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Engineer Pass
From Dirtopia, The Off-Road Encyclopedia
 Photo: Sunset | |
| Off-Road Information | |
| Other Names: | |
|---|---|
| Terrain: | 4x4/atv/dirtbike |
| Off-Road Use: | |
| Difficulty: | Moderate(5) |
| Camping: | {{{camping}}} |
| Geography | |
| County: | Ouray County |
| Nearest Cities: | Ouray, CO Silverton, CO |
| Map Links: | Google Map |
| Satellite Map: | {{{satlinks}}} |
| Special Map: | |
| GPS Coords: | 37.9887/-107.649 |
| Google Earth: | Engineer_Pass.kml |
| Climate: | |
| Area Size: | |
| Elevation: | |
| Last Visited: | {{{lastvisited}}} |
| Open/Closed/Date: | Closed - Nov 29 2007 |
| Season(s): | {{{seasons}}} |
Excerpt borrowed with permission from TrailDamage.com
This trail is the first half of the "Alpine Loop" outside of Ouray, with Cinnamon Pass completing the second half. It is extremely scenic and very long, filled with many things to photograph.
It starts just south of Ouray on the left side of the road as you are winding your way along the shelf. There is plenty of room to air down at the trailhead, and the trail starts out rocky right away. It gets easier after a mile or two, though. You can pick your lines through most of it and make it as easy or as difficult as you would like.
You follow the Uncompahgre River for quite awhile as you climb. There are lots of old mines and shacks, and the first one is the Mickey Breene Mine. It is large and well-preserved, with plenty of space to pull over and check it out as well as the river below.
Poughkeepsie Gulch is the first trail to intersect with Engineer Pass at 2.3 miles. It starts on the right at a large switchback and is well-marked and easy to find. This trail is much more difficult than Engineer Pass.
Des Ouray Mine is the next mine at about 4 miles into the trail. On your right there is a turn off for Mineral Point and the San Juan Chief Mill (you can see it off to the right). It is a little bit more difficult but you can reach the mill without any difficulty. It is worth the extra trip as it is very scenic. There are lots of trails to explore behind the mill as well.
This section of Engineer Pass features a pit toilet that is very clean. There are quite a few pit toilets on the trails in the Ouray area.
At 7 miles you reach an intersection with signs. If you turn right you will go down to Animas Forks, a large and well-preserved ghost town. You will pass through Animas Forks again if you are doing Cinnamon Pass as the two trails intersect here.
Turn left at the intersection to travel the rest of Engineer Pass instead of going to Anim as Forks. Here the road gets narrow and steep, so watch for vehicles coming down. As you're climbing, watch for a narrow road that goes to the left. This is "Oh Point" -- a short trip to an overlook that is well worth the extra few minutes.
After visiting Oh Point you continue up the mountain and reach Engineer Pass itself at about 10 miles from the trailhead. On the way down the mountain you will pass the Frank Hough Mine, the Palmetto Gulch Powerhouse, the Palmetto Gulch Mill and Rose's Cabin. You will find another pit toilet, followed by the Empire Chief Mine.
When Engineer Pass ends at Lake City 27 miles from the trailhead, turn right at the stop sign to go two blocks. Turn right on road 149 to continue with the Alpine Loop by running up Cinnamon Pass.
Maps and GPS Coordinates
A comprehensive list of GPS waypoints and tracks in Google Earth format can be found here: Engineer_Pass.kml
Engineer Pass Coordinates: 37.9887° -107.649°
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
- Find nearby Geocaching locations
- Find this location with Google Earth
External Links
TrailDamage.com pictures, movies, maps, GPS coordinates and additional trail information.
