More Roads, Best Make More Time

Volume II, the Green, Colorado and San Juan River Basins

As you will recall, last issue we discussed getting to Leadville without crossing mountain passes. That will not be possible from the west.

There are lots of passes: high ones, low ones, spectacular ones, shelf roads, big drops, little drops, fast curves, slow curves and the inevitable RV or minivan slowing everyone else down.

So there you are, 127 miles west of the Colorado state line on I-70 looking at the top of Black Dragon Wash. You have been lucky enough to cross the basin and range country of Nevada and western Utah on US 50 (sometimes called the loneliest road in America) and you are just about to descend to the Colorado Plateau. You open that Rand-McNally and see that I-70 goes nearly to Leadville. Unless you are in a hurry, you also see that there are other choices. Here are a few.

First of all, there is the direct approach along the Colorado and Eagle Rivers. Take I-70 to Fruita (exit 14), (MAP) exit to the south and climb the west entrance road to Colorado National Monument (NM). If you are a climber, call ahead, make plans, bring a rope and climbing gear and climb a couple of these neat spires. Exit the Monument at the East entrance and follow the signs to the airport (Horizon Drive) or Business Route I-70 to get back on I-70 east. At the exit for the town of Debeque, you can get on the frontage road, that is the old cross-country route, US 6. It parallels I-70 nearly all the way to Glenwood Springs and is a preferable route for driving pleasures. At New Castle, it starts getting built up and it’s a good idea to get back on I-70 for the drive through Glenwood Canyon. This section of I-70 was built after much public debate and opposition. It took a lot of design work to force the 4 lanes of I-70 through here, but many people consider the final result an impressive engineering feat. At Dotsero, you can exit I-70 again to drive the frontage road if you wish. The Colorado River heads north at Dotsero, the frontage road (and I-70) will parallel the Eagle River. Again, this is a nice road and it will take you all the way to US 24 at Minturn. Whether you are on I-70 or the frontage road, turn into Minturn on US 24 and follow US 24 past Camp Hale, Tennessee Pass (10424 ft) and into Leadville. Just a couple of blocks after the jog west to Harrison on US 24 in downtown Leadville, you will see the Hotel Delaware on your left. Stop, park, and come in.

On the other hand, when you leave the Colorado NM you will see signs for US 50. (MAP) Follow these and head for Delta and Montrose. Note the massive formation going up immediately east of US 50. This is the Grand Mesa. The top is practically level and about 10000 ft high. It will be quite a bit cooler up top. You may be getting suspicious that there is a pattern to the use of “Grand” in this country: Grand Junction, Grand Mesa, Grand Valley, Grand Canyon, etc. The Colorado River was once known as the Grand River and was renamed after Colorado statehood. John Wesley Powell’s amazing trip was on the Green and the Grand Rivers. Note the turnoff for CO 141 heading southwest at Whitewater. This lovely road to Gateway goes through Uncompaghre Canyon, a geologically fascinating place. Also, good climbing routes on the wall along the north side of the CO 141 for the next 20 miles or so. Continue along the Gunnison River toward Delta and Montrose. Note the Uncompaghre Plateau on your right the whole way. In Montrose, you will stay on US 50, but note that US 550 (a.k.a. the million dollar highway) goes south to Durango. See notes below. You’re headed for Leadville, so east on US 50 is the way to go. 7 miles east of Montrose is the turnoff for the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, the narrowest and deepest river canyon in the US. Truly a great side trip. Good climbing here, too. East of the Black Canyon, you’ll be in the Curecanti National Recreation Area (NRA) as US 50 follows the shores of Blue Mesa Reservoir to Gunnison. Crested Butte is north on CO 135. Just west was CO 149, a great little road that goes to Lake City, Slumgullion Pass (11361 ft), Spring Creek Pass (10901 ft), Creede and South Fork. Continuing east on US 50, you will cross Monarch Pass (11312 ft) and drop down to US 285, where you will head north to US 24 and Leadville (see last issue).

Other approaches to Colorado from the west include the northwest corner, US 40 and the southwest corner, US 160 or US 666. From either of these highways (I-70 as well), Colorado looks a lot like Utah. That’s because, geologically speaking, all of western Colorado shares the Colorado Plateau with Southeast and East Central Utah (and parts of New Mexico and Arizona).

