About 180 miles southeast of Moab is a new off-road adventure park started by the Avalanche Engineering folks. The same shop that has built such remarkable vehicles as the Sniper, Assassin, and our giveaway competition buggy-the Karnivore-has set up Avalanche Ranch, a nearly 800-acre facility for 4x4, dirtbike, and ATV enthusiasts. Avalanche Ranch is just a short drive from the college/mountain resort town of Durango, Colorado, where good food and hotels are available. There is also camping available on the ranch. Whether you are looking for a stopover on your way to or from Moab, or a place to wheel and ski or snowboard for a few days, you should definitely put the ranch on your list of places to stop and explore.
While visiting Avalanche Engineering in mid January we rounded up a crew to go explore some of the trails at Avalanche Ranch. The vehicles in our group ranged from near-stock Land Cruisers to semibuilt fullsizes to fully built Jeeps. A layer of snow on the dirt and rock trails guaranteed our day was filled with a variety of challenges...and this was on some of the mid-level trails.
The nice thing about the ranch is that whether you are lazy-day wheelers looking for some good times on mild tracks or extreme wheelers wanting to push your rigs' limits, the different trails are laid out and marked accordingly. With ranch staff around to help out if need be or just point you down the different trails, an exciting time is assured.
The Avalanche Ranch is located almost 10 miles outside of Ignacio, Colorado, on a dirt road off Highway 151. You'll find the old-school ranch sign above the entrance at the top of the hill, but if you need more help, call 970/883-4400 or visit www.avalancheohvranch.com.