Where are the best locations in the San Juan Mountains to shoot?

I am planning a trip to Colorado in the last 2 week of September. Where/what are the best locations/subjects to

shoot in the San Juan Mountains w/fall colors and in Colorado in general?

 

Thanks

Hi Rick,

A better place to post this would be here: http://www.naturephotographers.net/imagecritique/bbs.cgi?a=vf10

I'd start by just browsing the first page!

Are you limited to the San Juans? Their fairly remote. Either way if you can make it up towards Aspen, north of the San Juans, the Maroon Bells are probably the most picturesque spot in Colorado. Unfortunately becuase of this, the picture is EVERYWHERE, but it's probably still worth it. I've never been to the San Juans so I can't really help. Telluride is supposed to be REALLY nice.

It has been a few years, but here are spots in teh San Juans that I found photogenic (12 rolls of film worth)

...<p><p><ul>

 

<li><b>Durango-Silverton Railroad</b> - it ain't cheap but it is worth it. If you can arrange it, stay in

Silverton overnight or a couple of nights... .

<li><b>Silverton</b> - hearing the steam train whistles echo and reecho off the mountains will make the hair on

the back of your neck stand up. This is a small mining town turned tourist destination. Pretty good restaurants,

music, and entertainment, Nicely modernized Victorian hotel. It is a completely different place once the

trainloads of tourists leave around 4:00 PM. (9,300') Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was filmed here.

<li><b>Animas Forks</b> - You can probably still drive in there in your passenger car from Silverton. It is

pretty high (11,000') smallish ghost town. Amazing suspension bridges over the river...

<li><b>The Alpine Loop</b> Rent a jeep in Silverton and drive the Alpine Loop. Silverton - to Animas Forks - over

Cinnamon Pass - down to Lake City- then up to Capitol City and over Engineer's Pass then down to either Ouray

and back to Silverton or back down to Animas Forks and then back to Silverton. THIS IS INCREDIBLY PHOTOGENIC.<p><p>

if you don't have time run for the Alpine loop drive out to one of the closed mines in the area.

<li> <b>Redrock Cliffs</b> Durango has some incredible redrock cliffs just up canyon that are amazing when the

sun is setting. They look incandescent...

<li> <b>Ouray</b> is another good base with spectacular mountains. The highway between there and Silverton is

another wonder.

</ul>

From your web-site its apparent that you have been to the San Juan area before, at least once, and I've got little desire to write a lengthy post about the region only for you to conclude that you've seen it all before. So tell you what, if you'll go to the trouble of explaining where you already know, I'll certainly fill in some gaps for you. Also please indicate if you'll be driving a sensible 4x4 with decent tyres and whether you're happy on rough. non-metalled roads.

Thanks for your replies. Yes I have been to Colorado many times, including the San Juan area, but mainly in the Summer and it has been "awhile(especially in the Fall)" I am just trying to plan things so I hit all the best spots and maybe there are some places that are great, but not known to many.

Rick, if you have the time... head a ways north to Montrose, turn right on Main st. and go straight to Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Paved road around the rim with lookouts That are the best I've ever seen. Of course evening and morning are best, but allow at least 2 hours to just explore the lookouts.

Rick,

 

I've been traveling to the area for over 50 years...so my best areas are;

 

The loop from Durango west to Mancos and north to Dolores then on to Rico, Telluride, Ridgeway, Ouray, over Red Mountain to Silverton and back to Dolores. Between Dolores and Rico watch for Hillside Drive...a good road with incredible Aspen shots and overall scenic views. Between Rico and Telluride is Trout Lake...simply beautiful in the Fall. At the end of town in Telluride is Bridal Veil Falls. After Telluride and before Ridgeway on the right is a pullout overlooking the Double RL Ranch (Ralph Laurens) with a cross tied Aspen fence with great vistas of Mount Wilson...and then onto Ouray and Silverton.

 

CBS's Charles Kuralt wrote that this drive is one of the 3 best in all of his world travels and has more 14,000 ft. mountains along the road than all of Switzerland.

 

John Rogers

Austin, Texas

The most seen shots are either the Sneffels Range from Log Hill (north of Ridgeway) or the Dallas Divide between

Ridgeway and Telluride, both just after a slight dusting of snow on the high peaks. The Dallas Divide has an aspen bole

fence that's been used as a leading line in the foreground of so many pictures that's it's almost a cliche now.

Approximately 3 miles north of Rico take County Road 38 to Dunton. From Dunton loop back to Hwy 145 just west of Stoner. The road is gravel but a car can be driven on it with careful attention. A high clearance vehicle will have no problem. Btw, trout fishing is great along the Dolores River and any small streams that feed into it. I started going there 50 years ago.

Here is my list, some locations already mentioned above. Some are for cars, some are for hiking:

 

Gothic Road, Washington Gulch Road and Slate River roads, Crested Butte, CO.

 

Snodgrass Trail, from Gothic Road, Mt. Crested Butte

 

Kebler Pass Road, west of Crested Butte. Largest aspen grove in the world.

 

Owl Creek Pass and Silverjack Reservoir, north and west of Ridgway, County Road 10.