Let’s start at Jensen, Utah on US 40. (MAP) This is the turnoff to the dinosaur quarry at Dinosaur NM. Dinosaur is really two parks in one. The west part is the dinosaur quarry and the rest of the park has the canyons of the Green and the Yampa Rivers and the confluence of the two up at Echo Park. The dinosaur quarry is an interesting building built around the actual dig site that provided many dinosaur skeletons to museums around the turn of the last century. The parking lot may be quite busy and the shuttle may be in use at the end of July. It will also be hot, as the Colorado Plateau country is a desert with average annual rainfall of less than 10 inches. Farther east and into Colorado is the road to Echo Park. This is a long side trip and you must come back out the same way. This road leads to the confluence of the Yampa and the Green Rivers. The Yampa flows west from the west side of Rabbit Ears Pass and the Green flows out of Wyoming into Dinosaur (at the spectacular Gates of Lodore) from the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area (NRA). I think this road is paved now and provides a spectacular view of the canyon. Just west of the NM HQ (at the Echo Park Road turnoff) is CO 64. This intersection provides the first of many choices of routes to get to Leadville. Next issue we will continue east on US 40 to Craig. Turn southeast on CO 64 toward Rangely. Just east of Rangely CO 139 heads south over Douglas Pass (8268 ft) to the Colorado River just west of Grand Junction. This road has big views of the Colorado Plateau country and a great look at Colorado NM all the way from Douglas Pass. I have included this route because it takes you to Loma, the Colorado River, I-70 and the west entrance to Colorado NM (see above). You could also have gone east (MAP) toward Meeker from Rangely. There are a lot sheep (with their, mostly, Peruvian shepherds) spread around these hills, although probably up as high as they can get in July. Meeker is the only town for some distance. I am told there are serious fly-fishing people hanging out around the streams and rivers east of Meeker. Back on the road, south now on CO 13 toward Rifle, you will go through oil shale country. Does anyone remember Project Plowshare? At Rifle (and the Colorado River) you will head east toward Leadville. See I-70/US 6 section above.

Lastly, until next issue, take a look at the southwest corner of Colorado on that Rand-McNally. This is still on the Colorado Plateau and the southwest corner is the only place in the US where four states meet at one spot. Here the roads generally go across the washes and rivers at fords and bridges. Many of them will be dry in July. Some of them only have water after the occasional big, usually quick thunderstorm. They may flood. Stay on the pavement and the bridges eliminate nearly all of the risk. It will probably surprise you that I’ll tell you the main feature in this area is a National Monument (what did you expect!). This one is Hovenweep and is a bit of an adventure to find. The roads are quite passable, but only one is mostly paved. The others are good gravel (washboard) roads, but very dusty. The Square Tower Group is Headquarters. The other, outlying sites are not hard to find, but the roads are usually worse. Ask for specific directions, at Mesa Verde, Cortez or Blanding on the good road to Hovenweep and enjoy the adventure of finding this little canyon and its spring. Whether you get there by way of US 160 or US 666, you will end up in Cortez. Choices and more choices have to be made here. It is now a question of time, how much do you have? (MAP) CO 145 takes you north along the Dolores River (not a tributary of the San Juan River; it joins the Colorado just outside of Moab, Utah) to Lizard Head Pass (10242 ft). On the other side, you will go by Telluride and join US 550 at Ridgway (look for Dennis Weaver’s energy-efficient house built from old tires and recycled plastics). Here you will follow the Uncompaghre River north to Montrose. Back in Cortez, you could also head east on US 160 (MAP) to Mesa Verde National Park and Durango. There was quite a fire in the Park last summer, so this summer will be a good one for the archaeologists to discover a number of new sites to excavate. Don’t miss Mesa Verde! If it looks terribly crowded at Mesa Verde (a distinct possibility), try to arrange a tour just west of Mesa Verde at the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation. The Utes have been giving personalized half and full day tours of the ruins within the reservation for a number of years now. Most of their ruins have not been rebuilt like the larger displays in Mesa Verde, but are in just as spectacular a setting. The next decision on a route will have to be made in Durango. The big tourist event in Durango is the Silverton & Durango RR. However, make overnight reservations now for accommodations and seats on the train. You may not get a seat on a walk-up basis. Now, the choice. The direct route goes east and we will get to that next issue. US 550 (the million dollar highway) goes north. Some people consider US 550 from Durango to Ridgway the most spectacular highway in the country. The only drawback is the amount of traffic in the middle of summer. If you can arrange it, leave at dawn from Durango and have breakfast in Ouray or Montrose. That will also give you plenty of time to fool around on US 50 on the way to Leadville. US 550 has three passes: Coal Bank Hill (10640 ft), Molas Divide (10910 ft) and Red Hill Pass (11008 ft). Silverton is trapped between these last two. From either Silverton or Ouray, you could take Engineer or Cinnamon Pass to Lake City if you had 4 WD. A wonderful trip through mining ruins and high country. Quite an easy 4 WD trail as well. Don’t try this in your 190SL. Don’t even try it some else’s 190SL. However, I have done Cinnamon in a rented (old) Beetle. Jeeps may be rented in Ouray. There is a developed Hot Springs in Ouray as well. Also, an ice-climbing park is being developed as a winter attraction. Head east on US 50 at Montrose. (See above).

I am advised that there is a bicycle tour coming through Leadville on Saturday, July 28^th. Make your reservations soon for the Delaware. Tell them you wish to reserve off the 190 SL Group block or the Hotel will tell you it is full. Other housing will be very difficult to find if you don’t do it soon. There are alternatives, B&B or condos, but do it soon. See you in Leadville