Engineer Pass, Colorado
An epic trip - 6-hours, 30-miles from Ouray to Lake City, Colorado - with rough rocky patches, switchbacks, shelf roads, and sweeping vistas all the way, reaching almost 13,000 feet at the summit. A Jeep Badge of Honor trail for good reason.
From TrailsOffroad.com: 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, a 30-mile trail, is one of them and is part of a trail now known as the Alpine Loop.
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.
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.
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.
Engineer Pass, Colorado
An epic trip - 6-hours, 30-miles from Ouray to Lake City, Colorado - with rough rocky patches, switchbacks, shelf roads, and sweeping vistas all the way, reaching almost 13,000 feet at the summit. A Jeep Badge of Honor trail for good reason.
From TrailsOffroad.com: 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, a 30-mile trail, is one of them and is part of a trail now known as the Alpine Loop.
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.
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.
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.