A friend and I rode the San Juan mountain passes for 3 days on our motorcycles. We stayed on the Prospector Motel in Silverton, Colorado. The hotel was very basic but clean and comfortable. I would stay there again.
Joe has a Triumph 1200 Scrambler and I have a Husqvarna 701 Enduro. Silverton is a nice town with neat history and a set of steam trains that go between Silverton and Durango.
I remember these trains from the last time I was in Silverton as a kid, sometime in the early 1970's. It was great to see them still operating. They also have an outdoor rail museum with many old types of rail cars.
It was the easiest pass we did the whole trip. Great views for sure. At the pass, the road turns into county road 20A, Corkscrew Gulch Trail, which heads West and intersects with the Million Dollar Highway 550.
The green arrow is the closed gate where the road (if open) is one-way (down). The red arrow is the steps, 1 mile up the switchbacks from the closed gate.
The green arrow shows the correct, least hard route. However, it is hard to see this as you are entering from downhill and this is a very sharp left turn. I knew the far right route (yellow arrow) was hard after watching many people on YouTube say it was a mistake taking it. So I took the center (red arrow) which is by far the worst route. It is very steep and then has ledges. Of course I dropped the bike here. If you ride here remember, very hard left!
The pictures don't convey how steep this is. That ledge in front of me is nearly vertical.
Luckily I just stepped off the bike uninjured, as the bike slid down the hill a bit.
The ride from here to the top had it's own challenges as it is steep with both loose and embedded rocks everywhere. The last half mile climb to the top is easier. It is steep but not as many loose rocks to deal with on a bike.
We took it counterclockwise, riding Cinnamon Pass first, then Engineer. The hardest part of this loop is descending the South side of Engineer Pass towards Animas Forks. We preferred to ride it this way.
Engineer Pass playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMEwuDAInAoE
 |
| Outdoor Rail Museum |
I was impressed with the dining options in Silverton. I was expecting this town to have less good options. We ate the first 2 nights at the Eureka Station restaurant which had the best chicken noodle soup and bison meatloaf. I would recommend this place.
Breakfast options were few but they do have some good places. There are many taverns and bars in town as well. Here is a video riding down Greene Street (main street through town)
Silverton is at 9,300 feet altitude and the passes can be over 13,000 feet. Staying in Silverton gave us a chance to acclimate somewhat to the thin air.
Note: The videos of the trails make everything look flatter than it is. You can watch the altitude (top left in the videos) and see how fast the altitude is changing to get an idea of how steep it is. Even that does not convey the steepness of these trails. You really have to be there to experience it.
Day 1 (July 2nd)
We wanted to start with a shorter, easier day while we acclimate to the altitude. Altitude sickness is a real thing. The mornings were in the 30's or 40's so we went to breakfast and had a late morning start to the day. We rode Corkscrew Pass first, riding right from Silverton on the San Juan 110 County road, then 10 county road to Corkscrew Pass Road 11. This is also part of the Trans America Trail.
YouTube playlist of Corkscrew Pass: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOXp8vZ0Javs .
Next, we rode Ouray County road 31 to Red Mountain District Road 14A. We crossed highway 550 to Black Bear Pass Road 16 but the gate was closed. We crossed the 550 back to country road 14 and back to the 550. We took the 550 in to Ouray and had lunch.
Here is the trip from day 1, ending in Ouray for lunch: https://riserapp.com/t/ZuIjjGhOIKQ9
Here is a video of the ride on the Million Dollar Highway to Ouray:
GPX file for this ride: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rorpfjEJmURKoSv3GflwQoAs9k8uWtiA/view?usp=drive_link
MyMaps showing segments and associated videos: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1GZr8xqaymLycsY0SXfgJlBSr-hHXC-4&usp=sharing
When we got back to Silverton we rode around the area a bit.
