Trail Overview
This is Sawmill Road, designated GH-22, a roughly 1 mile unpaved route through the Golden Horseshoe area northeast of Breckenridge. The route travels through dense high-elevation evergreen forest dominated by spruce, fir, and pine, with low shrubs, grasses, mossy groundcover, and fallen timber covering the forest floor. The surface varies considerably, transitioning between relatively smooth packed dirt and rougher stretches covered with loose gravel and embedded rock. A small wooden bridge carries the route across a drainage surrounded by thick grasses and wetter vegetation. The forest occasionally opens enough to provide views across the surrounding mountainsides before the road returns beneath the dense tree canopy. GH-22 connects Preston Way (GH-23) with the upper Golden Horseshoe road network, eventually reaching the junction with Summit Gulch Road (GH-74) and Spruce Road (GH-72). Motorized access is seasonal from May 21 through November 22.
Difficulty
The route varies between smooth, packed dirt and rougher sections with loose gravel, embedded rocks, shallow ruts, and minor erosion. Grades are generally manageable, and there are no major technical obstacles along the route.
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.
