Colorado Trails

Nestled a few miles west of Boulder Colorado, Switzerland Trail is an easy outing for an afternoon getaway. Nearly the entire route is a shelf road offering spectacular views of the nearby foothills and the snow-capped peaks to the west. The trail has only slight grades as it follows an old railroad route from Sugarloaf Mountain to the community of Gold Hill. Because Switzerland Trail is open year-round, It can be a popular spot for those who partake in snowy driving adventures.

Located just west of the historic mining and gambling town of Central City, Yankee Hill Road takes you directly into a network of off-road trails known as the Yankee Hill Trail System. This large trail network offers amazing high alpine views and miles of trails that can be combined to create numerous routes for a full day or even an entire weekend of off-road fun.

Mosquito Pass (elevation 13,185'), between Alma and Leadville, Colorado, is among the highest Colorado passes accessible to 4WD vehicles. The views from here are spectacular, especially in early autumn when the valley’s foliage begins to change color. The vibrant gold, amber, and green colors provide a stark contrast to the drab brown stone and paled grasses covering the high treeless ridges. Earlier in the summer, the alpine grasses and wildflowers are spectacular. However, check with the Forest Service District Offices because Mosquito Pass opens late due to snow blocking the road. Pike National Forest/South Park Ranger District (719) 836-2031 San Isabel National Forest/Leadville Ranger District (719) 486-0749

About an hour from Denver and situated within the Arapahoe National Forest, Bill Moore Lake 4X4 Road is one of the Empire Loop trails just above Empire, Colorado.  This trail offers amazing alpine scenery and fun hill climbs for novice and seasoned wheelers.  At the end of the rough terrain, you are rewarded with a magnificent alpine lake on the edge of the James Peak Wilderness.

In the late 1800’s, miners started digging for gold, silver, lead and other ore in the San Juan Mountains. They needed a way to get people and the ore out to the nearby towns. Those roads left by the long-abandoned mines are now some of the most famous off-road trails in the books. Engineer Pass is one of them and is part of a trail now known as the Alpine Loop. This part of the Alpine Loop starts in two places actually. This trail as written here starts near the city of Ouray, CO and goes almost 30 miles to Lake City, CO. If you are running Engineer Pass as part of the Alpine Loop, then read up on Cinnamon Pass, and the Engineer Pass/Alpine Loop Connector and you will start Engineer Pass at waypoint 11 on this guide. Regardless of where you start this trail you get a chance to test your skills, explore the backcountry and old mining towns of Colorado, and even touch the skies along the way. There are multiple mine ruins to view and explore the grounds of along the way including the Hard Tack Mine and the Michael Breen Mine. Some are marked clearly and some are not. You should not enter structures or disturb the area in any way, but what you can see from afar is well worth the stop at these historic places. If you’re looking for scenery, then you'll find spots all along the trail worth stopping for. Mile after mile provides new and more amazing views of Colorado and the San Juan mountains. Oh Point and the official summit have breath-taking panoramas of the mountains. Each stop gives you another sweeping vista and you can spend a whole day just taking in the views. Those looking for altitude will find that this trail goes well above the timberline at just over 12,900’. With the altitude comes stunning views of the mountains to the north including the Uncompahgre, Coxcomb, Wetterhorn and Wildhorse mountain peaks. The view is so expansive at Oh Point that on a very clear day, you might be able to see all the way to Utah if you turn your eyes to the west. This trail is relatively easy and for everyone from the beginner to the experienced. It offers something for the whole family along the way. While this trail isn’t rough, it is a true off-road trail and will test your fortitude with shelf roads and some of the early rocks and obstacles. For Jeep owners, there’s a special note here. Jeep has designated some trails as Badge of Honor trails and this is one of the few in Colorado. Its fame means that Jeep will recognize if you ran it and provide you with a badge to put on your rig showing you completed the trail.

Medano Pass offers travelers breathtaking scenery, plenty of free dispersed camping, hikes, sand, and water crossings. Truly a gem in the middle of the Rocky Mountains, Medano Pass is your gateway to the Great Sand Dunes National Park. The Great Sand Dunes offer a vista that can be found nowhere else in the state of Colorado. The Great Sand Dunes are the tallest sand dunes in North America, rising to a maximum height of 750 feet (229 m) from the floor of the San Luis Valley on the western base of the Sangre de Cristo Range, covering about 19,000 acres.

Climbing to 11,789 feet and passing through both the Uncompahgre National Forest and the San Juan National Forest, Ophir Pass is a spectacular mountain pass that offers alpine views of the upper Ophir Valley and neighboring peaks. This pass has been traversed for hundreds of years for many different reasons. The pass was originally used by the Navajo natives on hunting trips between the San Miguel and Animas Valleys. In 1878, the tiny mining town of Ophir was established, and by 1881 the new Ophir Pass Toll Road began to carry goods between early mountain settlements. The arrival of the railroad decreased the use of the pass in the early 1890s, and the road became a rarely used wagon road. Finally, in 1953, the modern Ophir Pass that we know today was first opened to Jeeps and other off-road vehicles. While the shelf roads may test your fortitude, the views off of this iconic trail are well worth an afternoon. For Jeep owners, this road is 1 of 6 trails in Colorado recognized as a Badge of Honor Trail. Don't forget to use the Badge of Honor app to check in and get a special badge showing trail completion.