Autumn Road Trips: Four Base Camps
Seen from Boreas Pass Road, thousands of golden aspen run down the hill into the valley below. © Debi Boucher.
Boreas Pass
Boreas Pass is a self-guided Forest Service Historic Auto Tour. We began our drive at the southern end of Breckenridge. The dirt road is in good condition, accessible by any vehicle and summits at 11,481 feet along the Continental Divide. From the Breckenridge side, Boreas Pass Road offers fabulous views of the town, Mt. Lincoln and Quandary Peak, and the ski runs snaking down their sides. At the summit, few buildings remain of what was once the town of Boreas, constructed from logs to house workers whose job it was to keep the tracks clear of snow. On the Como side of the pass, we joined others who stopped for the view: thousands of sunlit yellow aspens sweeping down the mountainside to the valley below.
Base camp: Breckenridge
Taking the time to explore the back streets of Breckenridge, I discovered two little-known characters who played important roles in the town, and in Colorado’s history. Visit the Edwin Carter Museum to learn more about the man whose passion for taxidermy made him one of the founders of the Denver Museum of Nature of Science, and the Barney Ford Museum, which tells the story of an escaped slave from Virginia who became an entrepreneur and important civil rights leader in Colorado.
Flat Tops Scenic Byway and the Flat Tops Wilderness
Fall color reflects in one of several ponds along Trappers Lake Road. © Debi Boucher
The scenic byway is an 82-mile stretch through the Flat Tops Wilderness on County Road 8, between the ranching towns of Yampa and Meeker. On our mid-week visit, we often drove for miles without seeing another vehicle on the road. Midway between the two towns, we turned south onto the 11-mile-long Trappers Lake Road, toward Trappers Lake, the third-largest natural lake and home to the highest concentration of native cutthroat trout in the state.
Base camp: Glenwood Springs
Hotel Colorado is one of the most storied hotels in the state serving as a naval hospital during WWII. Here I discovered I had something in common with President Teddy Roosevelt. Not only did we stay overnight, we both hunted the Flat Tops Wilderness—he for bear, and me for fall color images.
Hahn’s Peak and Buffalo Pass
Plein aire artist invests an afternoon in interpreting the fall colors of the woods on the outskirts of Steamboat Springs. © Debi Boucher
Fall color and Steamboat’s reputation as a town that’s held on to its western roots is what brought us here. We pile back in the car, ready to begin our exploration of the upper Yampa River Valley.
Our first destination, the village of Hahn’s Peak, continuously inhabited since an 1861 gold discovery at the base of this pyramid-shaped mountain, receives up to 400 inches of snow annually. I try but am unable to imagine spending a winter here.
Buffalo Pass offers sweeping views of the Yampa Valley on one side and the North Park valley on the other, accented by quiet meadows and colorful aspen. The Yampa side is an eight- mile, teeth-rattling ride best suited to a high-clearance vehicle. At the top of the pass, and descending into North Park, the road gets easier. Before continuing, we stop at the trailhead and take the short hike to Summit Lake, where the view is stunning, and rumor has it, the fishing is phenomenal.
Base camp: Steamboat Springs
We spent four days in Steamboat, and every meal delighted us. Creekside Cafe (AAA Two Diamond rated) featured produce from Davis Family Farms in Palisade. At Steamboat Smokehouse (AAA Two Diamond rated), I ordered a really good chopped brisket sandwich, piled high. Ore House at the Pine Grove (AAA Two Diamond rated) began in 1889 as a barn on 280 acres. It now serves up steaks (elk or beef), ribs, and seafood in a comfortable down-home western atmosphere.
Last Dollar Road
Split-rail ranch fence runs parallel to Last Dollar Road. Both lead the eye to majestic Mt. Sneffels towering above the aspen. © Debi Boucher
Last Dollar Road is located about 10 miles outside of Ridgway, off Colorado Hwy 62, just west of the Dallas Divide summit, and ends at the Telluride Airport. It was a mining supply route from Ouray to Telluride in the 1800s, and local lore claims it’s named after a rancher who charged a one-dollar toll for travelers crossing his land. Today, the road begins as a well-maintained gravel road leading through a dense stand of aspens before opening up at Hastings Mesa, with the Sneffels Range standing sentinel on the left. Soon, we arrived at the gated entrance to the spectacular 400-acre Last Dollar Ranch.
The Last Dollar Ranch has been featured in dozens of TV shows and commercials, including Budweiser’s Super Bowl XL commercial with the Clydesdale “Snowball Fight.” A little further up the road is Mattie Ross’ Ranch, the old home and outbuildings immortalized in the 1969 John Wayne blockbuster, True Grit.
Once you reach the fork in the road (about 6.5 miles from Highway 62), you’ll have to decide which route to take. The road to the right leads to Highway 145 and the town of Sawpit, while the road to the left heads down Deep Creek, where the gravel road becomes less benign, and the real adventure begins. Two or three stream crossings serve as a reminder that this is not a road you want to travel after a heavy rain or snowfall. (Note: Be aware that your AAA roadside benefits may not be available when traveling down this or any other four-wheel drive road).
Base camp: Ouray
Hike up Box Canyon Falls and follow the walkway into the heart of the 285-foot-high thundering falls. The force of the water within the walls of the canyon is so loud we could feel it. Bring a picnic lunch.