Day 2 (July 3rd)
We decided to ride Ophir and Imogene to avoid the 4th of July activities in Telluride. We took highway 550 from Silverton to Ophir (county road 8). The East side of Ophir and easy, the West side is very steep and made up of loose rocks for the first mile. Traction is illusive as the rocks are rolling around under you the whole time, kicking your tires from side to side. Pictures and videos make it look easy because you can't see how steep it is. There are also several places where 4-wheel vehicles spun and dug ruts making the situation worse. You need to stay on the pegs and try to maintain your speed as your speed can climb and get too fast too easy. This was the hardest decent we did on this trip. From the pass heading West, it becomes county road 630 going through the town of Ophir and ending on highway 145 which takes us to Telluride. Ophir was the shorted section we rode.
YouTube playlist of Ophir Pass: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLY6tM-FdpNnY
MyMaps of Ophir video segments: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=10FwgvXn1A-kckfZcS9-LAyNcVgm7P6Q&usp=sharing
Telluride video:
We rode through Telluride to Black Bear Pass road K69. This passes the bottom of Bridal Falls and the way up a bunch of switchbacks. We rode up to Bridal Veil Wagon Road where the Bridal Veil Power Station and the Black Bear Pass one-way section begins. The gate was closed to Black Bear Pass, but you can't ride up this direction anyway even if the gate was open. From this point up Black Bear is one-way, down only. This is only 1 mile from the Black Bear steps near Ingram Falls.
The green arrow is the closed gate where the road (if open) is one-way (down). The red arrow is the steps, 1 mile up the switchbacks from the closed gate.
Black Bear Pass Road playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEDWMpXmVQhc&si=TK471dP8zRzgWaoW This includes some short sections from the Million Dollar Highway 550 side as well, which we rode the day before.
MyMaps for the Black Bear segments we rode: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1ftWHRRmlPJMpIU3MKexpVaJqIc6fVO0&usp=sharing
Next, we rode Imogene. The entrance to Imogene from Telluride was under construction and a sign said the gate was closed ahead. We considered turning around be decided to see how far we could go to this closed gate. The gate was not closed and we are able to ride the whole thing. Very glad we did. It is a steep constant climb up to Tomboy from Telluride. This section is mostly a rocky shelf road. Due to the long first gear climb on a warm day with no breeze, the 701 overheat lamp came on. We stopped at the Social Tunnel for pictures, and to let the bike cool down a bit.
There was some traffic there so we could not stay long. The bike had cooled enough to turn the overheat light back off so we continued up towards Tomboy. About half way between the Social Tunnel and Marshal Creek, the overheat light came back ON. When I got to Marshal Creek I splashed some water on the radiator and cooled it down. It never came ON again the whole trip. The ride from Telluride to Tomboy is not bad, just steep. It is a shelf road and looking over the edge can be intimidating as it is a sheer drop in some places. I was concentrating on the road and it did not concern me at all.
At Savage Basin the trail can be hard to follow as there are many alternate routes. There are 3 different routes up a steep hill.
The green arrow shows the correct, least hard route. However, it is hard to see this as you are entering from downhill and this is a very sharp left turn. I knew the far right route (yellow arrow) was hard after watching many people on YouTube say it was a mistake taking it. So I took the center (red arrow) which is by far the worst route. It is very steep and then has ledges. Of course I dropped the bike here. If you ride here remember, very hard left!
The pictures don't convey how steep this is. That ledge in front of me is nearly vertical.
Luckily I just stepped off the bike uninjured, as the bike slid down the hill a bit.
The ride from here to the top had it's own challenges as it is steep with both loose and embedded rocks everywhere. The last half mile climb to the top is easier. It is steep but not as many loose rocks to deal with on a bike.
Looking at videos online, the decent to Ouray seemed easier. Not so much. It is steep, loose, and rocky too and goes on for much longer than I thought. Again, pictures and video fail to convey how steep this is. It is about 3.5 miles before you get out of the steep stuff near Imogene Creek Falls. Imogene was the hardest pass we did the whole trip.
YouTube playlist of Imogene Pass: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMZSfgXo6898 .
