Trail Overview
Upper McClellan Spur Road is a V-shaped through route that connects with Leavenworth Creek Road and crosses Santiago Mine Road while traveling through the high-elevation terrain of McClellan Mountain. The route provides access toward one of the historic Santiago Mine workings, which were part of the extensive mining activity that took place on the mountain. The surroundings are primarily open alpine tundra with grasses, low willow, exposed rock, talus slopes, and dramatic rocky cirques rising above the roadway. Several sections provide expansive views across the surrounding mountains and valleys. The road is generally only one vehicle wide with essentially no room to pass without leaving the established roadway and encroaching on fragile alpine tundra. 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 loose and embedded rock, whoops, dips, ruts, potholes, and erosion along the dirt surface. Scattered rocks less than 12 nches tall. The one-vehicle-wide roadway and lack of passing areas provide little room to maneuver without encroaching on the surrounding alpine tundra.
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.
