Durango to Silverton Colorado route?



T

Ted

Guest
I'm going up to Colorado in late June to do a group touring
ride. I'm planning on getting there a few days before to do
some additional riding. I was planning on riding up to
Silverton from Durango, spending the night, and then
returning the next day. I was wondering about the road
conditions. I figure that 550 will probably have traffic on
it so I was looking for a way to at least avoid it for a
little ways. I see there's a road with number 250 that
starts on the north side of Durango and goes for about a
dozen miles and reconnects with 550. Has anybody riden on
this road? What's it like?

By the way, the group tour I'm going on is the San Juan
Skyway route, going from Durango to Mesa Verde Nat. Park, to
Dolores, to Telluride, to Ouray, to Silverton, and then back
to Durango. I've done it before about 11 years ago and it
was a truely great ride!
 
You might try the train along the river for a completly
different route, if you can still get tickets

Ted wrote:
>
> I'm going up to Colorado in late June to do a group
> touring ride. I'm planning on getting there a few days
> before to do some additional riding. I was planning on
> riding up to Silverton from Durango, spending the night,
> and then returning the next day. I was wondering about the
> road conditions. I figure that 550 will probably have
> traffic on it so I was looking for a way to at least avoid
> it for a little ways. I see there's a road with number 250
> that starts on the north side of Durango and goes for
> about a dozen miles and reconnects with 550. Has anybody
> riden on this road? What's it like?
>
> By the way, the group tour I'm going on is the San Juan
> Skyway route, going from Durango to Mesa Verde Nat. Park,
> to Dolores, to Telluride, to Ouray, to Silverton, and then
> back to Durango. I've done it before about 11 years ago
> and it was a truely great ride!
 
[email protected] (Ted) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> I'm going up to Colorado in late June to do a group
> touring ride. I'm planning on getting there a few days
> before to do some additional riding. I was planning on
> riding up to Silverton from Durango, spending the night,
> and then returning the next day. I was wondering about the
> road conditions. I figure that 550 will probably have
> traffic on it so I was looking for a way to at least avoid
> it for a little ways. I see there's a road with number 250
> that starts on the north side of Durango and goes for
> about a dozen miles and reconnects with 550. Has anybody
> riden on this road? What's it like?
>

From what I recall, 550 has a shoulder on it from Durango up
to around the Tamarron resort. Maybe the first 15 miles or
so of the ride so the need to ride on 250 isn't necessary. I
would think early morning would be your best bet to avoid
traffic, can't say for sure as I've only done the route when
doing the Ironhorse event, Memorial Day w/e. Check if any
road work is to be done, as you would want to definitely
avoid that. Classic ride, that is for sure.

Eric
 
[email protected] (Ted) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> I'm going up to Colorado in late June to do a group
> touring ride. I'm planning on getting there a few days
> before to do some additional riding. I was planning on
> riding up to Silverton from Durango, spending the night,
> and then returning the next day. I was wondering about the
> road conditions. I figure that 550 will probably have
> traffic on it so I was looking for a way to at least avoid
> it for a little ways. I see there's a road with number 250
> that starts on the north side of Durango and goes for
> about a dozen miles and reconnects with 550. Has anybody
> riden on this road? What's it like?
>

From what I recall, 550 has a shoulder on it from Durango up
to around the Tamarron resort. Maybe the first 15 miles or
so of the ride so the need to ride on 250 isn't necessary. I
would think early morning would be your best bet to avoid
traffic, can't say for sure as I've only done the route when
doing the Ironhorse event, Memorial Day w/e. Check if any
road work is to be done, as you would want to definitely
avoid that. Classic ride, that is for sure.

Eric
 
Eric wrote:

> [email protected] (Ted) wrote in message
> news:<[email protected]>...
>
>>I'm going up to Colorado in late June to do a group
>>touring ride. I'm planning on getting there a few days
>>before to do some additional riding. I was planning on
>>riding up to Silverton from Durango, spending the night,
>>and then returning the next day. I was wondering about the
>>road conditions. I figure that 550 will probably have
>>traffic on it so I was looking for a way to at least avoid
>>it for a little ways. I see there's a road with number 250
>>that starts on the north side of Durango and goes for
>>about a dozen miles and reconnects with 550. Has anybody
>>riden on this road? What's it like?
>>
>
>
> From what I recall, 550 has a shoulder on it from Durango
> up to around the Tamarron resort. Maybe the first 15
> miles or so of the ride so the need to ride on 250 isn't
> necessary. I would think early morning would be your best
> bet to avoid traffic, can't say for sure as I've only
> done the route when doing the Ironhorse event, Memorial
> Day w/e. Check if any road work is to be done, as you
> would want to definitely avoid that. Classic ride, that
> is for sure.
>
> Eric

