From its amazing, panoramic, mountain views to its beautiful valleys, blue lakes and flowing streams, the Colorado Rockies is a destination that satisfies like no other. As a UTV enthusiast, the crave for an adventure ride in a remote destination such as this puts Colorado towards the top any bucket list. During the height of last year’s pandemic, we made the call to check off a few bucket list destination rides and the Taylor Park UTV Rally had been on our radar for quite some time. We made the trip, and by golly, it was AMAZING! So amazing, that coming back in 2021 was an easy choice. We even brought some friends!
Nestled in beautiful Taylor Park in Almont, Colorado is the Taylor Park Reservoir. There you’ll find the Taylor Park Trading Post, the home base for the Taylor Park UTV Rally. Its location is central to a vast trail system that stretches hundreds of miles through the surrounding national parks and mountain towns. The Trading Post offers great accommodations including cabins, full hook-up RV sites, primitive camping, bath houses, a gift shop and even a restaurant.
Each morning after a solid breakfast, we loaded up the UTVs with everything we could possibly need for our mountain ride and began our adventure. With many mountain passes to explore, it was fairly easy to rack up 80+ miles each day. Dozens of scenic trails are at your leisure, it was great to find them well marked and mapped for easy navigation. With a wide range of trail options in this vast and mountainous playground, we took it upon ourselves to befriend a local enthusiast who led the way to some of his favorite spots. THANKS REX! We definitely enjoyed the routes as they covered about everything you could ask for in a Rocky Mountain trail ride, including scenic overlooks and mountain tops, lakes, rivers, wildlife, and abandoned mining towns.
For this adventure, the STUFF crew linked up with the guys from one of our favorite vendors: Seizmik. I hopped in with Steve in Seizmik’s Polaris RZR PRO XP, so you may notice some special images in our gallery that feature some cool Seizmik products including their new Photon Side View Mirrors. Steve just installed the new High Lifter Long Travel Kit for the PRO XP as well, boy you could really tell the difference. Not only did it feel much smoother on the rocky terrain, but we were able to handle some pretty gnarly stuff with ease! In case you’re wondering, we should have High Lifter’s new Long Travel Suspension available on our site soon!
Although we packed lunch for our rides, there are surprisingly a few little local spots to grab some grub. One town that is a popular stop is Pitkin, founded in 1879 it is known as Colorado’s first mining camp west of the Continental Divide and home to the historic Silver Plume General Store. We had an awesome lunch at the Silver Plume Grill, just outside of the shop. Great food, we recommend it!
In last year’s story, we got specific on which trails we took on our daily rides. I’m not going to go into much detail this time as we covered so many trails this year, we’d have a heck of a long story! LOL. As you can see by the pics, it was definitely awesome. When you get a chance to ride out here, you’ll have no problem finding a great trail or two to ride. The Taylor Park UTV Rally’s website lays out several popular options along with the trial’s difficulty. Every route was excellent in my book!
After a full day of trail riding, we made our way back to the Trading Post and into the Rally’s event area. There, a variety of vendors are set up for attendees to visit including a few aftermarket parts companies like Seizmik, KMC Wheels, EFX Tires, and Fuel Off-Road.
Each evening the Rally has the nightly Rider’s Rendezvous. Attendees gather under the event tent to receive daily announcements, hear from guest speakers, and try their luck on winning some great giveaway prizes. One of the best parts about the Rider’s Rendezvous, aside from prizes I suppose, is getting the hear attendees share their riding stories from the day. In light of stories from the trails, it’s also a great time to plan rides for the following day. Plus, getting to know everyone at the Rally is a huge perk as the Rendezvous is followed by a fantastic evening of fellowship with great people!
All in all, the Taylor Park UTV Rally was a huge success! From epic scenery and great trail riding to the area’s rich history, Taylor Park offers an amazing adventure for all UTV riders and off-road enthusiasts. With the Rally comes a great group of people that all come together sharing the same passion, you’ll quickly find yourself making new friends. So don’t be shy, get your plan together can join us at the 2022 Taylor Park UTV Rally next year! We guarantee you’ll love it!
For more info visit – http://www.taylorparkutvrally.com/
Keep your junk on the trail!
We did!
Great write up and great photos. Sorry I didn’t get to say hi this year……the free beer guy. Rick
Thank you Rick! Looking forward to that beer next year!
Hey billy, nice meeting you at the rally, We were with you on the ride to American flag mountain, we have the 4 seat Honda talon live valve, good article!!! Hope to see you next year,
Andrew
WAS THERE FOR RALLY, QUITE BY ACCIDENT. JUST WENT FOR A WEEK AT TAYLOR. MET A NICE VENDOR AT THE FLAG ON HILL, THEY SHOWED US THE WAY DOWN ON OTHER SIDE OF FLAG. WE WENT UP ITALIAN CREEK ROUTE, CAME BACK DOWN TO THE LAKE WITH TORN BOOT. WENT TO SEE RALLY BOUGHT WHIPS FROM NOCO, LOVE THEM. FORUN A USED AXLE FROM ATTENDEE, FOR CHEAP! THE NOCO MECHANIC PUT IT ON FOR ME IN LESS TIME THAN IT TOOK TO INSTALL WHIPS, I WAS AMAZED. IM FROM FORT WORTH TEXAS AND WILL GO BACK TO TAYLOR TO RIDE TEACUP? NEST SUMMER. STILL THANKING GOOD LORD FOR RALLY BEING THERE, IT SAVED MY TRIP!