Four corners tour

Top of Black Bear Pass

It is easy to get to this spot from HWY 550 -but the drop into Telluride is a bit hairy - this Disco was rock solid on it and this exact trip made me a believer in Land Rover. The LR4 - if you have HD can do this route - but after July 4.

Camping etc

Camp sites can be found - especially along the routes below the treeline - but you have to look a bit.

Tucsontom, nice pics. Some of these places will have to wait a few years it seems...

Tom will certainly know the Silveton/Ouray area much better than I! I plan on picking his brain the next time I'm headed to Ouray. Maybe end of September.

BTW, one tool I have found very useful when laying out road trips - if you are an iPad user - is the InRoute app available for iPad and iPhone. Its like Google Maps on steroids. For example
- You can save routes as bookmarks and open them up so you can swap between different options
- You can easily establish waypoints either by searching or pointing
- You can easily rearrange waypoints to change order or start/end
- You can create/change a layover or departure time for any/all waypoint. Great for a multi-day trip or when you plan to spend 2 hours exploring a national park
- You can view/choose alternate routes for intermediate segments as well as the whole trip
- Now here is the really cool part: you can display a graph of things like precipitation, temperature, elevation, wind and even "curviness" along the route based on hourly weather predications for the area you will be in at the time you drive through it. This was a great help in March when we had to choose a route from Moab to Scottsdale. We saw that snow may be hitting Flagstaff. So we plotted a couple of different routes, save them, then switched back and forth and played with the departure times to choose a route the avoided the snow. The chart is a line graph with the X-axis showing either time or distance and the Y-graph being whichever one of the above items (and others) that you want to display. The graph also shows sunrise, sunset, the waypoints you have defined your start/end and weather alerts. And if you zoom in on the map the graph will zoom accordingly.

The one drawback is that you cannot download/save maps. And it relies on Google Maps or Apple Maps to provide audio turn by turn directions.

If you use an iPad you should check it out. (It may work for Android as well. I just haven't looked into that.) I think it is free unless you want some of the more convenient charts and maybe a couple of other features in which case it is something like $12.

Thank you Dan. This app definitely sounds useful for what we will be doing.
I'm really excited about this trip just wish I would have had the opportunity to do it a little later during early summer.
Tom definitely seems to know his way around Ouray/Silverton I've also gotten great advise on ExPo.
I'm gonna miss this when I have to once again be an urban explorer. Only a few weeks left of this beautiful Southwest area which is why this is all happening so fast.
Alright I'm going to check this app right away.

PS: I'm indeed an iPad/iPhone user, even though I'm starting to think that Apple needs to revolutionize their products or I'm going to end up being an Android user...

Just my humble opinion, but given the time of year and your desired route I would focus on southern CO (San Juan Mountain area - Tom's area), Moab and southern Utah and Grand Canyon. The beauty and variety in that sort of trip would be incredible. The San Juans are arguably the most beautiful mountains in CO and should have plenty of snow on them to make them even more so. You know Moab.

Now, if you have don't Southern Utah you really need to do that. Utah 12 is probably one of the most outstanding scenic highways in the country. From Moab you can get to it by going north to 70 then west to Utah 24 (just before going up through the San Rafael Lift which in itself is pretty awesome and worthy of a short side trip.) South on Utah 24 to Hanksville (don't miss Goblin State Park as you head down 24 towards Hanksville) then West to Capital Reef NP. Don't miss that one! Then pick up UT12 to Boulder, UT, Escalante area, Bryce, Zion, etc. Then take US89 down to the Grand Canyon. As you return home from the Grand Canyon you can hit Monument Valley and possibly Goosenecks State Park and if you really want a side trip you can drive up the Moki Dugway and go check out Muley Point where I camped on my way to the Expo.

If you have enough time in the Capital Reef area, consider driving the Burr Trail Rd. that connects Boulder, UT with Hwy 95. There is an incredible short (1/2 mile) hike after a 3 mile, relatively easy 4x4 drive up Muley Twist Canyon to Strike Point from which you can get an amazing view. This is just before the Burr Trail switchbacks down to Hwy 95. And there is also a very nice drive through Long Canyon. Be sure to bring your camera! I can send you pics if you are interested.

If you are even more adventuresome there is an alternate way to get to Hwy24 and Goblin State Park from I70. Rather than taking Hwy 24 south just east of the San Rafael Lift you go on up through the rift and somewhere (I would need to look it up) you catch a relatively easy but very remote dirt (and sometimes muddy) road that takes you south and then east past Temple Mountain, then past Goblin State Park and eventually out to Hwy 24. I did this in reverse in January and it took me about an extra 2-3 hours including stops for lunch and photos. Incredible views.

I do suggest doing the So Utah portion of the trip going East to West. That way the sun is at your back when you head out in the morning. I did the opposite in January and each morning I would be driving into the sun which diminished the view.

There is also a book I found very useful called, "Scenic Driving Utah".