MyMaps with segments and videos: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1qTVzU5Qx2wrV5UFRBfeciM3Gk6VxR2M&usp=sharing of the Telluride side, then the Ouray side: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1LMVUWmKdE4uEh0vCIxDSdHAxelTqLVs&usp=sharing
We ate lunch in Ouray and rode the Million Dollar Highway (550) back to Silverton.
We ate lunch in Ouray and rode the Million Dollar Highway (550) back to Silverton.
Here is the trip from day 2: https://riserapp.com/t/U9cIzaAjj_YS excluding the ride back to Silverton.
GPX file for this ride: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jqoUFnnW32XAU2UwtBeQHKxa45ML03W2/view?usp=drive_link
Day 3 Alpine Loop (July 4th)
We did the Alpine Loop from Silverton this day.
We took it counterclockwise, riding Cinnamon Pass first, then Engineer. The hardest part of this loop is descending the South side of Engineer Pass towards Animas Forks. We preferred to ride it this way.
The West end of Cinnamon looked a bit challenging but it was not that bad compared to what we had already ridden. 
Cinnamon Pass (Hinsdale county road 30) was the second easiest pass we did. From the West you reach the summit fast.
It is an easy and scenic ride from the pass to Lake City. The road gets wide and more maintained as you go, hitting pavement at the intersection of county roads 30 and 33. A bunch of this section is shelf road but smooth and maintained.
Cinnamon Pass YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLayFfi_diagU
MyMaps of Cinnamon Pass: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1nloUtJneyjlBQAOHPXaqasrB542grxE&usp=sharing
The road from Lake City (Hinsdale county road 20) starts out as a wide, well maintained gravel road and continues to Engineer Pass. This side to the summit is an easy ride.
Engineer Pass MyMaps: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1IrQw_9PMFnSfap056XQDjUCvli4LOxM&usp=sharing
Here is the trip from day 3: https://riserapp.com/t/DRSAC5dWVZyk
From Engineer Pass we descended down county road 2 into Animas Forks. This was a steep descent with ledges, loose rocks, and sharp switchbacks. This was the second hardest descent we did after Ophir.
Animas Forks is a mining ghost town with some historic buildings remaining.
GPX file for this ride: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WXSn8m9ulAI1FMsY_V2D6MnPTy1LUE5y/view?usp=drive_link
Luckily the wind was light and out of the Southwest, blowing the smoke (and fire) away from us until July 4th. As we headed towards Lake City on the 4th the air was getting smokey. That was the first time the smoke had impacted us on this trip. By the time we got back to Silverton on the 4th, it too was getting smokey.
The trip went really great. We lucked out on the weather. All 3 days of riding were sunny and clear with only a very light breeze. Lows in the 30's, highs in the 70's (Fahrenheit). The Western US had forest fires everywhere, the closest and most concerning one for us was the Gold Mountain Fire that started about a week before we were there.
Luckily the wind was light and out of the Southwest, blowing the smoke (and fire) away from us until July 4th. As we headed towards Lake City on the 4th the air was getting smokey. That was the first time the smoke had impacted us on this trip. By the time we got back to Silverton on the 4th, it too was getting smokey.
We rode 254 miles over the 3 days of riding. Some was highway. We rode the Million Dollar Highway from Silverton to Ouray 3 times for instance. There were many miles in 1st gear up and down the passes. I averaged about 50MPG in the 701, and about the same in the Scrambler. Both of these bikes are fuel injected which really helps. They both ran great the whole time.
All the rocks take their toll on tires. We both had new tires when we got to Silverton (hauling there). The Scrambler has Anakee Wild and the 701 has TKC 80 gen 2 on the rear. Of course the 1200CC Scrambler has significantly more torque and weight. Both of these tires performed well both on and off road. The Anakee had some small chunks which is common when riding so much rock. The TKC80 gen 2 had much less of that.
YouTube playlist of all the rides: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCOH1Jb6aCRA