Black Bear Pass
Can you drive to the top of the pass and then turn around and return to Hwy 550 in a regular pick up truck. I've seen vids of the section from the Stairsteps into Telluride and I know my truck is no...
Forum Discussion
Other than one special event a year (don't know which one since I never went to it) that road is a one way road from the top down, so no, you can not drive to the top then back down.
The road is a 2 way only from the bottom to the waterfall which is before those switchbacks.
I've driven it a number of times with our 4 wheel drive club in the Wrangler we once had and also with our Cherokee. Even with these vehicles with highly modified suspensions, traction aids, and tight turning steering that trip down and through the switchbacks is no cake walk. Pictures never fully convey what it's really like once you're on some of these roads out here.
Even if one has many years of experience offroading, those switchbacks will test your nerves. Some of those corners are off camber and can lift a tire through the turn. You try to do a multipoint turn to get around a corner and while you're mashing the brake pedal to the floor, the vehicle can continue to slide through a steep, loose corner. There's a reason so many people die trying to come down that road.
Andy
The road is a 2 way only from the bottom to the waterfall which is before those switchbacks.
I've driven it a number of times with our 4 wheel drive club in the Wrangler we once had and also with our Cherokee. Even with these vehicles with highly modified suspensions, traction aids, and tight turning steering that trip down and through the switchbacks is no cake walk. Pictures never fully convey what it's really like once you're on some of these roads out here.
Even if one has many years of experience offroading, those switchbacks will test your nerves. Some of those corners are off camber and can lift a tire through the turn. You try to do a multipoint turn to get around a corner and while you're mashing the brake pedal to the floor, the vehicle can continue to slide through a steep, loose corner. There's a reason so many people die trying to come down that road.
Andy