 

Last Dollar Road, just west of Telluride to CO 62. This is a dirt road, use caution if wet. You can take it either way, from Telluride or from CO 62. Not all of it needs 4WD.

 

East and West Dallas Creek Roads, off of CO 62, just west of Ridgway.

Also County Road 5, beginning at the end of Amelia Street in Ridgway, thru Blue Mesa . Many calendar shots of the Sneffels range in snow or fall colors have been taken along these roads. Ralph Lauren Ranch is here.

 

Scenic road from Telluride to Ridgway. CO 145 from Telluride to Placerville and then CO 62 to Ridgway. You can expand this and take US 550 from Ridgway to Ouray to Durango and back to Placerville on the San Juan Skyway, by taking US 160 to Cortez, then CO 145 to Dolores, Rico, to Telluride, to Placereville, and then CO 62 to Ridgway.

 

US 550, million dollar highway, from Durango to Ouray:

 

�Lime Creek (dirt) Road, off of US 550, about 30 miles north of Durango. Both ends of it, the southern end just north of Cascade Village, just north of Durango Mountain Village, and the upper end, between Molas Pass and Coal Bank Pass, especially going from north to south in morning light.

 

�Hermosa Park Road, at Durango Mountain Resort, about 25-30 miles north of Durango.

 

�Other dirt roads off of US 550

 

�South Mineral Creek Road, Silverton

 

�Other dirt roads, east of Silverton, to Animas Forks.

 

Silver Thread Highway, from Gunnison to South Fork, CO 149, Including Lake San Cristobal near Lake City.

 

Joe Smith

Alta Lakes between Ophir and Telluride. Another semi-rough road but a car can make it. The decrepit Alta mine buildings are a short distance before the lakes. My father worked there in the 1940's.

I have never been there before, but I have heard about that place.

With the exception of the miles between Silverton and Ouray over Red Mountain Pass, and a short stretch around Dallas Divide. I don't feel that the best fall foliage opportunities are to be found on the 550/160/145/62 circuit or indeed on any metalled road. If you're prepared to get off the metal in a 4x4 without necessarily opting for a white knuckle 4mph experience then you might try the following. I've limited this to the San Juans though I'd equally recommend the area round Crested Butte, to the north east.

 

You might be interested in the Colorado section on www.photography001.com, though only photographs from my first visit are on it.

 

Ophir Pass from near Silverton to S of Telluride

 

Old Lime Creek Road - a loop off the 550 south of the Molas Pass

 

Last Dollar Road, from near Dallas Divide to Telluride, best near the southern end. Nasty when muddy.

 

The first mile or so of the Alpine Loop/Engineer mountain road where it leave the 550

 

Owl Creek Pass Road, from Ridgeway north to Cimarron.

 

Cushman Lake, south of Telluride. On the main road so a zoo on a sunny weekend day, but in the late afternoon everyone goes back to eat and you could well have the place to yourself in the best light.

 

Cinnamon Pass, accessible most easily via Silverton and ending in Lake City.

 

All the roads leaving the 62 between Ridgeway and Dallas Divide and heading S towards Mt Sneffels have something to offer. West Fork Dallas Creek and Badger Creek Road are two to look out for.

 

Just off the 550 south of Ouray and where the road levels off there's Crystal Lake, within yards on the main road but very hard see from it.

 

Fall Creek Road to Woods Lake, S of Placerville via the 145

 

That should keep you going for a bit. You'll need a Delorme atlas for detail and ideally a good book on 4wd routes. I like "Colorado Byways" by Tony Huegel. You'll get a lot more on these routes than by staying on the metal, but if you rent, read your rental agreement carefully and check that the people renting you the car haven't put ordinary street tyres on it.<div></div>

I would agree with the Durango-Silverton railroad ride. Spectacular scenery. We took the bus from Durango to Silverton and the train back to Durango (about 3hrs IIRC). The Silverton to Durango is the better way because it is down hill and the coal burning steam engine produces a lot less soot - or so we were told by the locals.

 

There is the driving loop through the San Juan Mountains from Durango-Silverton-Ouray-Teluride etc. We stopped at Ouray but next time we are out there we'll do the whole thing. Gorgeous country. Plenty of beautiful scenes to shoot.

 

Good luck.

I agree with many items on Joseph Smith's and David Henderson's lists. I especially like East Dallas Creek Road and Last Dollar Road. Another favorite is a gravel road that goes steeply uphill on the north side of Rte. 62 near the old Ski Dallas ruins. The road heads toward Norwood and in the fall, the high aspen meadows there have gazillions of sheep and good views back toward Sneffels, etc.

 

Not sure if anyone mentioned this, but you can't beat the view from The Point on the edge of Loghill Mesa off Route 62 out of Ridgway. You look straight down 1000' and across Pleasant Valley with the Sneffels Range rising beyond. Catch sunrise on Sneffels or sunset on the Chimney and the Cimmarons.

 

One cautionary note, however. Having been going to this area in the fall for the last 30 years or so, I it seems that the peak foliage time has been creeping from late September into early October -- perhaps as a result of global warming. You could check with locals, but I'd suggest straddling the first week in October instead of going only in September. Some years the color hasn't even peaked until Oct. 7 in that area.