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I'm leaving Sunday for Silverton, Co. Could one of you who recently made the trip advise which trails are easiest to negotiate and which ones should be avoided (if any) running a stock Commander..Damage is not in my plans. A challenge is a good thing but I'm not equiped for rock climbing. I'm sure there's plenty of trails where one can have fun and enjoy the scenery without a trip to the body shop or tire store.
Thank You,
HT
I would do the ROad trip to Animas Forks Ghost town and then run California Gulch, Huricane Pass & Corkswrew Gulch
The road up to clear lake is easy as well.
In addition to the trails Knappster mentioned, the loop from Animas Forks to Lake City via Engineer & Cinnamon Passes is a easy run. It makes for some spectacular scenery and a good day of trail riding.
I would recommend you buddy up with someone to travel the trails together. You'll find a lot of people run solo by default, but are more than happy to pair up for a run. It's also a good way to make new friends! Although many of these roads are well traveled, it never hurts to have another vehicle in your party just in case.
Thanks for the good advice, I appreciate it... I retreived some good information and GPS settings from traildamage.com about the trails you guys mentioned...Can't wait
HT
I agree with Knappster about Clear Lake, it wasn't a hard run, but the pretty lake at the end was worth the trip. Take a lunch, or at least a chair and relax once you get there. The main road in off the highway had a lot of campers, but there were plenty of beavers to see, and several marmots. The high country was criss-crossed with game trails, so an early morning run would be most likely see something larger than marmots.
There were several waterfalls in the area, as well as numerous wildflowers. We stuck to the main trail, but there were several lesser used spurs in the area that looked like good places to wander and explore. I could have easily made a full day trip out of exploring this area and it appeared all of it could fairly easily be done stock.
I used my XK stock (with skid plates) for a while. My own experience was nothing compared to what I saw Consolidation do during Camp Commander. I believe he has skid plates too. My recommendation would be even if you want to leave your XK stock, at least get a 4Xgaurd front gaurd or similar to protect those radiators up front. IMHO, this is worth it even if you arent leaving pavement.