Originally Posted by JMo (& piglet)

Hi Tam - is your plan to ride the whole TAT as far as Oregon, or are you time limited? Either way, once you reach Trinidad in Colorado at that time of year, you're going to have to reroute around the high passes, as they will still be closed due to snow.

If you stay south (on highway 160) you ought to be able to pick things up again west of Durango/Cortez (ie. Dove Creek on the TAT - heading west towards Monticello) - which is what I did in early 2009 - although again you'll almost certainly have to bypass the TAT section through the La Sal mountains via Geyser Pass - you have two options there, hug the west side of the mountains on trails that run alongside high 191 north (again, what I did in 2009), or take the Lockheart Basin trail which is part of the UTBDR route from Canyonlands up to Moab on the west side of hwy 191.

You're probably going to need to reroute the current TAT once you get north west of Castle Dale UT too, as the mountains between there and Ephraim are also over 10,000ft.

note. you might also have issues still in southern Idaho (between Arco and Sun Valley) depending on what the snow fall has been like that winter.


Otherwise, the majority of the first half (ie. prior to Trinidad CO) ought to remain do-able earlier in your trip as long as there hasn't been too much rain or flooding. When I was there in early March 2009 Tennessee and Mississippi was a mud-bath on the trails, but since the route skips regularly between paved and short[er] unpaved sections, you can work around easily enough and not miss too much.

for info. I was certainly able to ride the Tail of the Dragon and a chunk of the Blue Ridge Parkway prior to starting the TAT in Tellico Plains that year, but it was chilly still.

Things really started to flow on the TAT once you cross into Arkansas, and as long as the weather is on your side (ie. not raining) Oklahoma is navigable too, and you can always use the grid like nature of the road/trail layout to avoid certain washed-out and flooded sections too if required.

Basically, at that time of year you need to be flexible, and be prepared to forfeit all the high elevation passes in CO and UT.

However, one thing I would recommend is take the half-day train ride on the Durango-Silverton [Steam] Railway; and if hwy 550 is open all the way through, then ride that paved road to Ouray and head towards Moab that way - epic scenery and a taste of what the 10,000+ft passes have to offer, even if you're not on the dirt.

Hope that helps!

Jenny x