoir & Headwaters

This trail takes you up along the Rio Grande past its reservoir to the headwaters. There is beautiful scenery, campsites along the river and some of the best trout fishing to be had. It runs…
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Total Miles
23.5
Tech Rating
3 Moderate
Best Time
Sp / Su / Fa

Lost Trail Road

Lost Trail is a 50" trail more suited for dirt bikes than 50" vehicles. It is a connector between Cinnamon Pass (part of the Alpine Loop) and Stoney Pass via the interesting ghost town of…
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Total Miles
8.8
Tech Rating
3 Easy
Best Time
Su / Fa

Sims Mesa/Delores Creek

The maintained gravel Sims Mesa Rd offers views of the Uncompaghre River valley. It becomes a rutted unmaintained Forest Service road as it enters the National Forest. Wildflowers and aspen groves line the trail as…
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Total Miles
1.7
Tech Rating
2 Easy
Best Time
Sp / Fa / Su