and River Hill Pass
| Difficulty: | Number: | Miles: | Altitude: | Obstacles: | Time: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easy 3 | FR520, CR3 | 36.60 | 9,085 to 12,588 ft. | NA | 5-6 hours |
USFS, Divide Ranger District
BLM, Tres Rios Field Office
13308 West Hwy 160, Del Norte, CO 81132
29211 Highway 184, Dolores, CO 81323
(719)657-3321
(970)882-7296
Closure:
CR3, Natural - Closed by heavy snows
July - Best, mid to late
August - Best
September - Best
October - Early snows may close the pass
Accessed:
Continental Divide Trail - Horse, Hike
Squaw Creek, FT814 - Horse, Hike
Weminuche, FT818 - Horse, Hike
Pole Creek, FT820 - Motorcycle, Horse, Mountain Bike, Hike
Lost Trail, FT821 - ATV, Motorcycle (less than 50"), Horse, Mountain Bike, Hike
From Creede, CO. head west on West 7th Street toward Rio Grande Ave. Turn left onto Rio Grande Ave and go 0.3 miles. Turn right onto Colorado-149 N and go 19.5 miles. Turn left onto County Rd 520/Forest Service Rd 520 and go 0.5 miles. Take a slight left to stay on County Rd 18/Forest Service Rd 520 and continue to follow Co Rd 18 for 2.8 miles. Take a slight left to stay on County Rd 18/Forest Service Rd 520 and go 15.8 miles. At this intersection continue west on the Stony Pass 4WD road.
By 1875 stagecoaches and wagons could be used to cross Stony Pass, though they had to be tied to trees and lowered down the steep sections on the north side of the pass. In 1879, Bill Harwood and forty men from Del Norte finished upgrading the toll road over Stony Pass.
The first stage stop along the Stony Pass route was at Antelope Springs, now the Broken Arrow Ranch, located in Antelope Park. During the 1880s stagecoaches left Antelope Springs on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, arriving in Silverton the next day. The site was named due to a salt lick near the springs that attracted antelope and deer. In 1875 George Alden and his brother Gustavus, who were sign painters in Del Norte, came to Antelope Springs and started a halfway house on the stage line between Del Norte and Lake City. George Alden became the postmaster at Antelope Springs in 1877, later in 1878 Mrs. Crowley became postmaster. One event of note at Antelope Springs happened in 1878 when on a Sunday Christina Alden went to register several letters at the post office. Mrs Crowley said that she couldn't register the letters, but would the following day. Christina snatched up her letters and stormed out, with final words that Mrs Crowley's hired girl was only there to attract business. Mrs Crowley then called Christina Alden a slut. On Monday George Alden went to the post office with the letters and challenged Mrs Crowley to repeat the insult she had thrown at his wife. Tempers flaired and George Alden called Mrs Crowley a whore. Things continued to escalate as Montie Moreland, Mrs Crowley's son, put his .44-caliber revolver into his belt and marched over to George's place demanding an apology. The argument ended up on the road in front of the stage station, where Edward Mennswisch, a German immagrant, was having a noon meal. As the argument progressed Montie tried to strike George on he head with the butt of his gun, when it went off and hit George in the thigh. George struggled with Montie and managed to disarm him, calling out for help before he collapsed. Edward Mennswisch and Christina, George's wife, carried George into the house, his boot full of blood from the wound. They laid him on a bed where he shortly died from loss of blood. Montie Moreland surrendered to the Justice of the Peace at Wagon Wheel Gap where he pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He was sentenced to 7 years in the penitentiary at Canon City. After George Alden's death, Christina Alden sold her property at Antelope Springs in 1879 to Jackson Soward who, with the help of his sons, started a sawmill in the area, as well as expanding the wayside services. This diversification allowed the Sowards to remain in the valley and benefit from the Lake City traffic as the Stony Pass traffic waned.
The next stage stop was at San Juan City, at the north end of Antelope Park. It was established by an Englishman named Harry Franklin who had a cattle ranch in the area. Captain W. H. Green built a cabin at San Juan City, and when Hinsdale County was established in 1874, San Juan City became the county seat, and Green's cabin served as the courthouse. In early 1875 the county residents decided to move the county seat to Lake City. The Brooks House, owned by C. W. Brooks, catered to individual travelers or small groups. James P. Galloway took over operation of the Franklin Ranch in 1876. He expanded the stage stop by building corrals, shops, and storage building making it a trasnfer station for the Stony Pass route. Today the Freemon Guest Ranch occupies the site. The combination stage stop and store is still standing at the ranch and used as the office of the guest ranch. San Juan City was a transfer station on the Del Norte to Silverton route. Here loads from heavy wagons were transferred to pack mules for the trip over Stony Pass. James Galloway ran the freight station and transferred 500,000 to 600,000 pounds of freight a year. Eventually the trail over Stony Pass was improved so that wagons could make the crossing.
