Ophir Pass & Owl Creek Pass Jeep Trails

June 26, 2016 - Our next Jeep adventure into the San Juan Mountains near Telluride, CO was the Ophir Pass Road.  This road was originally established as a wagon road between the mines around Ophir and Telluride to Silverton.  After the Rio Grande Southern Railroad was completed in 1890 the road was only used as a time saving route for light wagon traffic. 

 

We had received a notice about two weeks ago that the Ophir pass had been snow plowed and was open.  We also had read and heard that even after the road  was plowed you would possibly drive through snow walls up to 20 feet high at the summit.  We did not want to miss the opportunity to experience such a trail. 

You can run this trail from either Silverton area or Telluride area.  We elected to start from the Telluride area via Highway 145 and then turning off at County Road 630 from the Telluride side which changes into County Road 8 on the Silverton side, toward the Town of Ophir. According to the town web site, the Town of Ophir was established in 1881 and sits at approximately 9,700 feet surrounded by 13,000 foot peaks. The Town has 74 homes with roughly 180 residents. Once a bustling mining town, Ophir is now a family community filled with outdoor lovers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Along the way there are a number of mines located on the mountainsides.  Many have been wiped out by the weather and avalanches which abound in this area.

 

 

 

 

Once we drove through the aspen lined road we came upon the very narrow, rocky shelf part of the road. The shelf road is not wide enough to have vehicles pass each other. So it was a good thing that we could see all the way around the 1/2 mile shelf road to make sure there are no vehicles on the road so off we went.  We stopped a couple times for photo opts of the Ophir valley and the beautiful surrounding mountains.

 

 

 

 

Taken from the shelf road.  Town on Ophir in valley

 

Shelf road

 

 

Once safely on the other side of the shelf road we were close to the summit and the well known snow walls.

 

Shelf road in the background

 

 

We had a fun time driving through the snow walls and even watched some snow boarders with dogs cruise down to the road from above almost landing on the Jeep as Jack drove through it while I took photos.

 

You can barely see the snowboarders in the snow above the road.

 

 

We made it to the very rocky summit at 11,789 feet.

 

 

After the summit the road drops down to the Red Mountain basin and eventually connects to Highway 550.

 

 

 

Once reaching Highway 550 we decided to go to Silverton, CO for lunch and eat at the well known Handlebars Restaurant.  The service was friendly and the owner of 26 years came to our table to give us the history of the building which included a bowling alley, bank, and hardware store.  We loved our sandwich and Peach cobbler dessert.

 

 

 

After lunch we headed to Ouray, CO and then home - but wait - there's more !!!!

 

As we passed by Ridgway on the way home, we saw a sign at a dirt road turn off that sounded like it was calling our name and tugging on our steering wheel...Our side trip included a trail called Owl Creek Pass, a 1885 cattle-drive trail. This road included about 46 miles of scenic and popular drive over Owl Creek Pass and to Silver Jack Recreation area.  As many areas around Ridgway, CO boasts, this area is also known as an area where scenes from How the West Was Won and True Grit were filmed. Along this route winds through national forest and river basin country.

The peaks of Chimney Rock and Courthouse Mountain stand strong in our view most of the climb up the Owl Creek Pass road.   As typical on many Colorado roads, this road was lined with tall white-barked aspen trees, spruce and fir, rivers, reservoirs, and seas of wildflowers.

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

After the summit we make our way to the 325 acre Silver Jack Recreational area.  The Silver Jack Reservoir is remote and few services are available.  There are campgrounds with toilets but there are no RV hookups and literature says no reservations are accepted.  The lake/reservoir is beautiful and quiet as only hand-propelled watercraft are permitted on Silver Jack Reservoir.  Once we soaked up the beauty of the lake and area we head home.

 



 

 

Lots of scenery throughout the day.  We thoroughly enjoyed our two Jeep trails.

 

 

'The World is big and I want to have a good look at it before it gets dark.'  John Muir