Paul

No real challenges to speak of. Bumpy in spots, road is dusty, but not bad. Beautiful views of the 14ers to the west. Ran from the North to South. Good views, seemingly good dispersed camping.

Great views. Easy fun drive. I aired down to 15psi and it smoothed it out right quick. 2000 Frontier, 33's, 3" lift, 2019 Tacoma, 31's, no lift. The Tacoma handled it fine. No clearance issues. RESERVOIR IS CLOSED to vehicles and camping, although foot traffic is allowed - USFS closed it for all the dead-standing trees being a fall-hazard. We moved a couple fallen trees off the trail ourselves. Keep your eyes open for falling trees if it's windy while you're up there! The Pride of the West Tunnel smells like sulfur - we didn't venture down it because it could be a suffocation hazard without proper air supply. Keep that in mind that gasses in the tunnel could possibly displace enough air to make you pass out.

Got up there pretty early using a mix of the FS 248.1 (Leavenworth Creek Road/"Argentine Pass" route on Trails Offroad) and FS 248.1B ("McClellan Mountain" route on Trail Offroad). Be advised that 248.1B is very bumpy and overgrown, so there are limited passing spots and a lot of pin stripes. The smoke up there from the fires out in western Colorado was pretty thick. Road is really dry and dusty right now. Not to crowded - explored a few more of the off-shoots around the Waldorf mine site - also bumpy and narrow. Still always a good route and great views of Grays and Torreys Peaks to the West from the top of McClellan Mountain.

Go get it! I've run this trail a few times now and it's always a fun challenge to get up to the parking lot for the plane wreckage. We did it this time in a 2000 Frontier, no lockers, 33's, some lift (2-4"? Somewhere in there...) and a 2001 4Runner, no lockers, 33's, about 3" of lift. Good line choices and a good spotter will help you out. But when in doubt, just send it (just kidding, that how stuff breaks...). If you haven't done this trail before, I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend running it on a week day or REALLY EARLY ON A WEEKEND - the rental company runs ATV and UTVs off of Bunce and this trail gets way to crowded to be safe. We started the trail at about 7:15am and were of the trail by 9:25am the Saturday we ran it. And just in time, as about a dozen side-by-sides were headed into the trail as we were running away.

2000 Frontier, no lockers, 33's, 2" liftt, Green 1999 4Runner, rear locker, 32's, 4" lift, and Gold 2001 4Runner, no lockers, 33's, 4" lift - I've run this a few times this summer with several different guys. Always a good time. I believe the higher end rating is primarily for "The Step" a WP7. The Step is no joke. Can't quite capture it in photos, but it's pretty large and taking the left line is going to give you some pretty big wheel lift on the driver front wheel. It's a very committing line in an IFS vehicle (insert Jeep guys laughing right here). Take it easy, pick your lines, and use a spotter if you can! GO ON A WEEK DAY! This can't be said enough. I ran it really early in the morning on Saturday both times I've done it this year and was off the trail by 8am at the latest.

It's just a dirt road for most of it. Unless you're already there, I wouldn't recommend driving very far to go to this trail. It's long, not too rough, but there are a lot of fun turn offs to see stuff along the way. We did it as a connector from Lake City back to the highway on our way home from Telluride - I'd take this route again to avoid the highway for as long as possible. GREAT veiws, lots of wildlife out there. Looked like a lot of camp spots too.

My first time over Engineer - it's a great road with some of the best views in the area. The trail isn't really all that technical, but there are some spots to watch out for and some one-car-width areas with no passing spots. Ran this in a 2000 Nissan Frontier, 2" lift, 33's, no lockers, and a 2004 4Runner, 2" lift, 32's, no lockers.

I personally really like this trail - it's not super hard, and pretty bumpy the whole way, but the view is awesome and the way the geography and rock formations change is something cool to see. I think you could do this trail in a stock subaru outback - it's not hard. Again, just bumpy. The long rocky stretch on the Ophir side has basically no passing spots - keep and eye out for oncoming traffic and wait your turn so that nobody has to back up - could be dangerous to try it.

SUPER busy (granted, it was July 4th) - this trail is too accessible, so there were a lot of people who had no idea what they were doing. Lots of people who don't know how to use the trails, didn't know how to pass, and were causing problems for trail traffic flow. The lakes are beautiful though, and if you go on a week day or non-holiday weekend, I'm sure it's probably less crazy.

Ran from St. Elmo to Tincup. Did not do Old Tincup (heard there may be people stuck on it blocking the route). 2004 4Runner, 32's, leveling lift, no lockers, 2000 Frontier, 33's, 3" lift, no locker. Good trail, lots of fun challenges for new to intermediate drivers. The main route has some fun challenges both directions that will really test your vehicle if you're running anything close to stock.

Good camping spots, but it gets busy up there. There are some more remote spots that take a bit of searching to get to... Good dirt road all the way though. Could do it in a sedan or a mini van.

Great trail that actually lives up to the hype. There are good obstacles, really steep sections, and killer views. 2000 Frontier, 33's, 2" lift, no lockers, and a 2004 4Runner, 32's, 2" lift, no lockers. No real clearance issues. There are generally easier lines if you can't make a bigger obstacle. That said, there are definitely some spots where you have no other options and you have to commit to a slightly technical line. Ran from Ouray to Telluride.