Lost Trail was a stage stop north of present day Rio Grande Reservoir. The name Lost Creek is attributed to the Ruffner Expedition (Army Corps of Engineers) in 1873. The party was following a Native American trail north of the present day Rio Grande Reservoir when they lost the trail in the willows, naming the area Lost Trail. In 1875 the Veits brothers drove 140 head of Missouri cattle to Lost Trail and set up a "milk ranch". The following season they drove their cattle to Parrott City and the mines in the La Plata Mountains. In early 1877 John T. Barber set up the Lost Trail Station on the site. The Barber's expanded the operation in 1878 and got a post office. The road from Antelope Park to Lost Trail was also improved. The traffic began to slow after 1882 and by 1883 the family had left the station. Only the barn remains, being used by the Lost Trail Ranch. The stage station was along the road to the barn.
Past Lost Trail the route crosses a knoll into Brewster Park, a long meadow. About a quarter of a mile into the park was a small station called Carr's Cabin, or Jennison, developed by Charles and Irene Jennison in 1874. Jennison got a post office in 1875, but then closed after Charles death. In March of 1875 Charles Jennison was in a saloon in Del Norte and had an altercation with Thomas Chandler, who shot Jennison in the chest, killing him immediately. Irene remained on at the their cabin and made some improvements. In 1876 the Greene, Juhle and Company established a break of bulk point at the head of Brewster Park below Timber Hill. In late 1876 Irene Jennison sold the Jennison station to Joel Brewster. In 1877 the post office was reopened by Joel Brewster, but closed again in December. In 1878 Joel and his sons purchased the station below Timber Hill and moved their operation to that location to put distance between them and the Lost Trail station. In 1879 Joel opened the post office at the new site called Timber Hill, his wife being the postmistress. The new post office remained open until January 1881, with the station closing in the fall. Today nothing remains of the Timber Hill station.
After the steep climb over Timber Hill the Stony Pass route came to the Junction City stage stop. It was located in a meadow where Bear Creek enters the Rio Grande River, below Pole Creek. In 1894 Junction City was laid out as a transportation center. John Doherty opened a saloon and a Salida man started a real estate office. The town was mainly tents and a few cabins. Nothing remains in the meadow today. Past Junction City the Stony Pass route crossed Pole Creek and climbed up the narrow valley of the Rio Grande River to its headwaters below Stony Pass. In a small meadow where the Cunningham Pass trail leaves the Stony Pass route, the small stage station of Grassy Hill was started by William Downing Watson in 1878. The station had a post office in 1879, with Nancy Watson as postmistress, which closed the following year. D. J. Shaw had a liquor license and a cabin near Watson's. It can be assumed that Shaw's cabin was the saloon for the stage stop. From Grassy Hill the route climbs a few switchback to the top of Stony Pass.
After crossing Stony Pass the next established site was Niegoldstown. Niegoldstown was started in the early 1870s as a mining camp. Reinhart Niegold came to the San Juan Mountains from Germany, followed by his brother Gustav and their half brother Oscar Roedel, staking claims in Cunningham Gulch. One being the Old Hundred mine, as well as the Philadelphia mine. By 1875 the Niegolds mines were earning them $200 to $1000 per ton in silver ore. Their success prompted them them to purchase 15 tons of machinery for a mill and had it packed over Stony Pass. Once set up the mill proved only partially successful due to the complexity of the silver ore. The brothers founded Niegoldstown at the confluence of Stony Creek and Cunningham Creek, which included a hotel, boarding house, a post office from 1878 to 1881, and a store. In March of 1884 an avalanche destroyed the mill and three buildings.
The end of Stony Pass as a route to Silverton for freight and passengers came in 1882 when the Denver & Rio Grande railroad completed its grade from Durango to Silverton along the Animas River. After that only sporatic use of Stony Pass happened.
On August 26, 1910 the first automobile crossed Stony Pass. Dr. David L. Mechling of Denver, who owned the car, and John McGuire of Outdoor Life Magazine, and Louis G. Wyman, Sr., a San Juan County commissioner, drove a Croxton-Keeton automobile, a French touring car, over Stony Pass. Even with the four-cylinder, 30 horsepower car they had to clear boulders and build some sections of the road. Climbing up the Rio Grande valley they passed the contractors camp, where the men were building the Rio Grande Reservoir Dam, originally called Farmer's Union Reservoir. They had many flat tires and some mechanical problems. Horses were used to pull the car up Timber Hill and up the final ascent of Stony Pass.
