Trail Overview
This short through route provides a connection between Leavenworth Creek Road and Waldorf Wagon Road while traveling through high-elevation terrain in the Argentine mining district. The surroundings transition between dense stands of spruce and fir and broad open subalpine meadows covered with grasses, low shrubs, and scattered evergreens. Large openings provide impressive views across the surrounding valleys, forested mountainsides, and high ridgelines. The surface varies from relatively smooth packed dirt and gravel to rougher stretches containing abundant loose and embedded rock. Much of the route is approximately one vehicle wide, with limited room for vehicles to pass. The road climbs and descends roughly 300 feet over its approximately 0.6-mile length, reaching nearly 11,800 feet in elevation. There is no fixed seasonal motorized closure listed for this route, but heavy snow typically limits access during the winter and spring. Summer through early fall generally provides the most reliable access, although lingering snow can remain into early summer and early-season snow may return in the fall.
Difficulty
The route includes moderate grades with loose and embedded rock, shallow ruts, erosion, and several rougher rocky sections that require careful tire placement. Much of the trail is only one vehicle wide with limited room to pass, but there are no major technical obstacles under normal dry conditions.
History
The mountains above Georgetown and Silver Plume contain an extensive network of historic mining, wagon-road, and railroad corridors. Silver discoveries in the Argentine district began in the 1860s, and wagon toll roads were constructed through the Leavenworth Creek drainage and across Argentine Pass beginning in 1869, providing an important early connection between Georgetown and mining communities west of the Continental Divide. Transportation changed again in the early 1900s with construction of the three-foot narrow-gauge Argentine Central Railway. Beginning at the Colorado & Southern connection at Silver Plume, the railroad climbed through the mining district to Waldorf and ultimately reached Mount McClellan. The line used steep grades, sharp curves, switchbacks, and Shay locomotives to negotiate the mountains while hauling ore and carrying tourists into the high country. Clear Creek County records the railway opening to Waldorf in 1906, and historical documentation shows that portions of today's roads through the area occupy or closely follow the former railroad grade.
