Our Pictures of Hikes in the San Juan National Forest - 10/2000

This was a trip we took while living in Santa Fe, New Mexico (Nambe to be more precise). We took a break from all the hiking we were doing in Santa Fe and went north to see the Aspens turn color. They were awesome. The pictures are taken with an old digital camera, but you can still see how spectacular the scenery was. We camped out initially about halfway between Durango and Dolores off of highway 160. Found the national forest by driving through a neighborhood and then into the woods. It was getting dark so we stopped when the road came to a closed gate and pitched camp. Never saw another person the few days we were there (which was lucky for us as we had the road completely blocked)! We then went on to Dolores.

Dolores is a great little town and the people were friendly (can't say the same about Durango). We went camping up the road to Telluride. The steeper the mountains the harder it can be to find access into them. I think we went all the way to Telluride and then had to turn around and come back to find an access road that went off to the east on highway 145. We camped and hiked along this road for a few days. Eventually, the road went right over the mountains and we came out in Purgatory (or whatever it is called now-a-days) on highway 550. Got our moneys worth out of the 'ol Bronco on that drive.

The hiking was great. We were mainly on an endurance (how long before we just have to get out of the woods and get back to civilization) camping trip, but got plenty of hiking in. The steep terrain can be a challenge, but the views are worth it. We always like having the wilderness to ourselves and these woods were great for that. Don't think we ran onto another person. Of course, school was already back in session, and that might have helped in that regard.

If you ever get the chance, this is a trip worth taking. Start in Durango and go west on 160 until you get to Dolores. You can then take 145 to Telluride and highway 550 back down to 160 to complete the circle. Access to trails and forest can be a challenge on 550. We had better luck on 160 and 145.

National Forest road between Dolores and Telluride - Fall 2000