Trail Overview
This through route travels through the forested mountains northeast of Breckenridge and the historic Golden Horseshoe mining area. The road is mostly wide enough for two vehicles, narrowing around the switchbacks, with numerous areas available to pull over and allow another vehicle to pass. Dense evergreen forest surrounds much of the route, while openings along the switchbacks provide expansive views across the surrounding mountains and National Forest. Older cabins, mine tailings, and other remnants of past activity provide visible evidence of the extensive mining that once occurred throughout this area. The route offers a combination of mountain scenery and local mining history, with the surrounding forest also providing habitat for wildlife that may occasionally be seen near the roadway. Motorized travel is restricted to 05/21-11/22 every year.
Difficulty
The route has no major technical obstacles but includes whoops, dips, shallow ruts, and occasional uneven sections. Switchbacks require some additional attention, but the roadway remains relatively wide and manageable.
History
The Breckenridge area was heavily shaped by the Colorado Gold Rush beginning in 1859, when gold discoveries brought prospectors into the Blue River and surrounding gulches. French Gulch, Georgia Gulch, the Swan River, and nearby mountains became important mining areas containing placer operations, hard-rock mines, settlements, and eventually large dredging operations. Several settlements once existed throughout this backcountry. Lincoln City developed in French Gulch, where placer claims and later hard-rock mines operated, while Parkville developed near Georgia Gulch and briefly served as the first county seat of Summit County. Hydraulic mining later buried the remains of Parkville beneath mining debris. Many of the roads traveled through the area today follow corridors originally used to reach mines, settlements, and other operations that supported Summit County's mining industry.
