Colorado's Top 6 UTV & ATV Riding Spots

[@dalepellerin]

The Tincup Pass to Hancock Pass through the Ghost towns of St Elmo, Tin Cup and Pitkin is the most beautiful route I have ever offroaded and I've offroaded everything there is to off-road in Colorado and Utah. The fact that there are open general stores within a couple of the ghost towns just adds to the experience. Loved the Alpine Loop and Imogene as well but something about that Tin Cup Pass loop on through to Pitkin and back around coming out near Salida, offers so many places to stop and enjoy the scenery. Love 'em all.

[@ATVG]

Awesome insight. Thank you for your comment. I'm sure others will find it useful when planning an outing!

[@flubby1982]

Great video and some nice spots. Maybe just 2 more to add I love riding between Sargents and Saquache by Marshal Pass. Its not super high elevation, but it is quite remote and miles after miles of open trails. There are plenty of trailheads off 285 right south of Poncho Springs on the west side of the highway. Lots of campgrounds like Storm King for camping, ghost and mining towns and then you can ride into Sargents where they have a gas station and restaurant. A similar type spot is north of Rifle by Meeker that is called wagon Wheel Trail System.

[@ATVG]

Thank you for the info! Looks like a few more places to be sure to check out.

[@kaleyscountrykitchencrafts2843]

Miller Creek Loop and Sleepy Cat Mountain in Meeker, Colorado. Meeker is a very friendly place for off-road and utv/atv riding locations, and the views in the White River National Forest are absolutely unbeatable!

[@ATVG]

Thank you for sharing. We'll look in to these!

[@brianlesperance8749]

Add in Deadhorse-Long Park Loop FR#230 From the west entrance, the road follows a series of switchbacks up a south facing slope. Near the top, the road offers a nice view of the valley and the North Fork of the White River below. After approximately 2 miles, the road enters Long Park. It then splits with the west fork following Long Park Creek and ending at Trough Gulch. The north fork proceeds up Long Park Creek to the divide between the Williams Fork and White River drainages. As you follow the divide to the north, you see the Elk Head Mountains and the south fork of the Williams Fork River below. To the east and south, you see the White River Valley and the Flat Tops. The road follows the divide for approximately 3 miles, then drops back into the White River drainage. As you proceed, you find another junction. The west fork here ends at Missouri Creek and the east fork brings you to the Deadhorse end of the loop. The road descends quickly over a steep, rough and narrow road where it returns to Rio Blanco County Road 8.

[@BobElgin]

One pass is a must between Silverton and Animas Forks. Picayne Gulch . It takes you to the Literal TOP of a mountain . Beautiful place to see 5 or more trails below. The top gets a lil difficult but worth it. Thanx for the Top 6 . Taylor Park has a few 14ers id like to try. " Thanx Fer Sharin"

[@SegoMan]

You forgot to mention the Bonnie Bell Cabin next to the trail..

[@tomquinn03]

We were in Bangs Canyon early April 2023, due to a heavy snow this past winter and recent rains the trails were pretty muddy in spots so we didn't get far as we didn't want to tear up the trails for future users. Super cool area though and would be fun to explore in better weather. Since we were in Grand Junction, we explored the Grand Valley OHV Recreation Area just north of town at the base of the Little Book Cliffs. Heavy motocross traffic but lots to explore. Do note, Colorado requires an OHV permit to ride in these areas. We bought a non-resident annual pass for $25. We have a fully street legal, licensed\plated and insured for street Can Am Maverick X3. We could not get a straight answer out of anyone whether we could drive it on the roads (it's basically a Jeep at this point, at least in my mind) or not, everyone we asked had a different answer. When you say "OHV" you get a different response than if you say "A street legal side by side" So just check around the area you're in...for example: Ouray says don't even think about it, you must trailer to the trailhead, street legal or not. You'll probably get 10 different answers if you ask 10 different people.

[@ATVG]

Thank you for that input. We appreciate the insight. Hopefully it will help a few people out!

[@dalepellerin]

There is no location in Colorado (that I know of) where you can drive a side by side, licensed and/or plated, on county roads and legal roads. There are some places now in Utah that do allow it although many locals will argue that it's ruined those areas with substantial noise pollution.

[@tgharrop]

I'd add Wheeler Geological Area, near Creede, to the list. The 28-mile out n back route starts out easy but, depending on recent weather, is eventually fairly aggressive for typical 4x4s and moderate for ATV/OHVs. But the destination is other-worldly as you end up inside an ancient caldera, so the geological formations, that you MUST explore by foot are bucket list material. And you'll see why they call this Colorado's Badlands.

[@ATVG]

Thanks for the input! That looks like one to definitely check out.

[@adventurewithryanandcrystal]

Good stuff, thank you for sharing!

[@ATVG]

Thanks for watching and for your sub

[@MegSloup]

so we're staying near cripple creek, CO and wanna take our enclosed Can Am around. do we need it licensed here in NE first before we go?

[@ATVG]

Depends on where you're taking it, and if you want to use it as a street legal machine or not. If you're only going to use it on trails (trailer it back and forth to trailheads), then the local permit is all you'll need. Your best bet, to ensure you won't have any surprises, is to call the local DNR of where you want to ride to verify everything you'll need to be legal to ride. They may also be able to provide you insight of riding locations, as well as maps of some areas.

[@anythingthatflys]

You used one of our pictures at the end.

[@ATVG]

That's cool. Would you like to give some context to the picture? If so, let us know all about it.

[@germannevarez928]

don't for get the flat tops north of new castle Colorado

[@ATVG]

Thank you. What do you like about that area?

[@wizdumb76]

are you talking about flat top/peach valley near montrose? I live 5 minutes away, I can pull out of the garage and be on trails before I'm done with my cig lol.