Heading out to Pitkin for the first time next week. Just a couple of questions, as I know several of you in this forum have ridden there:

1. When you were at Pitkin, did you stay in a nearby hotel or camp? If you camped, did you find any camping facilities with showers or water?

2. Did you need any sort of Colorado permit to ride?

3. Can anyone recommend a jet size for the 2000 SP500 for this area? Is changing my main jet even neccessary? -- I've received various, conflicting responses on this in the past--but getting very close to needing to make a decision on this issue.

Thanks in advance. Everyone has been very helpful in there advice!

 

Hey!, I'm heading up to Pitkin with about 8 other guys for a week long trip on August 10th. We were planning on taking over the town, but I see that we'll have to have a rumble for it now :*). I did a three day scouting trip to find a camping spot and scope out the area about four weeks ago, so the area is fresh in my mind. The town is at about 9400 foot altitude,and some of the passes are at about 12,200. I have phone numbers for the cabins in Pitkin, or you can check out the area at http://www.pitkincolorado.com . There is no restaurant except for a small store that sells burgers, nachos, and pizza during the day, and only certain days. You can ride into town and all over the passes, including over Cumberland pass into Tincup and Taylor valley. I know Colorado honors any other state's atv stickers, but I don't know what happens if your state doesn't use them. Let me know if you want to correspond about the area, I'm at lorrin.lee@bruden.com if you want to send me Email. I don't think that there are any public showers in the area except back down the road about 6 miles to the small town of "Ohio". We camped in the national forest though, so I'm not sure if the official campgrounds had showers. The camp grounds are on the other side of Pitkin, head out of town past the General Store (that's it's real name). There is one gas pump at the General store in Pitkin, it has mid grade gas for $2.28 a gallon, and is only open during the day. We liked riding into town in the morning to get coffee and snacks at the general store, and sit in the rocking chairs on front porch to talk with the locals. I felt just like I was sitting on the porch in "Petticoat Junction" (oh,oh, age clues being given). I was planning on getting a picture of me doing a wheelie down main street, but the ATV speed limit is 15 mph in town. I have a detailed forest map of the area if you want some pointers.

Lorrin[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

The US Forest Service visited me while I was unloading my Quad in St. Elmo, CO. Yes, they were looking for my Colorado sticker. Yes, you need one even if you've got a sticker from your home state. $15.25
They use the money to pay for people to check for stickers. What a country!
I rode my Expedition 425 up to 13,110 feet without rejetting. I believe that the quads leaving the factory now are jetted lean to begin with, so you probably can get by without rejetting.
In the Ouray area, the USFS has set up "Day Fee" stations, which extracts another $2.50/day from your wallet. Luckily, I have a "Golden Passport", which us old timers can buy from the Govm't, and that lets me by for free. I suppose next year they'll have "Day Fee" booths at all the passes.
Hope this helps some.