So we decided to do the trip the other way around in the hopes that The San Juans/Ouray will have dried up a little.
Only one night in Grand Canyon, 5 in Moab, one in Denver and finally from the 7th until early morning on the 12th of June we will be based in Ouray and then head back down to Albuquerque for one more week before driving to NYC.
Dan, I got the app you mentioned, inRoute. It should be useful.
When you were in Moab what trails did you do. I remember that we both did the one in the Arches National Park, I also did Onion Creek but not much on the Sands Flats. Have you done some there? Anyone else? Besides the compos and duratracs my LR4 is stock. I did a few "********" trails just fine respecting the LR approach "as slow as possible, as fast as necessary" and all is well.
I'd like to do Fins 'n Things, Hells Revenge and such.
We might also spend an afternoon white water rafting.

Moab and the San Juans

Axle and Dan, grill me about Silverton Area - anytime -people have told me - outside of certain parts of Alaska - there is no prettier mountain areas in the U.S. So far that seems to be true. Dan - I am saving all your comments since I have never explored Moab. Right now I am in Crete with my wife and 2 girls - exploring in a VW Golf! Not a lot of opportunities for off road here! But September Moab and the San Juans are still on my mind. Now all I need is delivery of the LR4 in late August. I think I will hold off on sliders in order to get a Baja Rack and do the Compomotive/tires change. Peace out!

AxelR said:

So we decided to do the trip the other way around in the hopes that The San Juans/Ouray will have dried up a little.
Only one night in Grand Canyon, 5 in Moab, one in Denver and finally from the 7th until early morning on the 12th of June we will be based in Ouray and then head back down to Albuquerque for one more week before driving to NYC.
Dan, I got the app you mentioned, inRoute. It should be useful.
When you were in Moab what trails did you do. I remember that we both did the one in the Arches National Park, I also did Onion Creek but not much on the Sands Flats. Have you done some there? Anyone else? Besides the compos and duratracs my LR4 is stock. I did a few "********" trails just fine respecting the LR approach "as slow as possible, as fast as necessary" and all is well.
I'd like to do Fins 'n Things, Hells Revenge and such.
We might also spend an afternoon white water rafting.

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This sounds like a great trip, Axel! Something your wife and you will be able to talk about for years to come. As for Moab, there are others who have more experience to me as I have just begun getting a taste for it. Here are some suggestions, though.
- Potash Rd -> Shafer Trail Switchbacks (up) -> Islands in the Sky NP -> Dead Horse State Park. Definitely explore a bit of the paved roads in Islands in the Sky. You get a very different perspective when you are on top compared to when you are down in the canyons or by the river. You could do this loop in either direction. I would probably do it in the reverse of what I just told you but that's because I prefer to go down narrow switchbacks so I can pause at each corner to see if someone is coming up and wait. This is not a terribly challenging drive. People have done it in much less capable vehicles but some have regretted trying. Probably the roughest part is the section at the bottom of the switchbacks. You can see Potash Rd from Dead Horse State Park.
- I like Hurrah Pass which is a relatively easy drive west out of Moab. You can continue on to Chicken Corners but it will take much longer and I'm not sure the view is that much better.
- If you have the time, you should explore the Needles district a bit as well. Mostly paved roads up on top but great views once you get out to the edge. From the Anticline Overlook looking to the north and down, way down, you will see the Hurrah Pass road winding along. From the Needles Overlook you can look down on the rock formations that form the Needles. Although I haven't yet had time to do this you can also drive into the bottom of the Needles district which, again, gives a wholly other perspective.
- I haven't spent any time in the Sand Flats area or that whole area east of Moab. Others will need to help you out there.

None of what I have suggested are trails which are primarily for the challenge of off roading. They are routes which are highly rated for their scenic value first and a difficult value that won't be a problem if you are alone in a stock LR4. I use the Utah Trails books, Moab Region by Massey, Wilson and Titus. It is a bit dated with respect to trail conditions but it includes scenic ratings which we have found very helpful. Those books usually provide a bit more history or other background on the trail which we find interesting. For more recent info on the trails I check the routes against the Funtreks book for Utah. They don't always match up names/routes but they are close enough.

If you get a chance to drive Utah 12 coming from the Grand Canyon I highly recommend this. And if you do I can tell you about a route that runs past Goblin State Park (off Hwy 24) and on past Temple Mountain and eventually comes out on I70. (Pics of this trail/road below.)

1 - Goblin Valley State Park. If you are familiar with the Tim Allen movie Galaxy Quest the scenes where Tim Allen fought the rock monster was filmed here. (I have kids that were in their early teens then!)

2, 3, 4, 5 - View from along Temple Mountain Rd that eventually connects to I70

BTW, the turn off of Utah 24 to Goblin Valley State Park is on a little way north of the turn off of 24 going east towards The Maze and a number of remote and challenging 4x4 trails.

Thank you Dan. This trip is actually without my wife. She has to work until mid June (forensics pathologist), lots of murders and other deaths down here in ABQ.

Thank you for all the suggestions, they're much appreciated.