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Croxton-Keeton being pulled over Stony Pass, Louis Wyman Collection |
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On the way down the north side of Stony Pass they had to stop several times to let the brakes cool. The 110 mile trip from Del Norte to Silverton took five days. The arrival of the first automobile in the Animas Valley was meet by blasts of dynamite, a banquet, and general celebration. Many of the local residents had never seen such a contraption. By 1913 the automobile was catching on and many old wagon roads were being improved to be automobile roads. Because Stony Pass could not be easily upgraded for cars it became abandonded for the more favorable Molas Pass route.
Louis Wyman came to the area as a mining prospector in 1876. He shortly saw the challenges of mining, tried a mining-materials freighting business, and eventually settled into real estate, building Silverton's historic Wyman Hotel in 1902.
With the completion of the Rio Grande Reservoir and the inundation of the valley, three miles of the Stony Pass wagon road were under water. It took until 1915 for the irrigation company that built the dam to finish the new road around the reservoir. In 1937 the pass road beyond Lost Trail was improved for ore trucks making trips to the Beartown mines near Kite Lake. At Timber Hill the main work was adding switchbacks to the road to climb the steep ascent.
Lost Treasures
Temple Cornelius, an old timer in the San Juans, wrote a book on the lost treasures of the area. One story recounts the tale of two men working in Ophir who illegally obtained several bars of bullion and traveled east over Stony Pass. They were caught in an unexpected snow storm and realized they would not make it to Del Norte carrying the heavy bullion. Legend says they cached the bars near Sweetwater Park (a short creek on the east side of Timber Hill) where the old grade separates from the new. The search for this lost treasure has left some depressions around Sweetwater Park.
Another story is of three wagons full of sacked silver ore from the Beartown mines was brought down. They were escorted by scouts who rode ahead looking for highway men. The scouts discovered robbers hiding behind a large rock on the east side of Timber Hill. In the fight that took place only one of the scouts survived riding back to warn the teamsters bringing the wagons. Upon hearing of the robbers the teamsters began unloading the sacked ore into a nearby swamp, but before they could finish the third wagon, the robbers rode up and killed all the men. The robbers took the remaining wagon of ore into Silverton and sold it, never returning to retrieve the cached silver ore still in the swamp.
Smith, P. David The Road that Silver Built, 1st ed. Lake City, Colorado: Western Reflections Publishing, 2009. Print.
Jessen, Kenneth Ghost Towns Colorado Style Vol 3, 1st ed. Loveland, Colorado: JV Publications LLC, 2001. Print.
Kindquist, Cathy E. Stony Pass Silverton, Colorado: San Juan County Book Company, 1987. Print.
Wolle, Muriel Sibell Stampede to Timberline Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, Ohio University Press, 1949, 1974. Print.
Twitty, Eric Historic Mining Resouces of the San Juan County, Colorado United States Department of the Interior: OMB No.1024-0018, Print.
The road will now head up Stony Gulch. You will pass a spur road on the right that goes over to a private home. Continue to the left and you will cross the creek. Where you cross back over the creek you will pass another spur road to the right that goes to some tailings. The road will now be above timberline. You will continue up the gulch passing a large tailing pile on the right. After climbing two switchbacks you will cross the head of the gulch and come to Stony Pass.
Note: From here on the description is from Google Earth as I have not driven this part.
Just over the pass on the left is the Loop Trail connection. Past this is the Stony Pass Mine tailing just below the road on the right. The Weminuche Wilderness will be along the right side of the road now. You will come to a wide spot in the road where the Continental Divide Trail intersects, and follows the road. Continuing you will come to another wide spot where the Continental Divide Trail leaves the road on the left. Continue down the gulch and you will cross a small creek. This the head of the Rio Grande River. The road will now loop around the southwest side of Sheep Mountain. You will pass through some sparce trees and then come out into an open area below Sheep Mountain. After dropping down two switchbacks and passing through some more pines you will come out onto a large flatter area on the right. At a small wide spot in the road, the Cunningham Trail will head back up the gulch and follow Deep Creek back over the divide to Cunnigham Gulch. Lower down by the river was the site of the Grassy Hill stage station.
