So, the kids are about to go back to school in a few weeks (crazy!). We established a few years ago, that the week before they go back we do a "week of fun".

Since work has been heavy, I haven't gotten to go camping this year. The closest to wheeling I have this summer is the dirt road that is Shrine Pass.

With that, I started looking into some easy trails that we could do in our 4Runner. We took it up over Imogene last year just fine. It's a 97 with e-Locker. I'm always amazed at how well it does.

I'm curious about the Alpine Loop. I think this would be awesome but trying to figure out some logistics. From what I can tell, it is about 7 hours to do the loop. I'm assuming that is without stopping. That makes for a very long day on the trail with two kids (8 and 5yo). I have thought about going from Lake City to Ouray one day and then back the next. The downside to that is the setup/tear down of camp. Would love to figure out a way to just be able to setup camp somewhere and go from there.

We have 4 days to work with (Sunday-Weds, 8/7-8/10). If you have ideas let me know. Really just wanting to get away for the time that we have.

Thanks!

I just did the Engineer side of the loop 10 days ago, in my girlfriend's Nissan Frontier. Used 4x4 but not even close to needing a locker. There are some steep step downs between the top of Engineer and Animas Fork. The Animas Fork side of Cinnamon is steep and a few steps coming down to Lake City, but nothing too bad. Lots of rented Jeeps & such on the trail.

Plan on spending some time in Animas Fork, its pretty cool. They are doing lots of restoration on the old buildings and you can walk through them all and check it out. 7 hours would be a quick trip, with no stopping. And there is lots to stop and look at.

I'd consider staying in Silverton if you want to make the trip over two days, it's not far from Animas Forks, and you could avoid the extra work of camping. I can't really figure an easy way to do it otherwise. Lots of off the grid camping up there.

A pretty sweet little drive, no real 4x4 necessary, and lots of camping & fishing is the "Cebola Creek" (Gunnison County road 27) that goes between Powderhorn & Slumgullion pass. The Mason family campground & Deer Lakes camp ground have lots of good camping & fishing. The whole drive would only take a couple hours if you didn't stop, but I'd consider just driving in and camping in those spots and driving out from there each day.

It's my hunting/stomping grounds so I know it pretty well. Hit me up if you want more info on the area. You can also access Los Pinos pass, Dome Lakes, Sagauche Park all from near there.

So, how long does it take do Engineer? I've seen a few postings that Cinnamon is about a 2.5 hour trip without stopping. I'm trying to judge how long it would take round trip from Ouray or Silverton. It looks like it is about an hour from either to Animas Forks.

I really want to do one of the trails but can't really figure out a good way either without a really long day on the trail.

Based on the wife wanting more formal camping than just finding a spot, we're looking at Molas Campground which is just 10 minutes from Silverton and seems like a good base for just relaxing. We may have to "settle" for some of the other trails in the area like Ophir, etc. and come back another year for the loop. I don't want to force the kids and the dog to just one long car ride.

Thanks for the advice as always!

It took us 3.5 hours to go from Lake City to Animas Forks, with only a couple stops. I didn't hurry, and usually was pretty quick to allow faster drivers to pass us. We got a late start, and decided to take 550->50 home to Gunnison because we didn't want to do another 3 hours off road late in the afternoon/evening.

I don't remember the drive from Animas Forks to Silverton taking 1 hour, but didn't keep track specifically. There was a RV type campgrounds near AF, if you were interested in that. I can't remember the name of the place.

Good info on this area, I'll be putting this away for a future trip.