Claude Wiatrowski - Historic Colorado: Day Trips & Weekend Getaways to Historic Towns, Cities, Sites & Wonders

Historic

COLORADO

DAY TRIPS & WEEKEND GETAWAYS TO HISTORIC TOWNS, CITIES, SITES & WONDERS

Claude Wiatrowski

VOYAGEUR TRAVEL GUIDES

First published in 2009 by Voyageur Press, an imprint of MBI Publishing Company, 400 First Avenue North, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA

Text copyright 2009 by Mountain Automation Corporation

Photographs by Claude Wiatrowski, copyright 2009 by Mountain Automation Corporation, unless otherwise noted

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ISBN-13: 978-0-7603-3256-6

Digital edition: 978-1-61673-208-0
Hardcover edition: 978-0-7603-3256-6

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wiatrowski, Claude A.
Historic Colorado : day trips & weekend getaways to historic towns, cities, sites & wonders / Claude
Wiatrowski.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7603-3256-6 (softback)
1. ColoradoHistory, Local. 2. City and town lifeColoradoHistory. 3. ColoradoTours. 4. Cities
and townsColoradoGuidebooks. 5. Historic sitesColoradoGuidebooks. 6. Curiosities and
wondersColoradoGuidebooks. 7. Scenic bywaysColoradoGuidebooks. 8. Automobile travel
ColoradoGuidebooks. I. Title.
F777.W525 2009
917.880434dc22
2008042853

Editor: Margret Aldrich

Cover and Text Designer: John Barnett/4 Eyes Design

Printed in China

Title page: There is yet another gorgeous view of the Culebra mountain range as you return from the ghost town of Tercio.

Dedication page: A vintage postcard depicts a glorious view of Pikes Peak.

Contents page: Rim Rock Drive snakes up the canyon at the Fruita entrance to Colorado National Monument.

To my wife, Margaret,
whose help and good humor make all my successes possible.

Big Thompson Canyon near Estes Park is beautifully depicted in this vintage Colorado postcard.

AMERICAN INDIANS. Conquistadors. Voyageurs. Plainsmen. Mountain men. All dwelled in Colorado. But it was the discovery of gold there in 1858 that began an era of settlement that would overshadow all that had come before. Colorado became a U.S. Territory on February 28, 1861, and the thirty-eighth statethe Centennial Stateon August 1, 1876, the year of the one-hundredth anniversary of the countrys birth. The first transcontinental railroad, the Union Pacific, had only a modest impact on Colorado, just nicking the northeast corner of the state at Julesburg. But railroads would eventually blanket Colorados plains as well as its inhospitable mountains, facilitating economic development and enriching its history.

As Americans have become increasingly interested in the history of their country, they have also become interested in exploring the sites where history was made. Heritage tourism is now a major contributor to Colorados economy. Many isolated historic locations and artifacts were protected by Colorados rugged mountains, which have preserved ghost towns; mines and mills; railroad tanks, trestles, and tunnels; and more for your enjoyment. With too much from which to choose, I have selected twenty-two journeys, leading you to places that are both historically important and enjoyable to experience. While all of these journeys can be driven in a day, you might want to allocate more time to some if you plan on driving all the optional routings, examining museums in detail, and hiking the trails. In the pages ahead, youll find location maps, detailed directions to the sites, fascinating information about Colorados heritage, color photographs of the states most beautiful and intriguing areas, and vintage images of days gone by.

Not long ago, the greatest threat facing historic artifacts in Colorado was the elements. While isolated locations protected much of Colorados history from the human destruction that often accompanies development, winter storms slowly ate away at the states history as artifacts succumbed to the crushing weight of repeated snows. Once considered worthless, the value of these artifacts is now understood, and maintenance has saved many from the harsh elements.

Today, the greatest threat facing Colorados historic remnants is loss of habitat. Increasingly, cities expand, expensive summer homes are built on old mining claims, large casinos encroach on quaint towns, and energy development scars the landscape. It is impossible to generalize about the wisdom of such development, as each case must be taken individually. In Central City, Blackhawk, and Cripple Creek, for example, it is undeniable that huge, box-like casinos have adversely affected the historic ambiance, but the taxes collected from gambling have been used to fund historic preservation and restoration projects throughout the state. I can tell you that a railroad water tank preserved in a historic railroad yard in a small bucolic town gives the visitor a better sense of its history than does a railroad water tank surrounded by fast-food restaurants and convenience stores in a bustling metropolis. For that reason, this volume emphasizes remote locations over Colorados largest cities.

Most of the historic places in this book are easy to access on paved roads. A few are on unpaved roads. Since the condition of an unpaved road constantly changes, I recommend that you stop at local visitors centers, forest service offices, and chambers of commerce for current road information. I would drive any of the unpaved roads mentioned in this book in an ordinary passenger car that has reasonable ground clearance, but I normally drive a small SUV and have no trouble getting to any destination listed here. You might disagree. Guidebooks for four-wheel-drive enthusiasts differ on the need for a four-wheel-drive vehicle on some of these roads. Colorados mountains can be a hostile place, so caution is advised.