Ghost Towns of Vicksburg and Winfield, Colorado

In autumn of 2019, my husband and I took a scenic drive in Colorado into Clear Creek Canyon, between Buena Vista and Leadville, Colorado to visit the silver mine ghost towns of  Vicksburg and Winfield.

We took Highway 24 north from Buena Vista until we reached County Road 390/Clear Creek Reservoir.  CR 390 is an unpaved dirt/gravel road but it is easily traveled by a regular car or SUV.  The surrounding trees along the road and high up in the Sawatch Mountain Range had the beginnings of beautiful autumn color.

There were many beautiful mountain views along the drive.

In about nine miles we reached the town of Vicksburg.

Vicksburg was founded in 1867 after prospectors from Leadville, Colorado, who were camping out in the Clear Creek Canyon lost their burros. The burros had wandered down the creek and when the miners found their pack animals, they discovered gold in the creek bed as well. More than gold, however, the surrounding area was rich in silver and copper. Early miners brought in "Balm of Gilead" (balsam poplar) trees on the backs of burros and planted them to line the main street of Vicksburg, where they still remain

Vicksburg was the second largest town in the canyon, with around 600-700 people during its peak. A museum is open here on some weekends during the summer, run by the Clear Creek Historical Society.  Many of the cabins in Vicksburg are now privately owned and seasonally occupied.

Quite a few interesting vintage mining implements and machines were on display around the cabins.

After visiting Vicksburg we continued on our drive...

...passing an area that obviously suffered an avalanche in winter at one time as many aspen trees lay broken on their sides along the side of the road.

Between Vickburg and Winfield is a small assortment of cabins for rent where more silver-boom towns once stood -- the towns of Rockdale and Silverdale. There are rustic cabins available for daily rent here. We spoke with a forest ranger who was sweeping out a cabin and she told us fishermen, hikers, mountain climbers, etc, rent the cabins all summer.

Continuing on for about five miles we reached the end of the county road and the town of Winfield.

Winfield was founded in 1861 with the first recorded silver prospecting done in 1867. Located on 120 acres at the junction of the north and south forks of Clear Creek, the town made lots of 50×100 free to anyone who desired to build there. In its prime, around 1890, some 1500 people lived in town. The silver market crash and depression in 1893 halted the mining activity in Clear Creek Canyon. There was a resumption in the early 1900s and the last ore was hauled out of the canyon by two-horse wagon in 1918.

Please click on photo to enlarge it

The history of the town is displayed in an open book in the Winfield schoolhouse window.

Two of the buildings are open as a museum during the summer, hosted by members of the Clear Creek Historical Society, while the rest are now privately owned and occupied seasonally.

There were quite a few trailheads located at the end of Winfield. The Winfield Cemetery was a quarter mile down a narrow winding road that would require high clearance 4WD.  Although 26 people are buried there, only two stone marker stones for children remained. In 2016, a descendant of one of the men buried there worked with the historical society to clean up the cemetery and place wooden crosses on the graves.  If you would like to see a local Denver news video about that effort and the story click here.

Can you imagine living such a rugged life at 10,000 feet, all because of hopes and dreams of finding riches in the surrounding mountains? The gold and the silver rush is the pioneer story of the state of Colorado and became the "boom and bust" of many a town.  To see more Colorado mining ghost towns visit my post on the Independence Pass Ghost Town--click here--and Saint Elmo Ghost Town--click here.

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Crested Butte to Monarch Pass--an Oh Be Joyful Route!

In my last post--click here-- my husband and I drove from Buena Vista, Colorado, over Cottonwood Pass to Almont and then Crested Butte, Colorado, where we decided to stop for lunch before continuing back to Buena Vista, using Monarch Pass for the return trip.

When we entered Crested Butte, the skies opened up and it began to rain heavily.  We parked about midway on Elk Avenue, which is the main street in town and had delicious sandwiches at The Last Steep Cafe,  named after the Owners’ favorite North Face ski run at Crested Butte Mountain Resort and Ski Area.

This was our second visit to this colorful and bohemian style Colorado ski town.  On our first visit, we happened to arrive in town on the day of "Vinotok," which is a storytelling and fall harvest festival with ancient roots and is a long-standing annual event in Crested Butte, that takes place on the autumnal equinox.  If you missed that post you can read it here.  It is a really very colorful and raucous celebration!   More about the town of Crested Butte and our visit can be read here.

The rain had decreased to a light drizzle so we walked along Elk Ave. a bit after lunch enjoying the sights...

...and all the beautiful flowers that were everywhere in town.

The name "Oh Be Joyful" is common in Crested Butte. There is a gallery, a church, a creek, a trail, and a recreation area with that name. From what I could find after doing some research is that the Oh-be-Joyful name was first applied to the creek in the 19th century after valuable ore was discovered in the gulch.  I think it is the perfect description for the entire joyful town!

 As we drove out of Crested Butte we passed beautiful scenery...

...and drove towards the Sawatch Mountains and scenic Monarch Pass.

Monarch Pass is located on the Continental Divide at the southern end of the Sawatch Range along the border between Gunnison and Chaffee counties, approximately 25 miles (40 km) west of the town of Salida.

During the summer, an aerial tram from the parking lot at the summit carries visitors to the top of Monarch Ridge above the pass (at approximately 12,000 feet (3,700 m) above sea level), allowing a wider view of the surrounding peaks. During the winter, visitors enjoy skiing at Monarch Ski Area. Monarch Mountain Lodge is located about 5 miles from the summit of the pass.

The pass can be traversed by all vehicles under most conditions and is generally open year-round; however, 7% grades exist, and the area is prone to heavy winter snowfall, often resulting in temporary closures during severe winter storms.

An automated weather station (AWOS), provided by the Federal Aviation Administration, is located atop Monarch Pass, providing pilots of small aircraft access to real-time weather conditions near the summit.

There are many curves and downhill grades on Monarch pass but the views are spectacular!  If you'd like to see some photos of how it looks in winter on a ride we made to Telluride. Colorado, click here.

As we descended out of Monarch pass we passed the remnants of the Madonna Mine, a lead, zinc, and silver mine located at an elevation of 10,751 feet which was mined from 1883 until 1953.

Soon, we were back on the Collegiate Peaks Scenic and Historic Byway on our way back to our hotel in Buena Vista, Colorado.  We were not finished exploring the area and would head the next day towards some mining ghost towns near Leadville--more in a future post.

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I'm linking this post to the following blog events:

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 Hearth, and Soul Link Party, You Are the Star Blog Hop, Inspire Me Monday,  Good Random Fun, Nature Notes, Grand Social, Travel Photos, Photo Tunes, Happiness Is Homemade, Over the Moon, Our World Tuesday, Ruby Tuesday, Tuesday Turn About. Tuesdays With A Twist, Let's Keep In Touch, Wordless Wednesday on a Tuesday, Say Cheese!,  Party in Your PJ's, Wordless Wednesday, Nanahood WW, Oh My Heartsie Girl's Wonderful Wednesday, Your Whims Wednesday, Worldless  Wednesday My Corner of the World, Wonderful Wednesday,  Little Things Thursday, Thankful Thursday, Thursday Encouraging Hearts and Home, Full Plate Thursday, Friendship Fridays, Friday Features Linky Party, Skywatch Friday, Funtastic Friday,  Pink Saturday, Saturday Critters, 

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