| Difficulty: | Number: | Miles: | Altitude: | Obstacles: | Time: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easy Graded | FR 33, Cnty 10 | 21.20 | 9,692 to 11,492 ft. | NA | 2-3 hours |
South Park Ranger District
Fairplay, CO 80440
Closure
August - Best
September - Best
Accessed:
FT 1988, Black Powder Pass
FT 698, Old Boreas Wagon Road
FT 40, Baker's Tank (Hike, Mtn Bike, Horse)
FT ???, Hoosier Ridge
From Fairplay, CO. head east on US-285 North for 9.3 miles. Turn left onto Boreas Pass Rd and go 0.5 miles. Continue onto 8th Street for 269 feet. Turn right onto Broadway and go 0.2 miles. Continue onto Boreas Pass Rd for 3.1 miles. Turn right to start up the Boreas Pass Road.
The town of Boreas, now a ghost town, was constructed at the summit, primarily to house workers to clear the line in winter. The post office at Boreas Pass lasted until 1905 and the station burned down in 1934, after which the rail service was discontinued. The largest stucture at Boreas was the 57 by 155 foot stone Engine House that included an engine turn table, water tank and coal bin within the structure. It burnt down in 1909 and today only the outline of the foundation exist in the bursh along side the pass road.
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Stone Engine House |
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A 600 foot snowshed was later extended to 997 feet with doors on the Breckenridge end to keep out drifting snows. In 1898 a depot was built onto the snowshed for the comfort of boarding passengers. All these amenities failed to foil Boreas winters. Elevation at the top of the Pass is 11,481 feet. Winds are constant, strong and icy. Snow is unending. The winter of 1898-99 was particularly severe. Snows began early; by November, trains and tracks were under ten feet of snow. Clearing the tracks, always costly and time-consuming, became impossible and no train ran between February 6 and April 24, 1899. Boreas Station was all but deserted by 1905. The line was abandoned in 1937 by the Colorado & Southern, along with most of the company's narrow gauge right-of-way. After World War II, the Army Corps of Engineers reconstructed the route for automobile traffic.
On the south side of the pass Como started as a tent town, built by the railroad to house the thousands of workers laboring on the line. Temporarily the final stop, the rails brought hordes of adventures, drifters and opportunists eager to reach Leadville during the height of the silver boom. Some entrepreneurs stayed, built stores and provided services. Little remains of the booming railroad junction that was Como. In its time, the town boasted a large roundhouse (the stone portion still remains though the wooden section was destroyed by a 1935 fire), a depot, the 43-room Pacific Hotel (also destroyed by fire in 1896 and replaced by the current, smaller one), saloons, shops and tenements.
The early residents of Como were Italian immigrants who named the town and the nearby lake after Lake Como in Italy. Coal mining had brought them to Como operating the railroad and mining the coal necessary to run the trains became the primary employment in the area for many years.
The discovery of gold in Tarryall Creek in the 1860s brought scores of fortune seekers expecting to share in the riches. They found a cold welcome at the settlement of Tarryall City, the best sites were claimed and newcomers were not wanted (nick named Grab All by the newcomers). Hamilton was soon established on the other side of Tarryall Creek, named after Earl Hamilton. From the start, the two towns were rivals. They refused to build a bridge across the creek (anyone foolish enough to want to visit Tarryall City, the Hamilltonians said, deserved to get his feet wet). They competed for gold and for culture when traveling plays or dignitaries came through the area. Hamilton won out, attaining a larger population in its first year. It had a post office, scores of saloons and gambling houses, and for a time its own mint. John Parsons minted coins valued at $2.50 and $5.00 from 1861 until 1863, when he moved to Denver.
Tarryall City was known for little besides its unfriendliness and greed. It did become the seat of Park County government for a short while, but its population never matched its rival across the creek. Despite the district's production of $2,000,000 worth of gold between 1859 and 1872, Tarryall City was a ghost town by 1873. Hamilton fared little better as both town sites are under dredge tailings from dredging Terryall Creek in the 1930s.
Beyond Como just as you start to climb from the valley of Terryall Creek is Robert's Cabin near the town site of Hamilton.
On the south side of the pass just above Hamilton and Robert's Cabin is Rocky Point. In the 1950's when the Army Corps of Engineers constructed the road over Boreas Pass they followed the historic railroad right of way, except for Rocky Point. Here they chose a steeper bypass to avoid the large amount of blasting that would be required to widen the road around this point.