The road will continue down the valley following the Rio Grande River. After about 0.40 miles from the Cunningham Trail the Weminuche Wilderness will no long be along the right side of the road. You will pass a few small drainages off of Greenhalgh Mountain on your left, as well as a dispersed campsite on the left. The road will continue down the valley finally dropping off the bench it has been on, to come along the river again. Here you will cross another gravel drainage off the hills on the left. Continuing you will pass a spur on the right that goes to a dispersed campsite. Past this campsite you will come to a wide area with two more dispersed campsites. The road will cross Pole Creek next to where it merges with the Rio Grande River and then it will climb up onto a bench. You will pass a spur road on the left that goes to the parking area for the Pole Creek Trail (motorized). Continue on the main road and you will pass between two low hills and come to another intersection. The road on the right is the Kite Lake, FR506, road. Stay left on the Stony Pass road. You will pass the confluence of Bear Creek and the Rio Grande River below you on the right. At this confluence was the site of the town and stage station of Junction City.
The road will climb up away from the river and crest over a ridge. At the top you will pass another dispersed campsite on the right overlooking a meadow, the road will cross this meadow and head into the pines. You will cross over a low saddle and then a small meadow before heading into the trees again. The road will climb again and cross over Timber Hill then head down through the forest on a bench of Pole Creek Mountain above the river. After passing a small pond on the left you will come to an intersection. The road to the right will head down toward the river passing a dispersed campsite. The open meadow here by the Rio Grande River is the site of the Timber Hill stage station. Left of the intersection will be another dispersed campsite. The Weminuche Wilderness will be on the opposite side of the river now. Continue straight and you will enter into a long wide valley, Brewster Park. The road will pass another larger pond along side the river and head into some willows before climbing up onto a low bench above the river. You will pass another spur road on the right that goes to a dispersed campsite. The long cliffs of Pole Creek Mountain will be on your left as you head down the Rio Grande Valley. You will start to encounter more mud holes in the road along this section. Where the road gets close to the river again you will pass another dispersed campsite on your right. The road will braid a bit as you have to navigate six large mud holes in the road. After a few more mud holes the road will climb up onto a higher bench above the river. After crossing a cattle guard you will pass another dispersed campsite on the right. The road will head through some aspen trees and pass a spur road on the right that heads down to the river and a dispersed campsite. Ther will be another spur road to a campsite on the right that sits above the river as it has entered into a narrow gorge. The road will now head up a low ridge, do a switchback and descend the other side of the ridge. The road will drop down and cross a creek, then climb back up onto the bench again. You will pass a spur road on the right followed by two more spur roads on the right to dispersed campsites.
The road will head down off the bench into some pines passing another spur road on the right that goes to three private homes. The road will come out into a large open meadow with two dispersed campsites on the left and right side of the road. After crossing the meadow you will come into the area of Lost Trail which has many private buildings on the right side of the road. Along here you will come to a spur road on the left that goes to the Lost Creek Trail parking area. Continue on the main road, which will be better maintained, crossing Lost Trail Creek and passing the Lost Trail Campground on the right. You will pass two more spurs on the left and right that go to private homes as you cross a large open area. The next spur road on the right heads down to the Ute Creek Trail parking area near Lost Trail Creek. The road will now head up to higher ground below Finger Mesa as it runs the length of the Rio Grande Reservoir. The road will move away from the reservoir and pass a road on the right to the Rio Grande Reservoir Picnic Ground. The road will head back close to the reservoir and then come to a large pull-off on both sides of the road near the reservoir dam. The road will head back down to the river below the dam spillway and pass a right turn into the Thirtymile Campground. You will pass a few more dispersed campsites along the road before passing the River Hill Campground on the right. The road will climb up to a saddle in the ridge to the north, called River Hill Pass, and cross over into Road Canyon. At the saddle there will be an intersection with Sawmill Canyon, FR533, to your left. Stay right and head down the other side of the saddle. You will pass a spur road on the left to a dispersed campsite before turning and heading down the wide valley of Road Canyon.
After passing a small reservoir, Road Canyon Reservoir #2, you will come to Road Canyon Campground on your right. Past the campground the road will head along the west side of Road Canyon Reservoir #1 passing a few pull-outs as well as the Road Canyon Boat Ramp. Past the reservoir the road will turn northwest and head into the pines passing some private property. You will cross a bridge over Crooked Creek and then come to an intersection with House Canyon, FR521/CR33, on your left. Stay right and you will pass a parking area on the right side of the road above the creek. Past the parking area will be a private drive on the left followed by a spur on the right to some dispersed campsites down by the creek. Continue on the well graded road passing a road on the right, FR520.2L, which only goes just over a mile to some private homes. Continue on the main road and you will pass the entrance to the San Juan Ranch on the right. At the next two intersections stay right passing private homes. You will pass one more private drive on the left before coming out onto Highway 149.