Imogene Pass Trail

Imogene Pass is the 13,114-foot road crossing between Ouray and Telluride, the second-highest vehicle pass in Colorado, and the course of the Imogene Pass Run every September. Most people cross it in a jeep. Hiking it is a 17-mile point-to-point day with about 5,300 feet of climbing on the Ouray side and a long descent past the Tomboy mine ruins into Telluride, and it is on this site because a steady stream of runners and hikers ask about it.

From Ouray, the route follows Camp Bird Road up Canyon Creek past the Camp Bird Mine, then turns onto the Imogene Pass road, which climbs through Imogene Basin in steep, rocky switchbacks. The grade is unrelenting above the mine, and the last mile to the pass is loose shelf road with the Sneffels massif filling the view west. The pass itself has the remains of a stone shelter; Fort Peabody, a 1904 guard post from the mining strikes, sits on the ridge above it at 13,365 feet and is a short scramble.

The Telluride side drops through Savage Basin past the Tomboy Mine, once a town of 900 people, with cabins, boilers, and mill foundations spread across the basin. The Tomboy Road then descends the north wall of the Telluride valley in long switchbacks, with the town and the box canyon below, and ends on Oak Street at the top of Telluride. Runners cover the whole thing in 3 to 6 hours; hikers should plan on 8 to 10.

Camp Bird Road (County Road 361) leaves US 550 just south of Ouray. Passenger cars can drive the first 5 miles to the Camp Bird Mine area, which cuts the hike to about 12 miles; beyond that the road is real 4WD. Park at the wide spots near the mine, not in front of gates. The Telluride end is the top of Oak Street at the Tomboy Road, in a residential area with no parking; the hike needs a second car or a driver, since the road between the towns is 50 minutes around by Colorado 62 and US 550. No fee or permit.

Dogs are allowed; the jeep traffic is the hazard. This is not a kid hike. The route climbs from 7,800 feet in Ouray to over 13,000, so altitude, not distance, is what stops people. Water is available from creeks in both basins with a filter; there is none on the pass. The Tomboy ruins are on private and Forest Service land and are unstable; look, do not enter. The shorter version, Telluride to Tomboy and back, is about 9 miles with 2,000 feet of gain and is the day most visitors actually want. Ouray and Telluride both have every service, and the Ouray hikes page has the Perimeter Trail and Yankee Boy Basin.