Reddit reviews Guide to Colorado Backroads & 4-Wheel-Drive Trails, 3rd Edition

BLM feild Ranger checking in!!

I work out of the BLM office in Kremmling, we frequently go down to Moab to help out their office during busy times.

You can camp anywhere, explore and shoot anywhere on BLM land, It is public use land and unless its posted otherwise you're good.

this is true nationally, we are federal, BLM laws do not vary much by state.

But, be aware, it is not in anyway ok to go everywhere with your vehicle, this gets abused in Moab (we don't have enough people to patrol), stay on the existing trails and don't contribute to homemade trails.

Some links for you;

http://staythetrail.org/

http://publiclands.org/Get-Books-and-Maps.php?plicstate=CO

EDIT: also, buy this book you wont regret it =)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1934838047?pc_redir=1412277252&robot_redir=1

And

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1934838055/ref=pd_aw_sims_1?pi=SY115&simLd=1

Haha, This is the one! There are different areas within it. I always use it!

Guide to Colorado Backroads & 4-Wheel-Drive Trails, 3rd Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/1934838047/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Q9TxzbJ1P6647

>Colorado sometime in early August, but I can't find any published routes.

Wut.

Here's a hardcopy book:

You can get GPX tracks for 4x4 roads here:

As well as here if you join the site:

And of course, there's the Bible of what's accessible, updated annually straight from the USFS:

And you can download free GeoPDFs of those MVUMs here:

Now then. Let's answer your main question. Weeklong route in the Four Corners area? There are literally tens of thousands of combinations of tracks to take. I've started in Carson NF in the dead of the sand off of 285 on a whim one time. Just pulled off the highway straight onto an NF-designated road and threw my plans to power through to the Sand Dunes out the window. Doing some quick scouting, I think it was NF 558 from the bend in the road I remember passing and approximate location. I digress.

You could start there and spend a whole day pretending you're in a Baja truck hitting those sandy whoops. I finally gave up on seeing how far back the road ran when sundown was on my back. Then you could snake all the way to the border adjacent to the highway and burn another two days easily. Or you could just hop on 285, run up to the Dunes, camp and hike there, then roll over Medano Pass and start heading towards Buena Vista. Or swing west and go hit up Telly/Ouray.

You need to remember the large swath of res land in NE AZ and NW NM, but other than that, the Four Corners states are absolute spiderwebs of 4x4 roads that will take you to hiking, biking, camping, crawling, fishing, hunting, and anything else you can imagine.

I recommend these:

https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Colorado-Backroads-4-Wheel-Drive-Trails/dp/1934838047/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1527274746&sr=8-1&keywords=colorado+off+road+trail+books

https://www.amazon.com/Northern-Colorado-Backroads-4-Wheel-Drive-Guidebooks/dp/1934838055/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1527274746&sr=8-2&keywords=colorado+off+road+trail+books

The book you are thinking of is Colorado Backroads and 4-Wheel Drive Trails ... TrailDamage went subscription based but there are 2 new sites being worked on ... 1 from the state that is horribly inaccurate currently and another from a couple of guys in the Denver area. If I can find a link I will add it later.

+1 for paper maps.

We also use the Guide to Colorado Backroads and 4-Wheel-Drive Trails when riding the included trails.

Drive up Peak 10 in Breck. That's a fun and fairly tame one.

Buy this book.

https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Colorado-Backroads-4-Wheel-Drive-Trails/dp/1934838047/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1468947717&sr=1-1&keywords=colorado+backroads+%26+4-wheel+drive+trails

Bushducks.com and Traildamage.com

Go out and get this book, or whatever the most current edition is, and start ticking them off.

I have this book and it's great:

http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Colorado-Backroads-4-Wheel-Drive-Trails/dp/1934838047/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1421346654&sr=1-2&keywords=colorado+trails

I did some red trails in my stock '99 Sahara...probably not again as I feared dropping into Devil's Punch Bowl and dying, but it handled them fine.

https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Colorado-Backroads-4-Wheel-Drive-Trails/dp/1934838047
There is an another volume that covers northern CO.
Not every trail but good information on the ones they have.

I really like the Charles Wells Fun Treks books

Pretty good representation with pictures and trail descriptions, though keeping in mind that everything can change from year to year. He's got two for Colorado at this point, and one for Moab. I also have one for Northern California back when I lived in SF. You can even go to his website and download GPS data to put directly into your GPS.