At 1.2 miles below the summit on the north side of the pass was the train station called Farnham, or Farnham Spur. Named for its postmaster, W.H. Farnham, the site boasted little except its dreams. A promotional letter in the Summit County Journal by J. B. Farnham (presumably a relative of the postmaster's) confidently touted the town's potential as a resort. The Breckenridge Daily Journal gave additional credence to the plan. Farnham did have a store operated by Wilbur Wood and Calvin Pike. Pike also served as the local agent for the 7:40 Mine, located on the south side of Bald Mountain, about one tenth of a mile northwest of Farnham. This mine was sometimes called the 7:30 Mine after a miner's joke that described heading to work at 7:30 AM and arriving at the mine at 7:30 PM just in time to turn around and head home. The spur loaded railroad cars with concentrate from the area mines including the Warrior's Mark below the railroad grade near Dyersville.
Going from Como to Breckenridge the steam locomotives would need to stop to replenish water in the boiler. The first stop six miles up was at Selkirk, the second was at the summit of Boreas Pass. The third stop was at Baker's Tank four miles below the summit. Normally steam engines could go 30 miles before needing more water. The steep grade of Boreas Pass required the more frequent tanks. At Baker's Tank their is a remaining water tank with its large spout that would be lowered over the tender to fill the engine. The original Baker's Tank was only 9,305 gallons, which was not enough to keep up with the steam engines. In 1910 the Denver, South Park & Pacific railroad replaced the original tank with the one you see along the right of way today. This new tank came from the Pitkin side of the Alpine Tunnel and fueled the steam locomotives that went through the tunnel under the continental divide. Ore from the nearby Mountain Pride Mine was also loaded onto the train at Baker's Tank. There was also a coal station and 350 feet of spur track that lead from the main line down to service the mining camps at Indiana Creek.
Below Baker's Tank was the town of Argentine in an open meadow along the rail line. It was a small town with about 20 buildings including cabins, businesses, and well built homes of the mine owners. It's post office was closed in 1883. Nothing remains at the site today.
Just outside of Breckenridge is Barney Ford Hill, named for a former slave who made a fortune in the mines, lost it in a bust, but persevered to reestablish his wealth. Barney Ford panned for gold in the 1860's and as that boom waned, established one of the finest hotels in Denver, the Inter-Ocean Hotel. The silver and lead carbonate boom in 1880 brought Ford back to Breckenridge. He opened Ford's Chop Stand which quickly became the best restaurant in the area. Though the Chop Stand was destroyed by fire in 1896, Ford's home, considered in its time one of Breckenridge's finest cottages, still stands.
Jessen, Kenneth Ghost Towns Colorado Style, Volumn 1, 1st ed. Loveland, Colorado: J.V. Publications, 1998. Print.
Jessen, Kenneth Ghost Towns Colorado Style, Volumn 2, 1st ed. Loveland, Colorado: J.V. Publications, 1999. Print.
Boreas Pass Auto Tour Fairplay, Colorado: Pike National Forest, South Park Ranger District, 2014. Online.
There are a few more minor cuts and fill areas as you continue along the pass road. Shortly you will come to a wide sweeping curve and Baker's Tank.
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Baker's Tank photo by: Adam M |
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Baker's Tank photo by: Adam M |
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The trail from the earlier parking area comes down from behind the water tank. Boreas Pass road gets wider after the tank and on coming traffic will be easier to see. The road contiues south high above Indiana Creek heading to a wide saddle, the top of Boreas Pass.
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Boreas Pass Station photo by: Adam M |
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The reconstructed station and out buildings area at the top of the pass as well as a box car. The foundation of the old stone engine house is also near by. The road continues south toward Como staying wide and well maintained.
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Boreas Pass road photo by: Adam M |
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Boreas Pass road photo by: Adam M |
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As you get lower in altitude and enter the forest you will come to a section of road that has a steep climb over a short ridge. This is the section of pass road that is not orignal. It bypasses Rocky Point due to the amount of rock work it would have taken to widen the railroad grade. At the lower side of the hill is a wide section where you can park and walk the old railroad line to Rocky Point. There is also a short section of narrow gauge railroad to here to give you an idea of what the whole line would have looked like.
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Rocky Point photo by: Adam M |
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View from Rocky Point photo by: Adam M |
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After Rocky Point the road winds down through the trees around a series of large looping switchbacks. You will come down to an intersection with County Road to near Robert's Cabin. Head left and follow the county road to Como and the highway to Fairplay.