I ride this several days a week (training for the Iron Horse
in 2 weeks). 250 is nice, no real shoulder, but not much
traffic, gets lots of riders, car users are very accustomed
to looking for bikers. 203 runs parallel to 550 on the west
side, intersects with 550 just a few miles below where 250
does. Almost no traffic, not as pretty as 250. 550 up the
valley is not a bad ride either, very good shoulder, but
you'll have more tourists on this road than 250 or 203. Once
you hit Baker's Bridge (remember the jump scene in Butch
Cassidy and the Sundance Kid), you lose the good shoulder,
but it goes to 2 lanes till Cascade Village. Still enough
shoulder, and plenty of riders. From the base of Coal Bank
Pass, you have one lane (for the most part) till Silverton,
but when you are going up hill, and you will be, the cars
have to slow down a bunch, steep road, lots of turns. See
the map for the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic, it is the same
as your itended route. For another 25 miles, better
restaurants and hot springs, stay overnight in Ouray. Plus 3
high passes in one day :) If you do it on Friday June 25, we
can have a beer together, we plan on doing the "death loop"
that weekend.

--
Craig Brossman, Durango Colorado (remove ".nospam" to reply)
 
Thanks for the info. That's just what I was looking for. I'm heading
up to Durango on June 16th, doing the ride the following day. On that
Sunday, the 20th, I'll be starting on a supported tour going around
the San Juan Skyway loop. Of course, we won't be going quite so fast,
doing the loop in a week with a lay-over day in Telluride.
The first day up to Silverton will be by myself. It'll be a real test
for me since I won't be acclimated to the altitude. I doubt I'd have
enough time to get much past Silverton. I should be in Silverton again
on the 25th. If you see a group of about a dozen riders, with one guy
way behind them that's probably me! :)

Craig Brossman <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<Ic6pc.4
>

> For another 25 miles, better restaurants and hot springs,
> stay overnight in Ouray. Plus 3 high passes in one day :)
> If you do it on Friday June 25, we can have a beer
> together, we plan on doing the "death loop" that weekend.
 
Ted wrote:

> Thanks for the info. That's just what I was looking for.
> I'm heading up to Durango on June 16th, doing the ride the
> following day. On that Sunday, the 20th, I'll be starting
> on a supported tour going around the San Juan Skyway loop.
> Of course, we won't be going quite so fast, doing the loop
> in a week with a lay-over day in Telluride. The first day
> up to Silverton will be by myself. It'll be a real test
> for me since I won't be acclimated to the altitude. I
> doubt I'd have enough time to get much past Silverton. I
> should be in Silverton again on the 25th. If you see a
> group of about a dozen riders, with one guy way behind
> them that's probably me! :)
>
>
> Craig Brossman <[email protected]> wrote in
> message news:<Ic6pc.4
>
>
>>For another 25 miles, better restaurants and hot springs,
>>stay overnight in Ouray. Plus 3 high passes in one day :)
>>If you do it on Friday June 25, we can have a beer
>>together, we plan on doing the "death loop" that weekend.

Have fun, if you need any other information, just email me.
BTW, be careful about being on top of Molas or Coal Bank (or
any of the passes) after 1:00pm that time of year. Most days
it really is no problem (they are not all that high compared
to the mountains above, and those 2 are not above tree
line), but weather can come in quickly. Every year a few
folks in Co. get killed by lightening strikes (often at golf
courses), and even if electricity is not a problem, weather
can get very nasty, including cold and snow, at that
altitude any time of the year, and it can happen with
suprising swiftness!

--
Craig Brossman, Durango Colorado (remove ".nospam" to reply)
 
> I figure that 550 will probably have traffic on it so I
> was looking for a way to at least avoid it for a little
> ways. I see there's a road with number 250 that starts on
> the north side of Durango and goes for about a dozen
> miles and reconnects with 550. Has anybody riden on this
> road? What's it like?

I think you are referring to the old road. If so we rode it
last year. It is quiter, but also quite a few houses where
cars can come out any second, barking dogs, etc. It is a
nice road but the main road is not bad, has a wide shoulder
so it is quite safe. Higher up traffic is slow. Main danger
is retired people with enormous buses, trailing cars and
boats etc behind.

We came over twice coming first from Crested Butte and then
going back over the Red Mountain Pass headning for Fruita.
Found Silverton an odd place, always seemed to rain, place
is dead until the train arrives then the place is full och
people and locals peddle trinkets for a couple of hours and
then it is absolutely dead again.

Per http://www.lowdin.nu/MTB/Colorado/Singletrack.htm
 
Per Löwdin wrote:

> We came over twice coming first from Crested Butte and
> then going back over the Red Mountain Pass headning for
> Fruita. Found Silverton an odd place, always seemed to
> rain, place is dead until the train arrives then the place
> is full och people and locals peddle trinkets for a couple
> of hours and then it is absolutely dead again.
>
> Per http://www.lowdin.nu/MTB/Colorado/Singletrack.htm
>

Silverton is just ... well, Silverton. You'ld probably be a
little odd too if you frequently got snowed in to any road
traffic :) Molas to the south (10,900) and Red Mountain to
the north (11,000).

--
Craig Brossman, Durango Colorado (remove ".nospam" to reply)
 
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