Forests & Wilderness Roam with a View

Home , Hahns Peak, Rabbit Ears Pass, Rifle Falls State Park, Rifle Gap State Park, Roan Cliffs

Theodore Roosevelt Journey Through Time Journey Journey Journey Axial to Yampa Axial Axial to Yampa Axial 65 Million Years Canyon Pintado Journey Pintado Canyon Poudre– la Cache Gold Journey Journey Pass Gore Cradle of of Cradle West Elk Loop Elk West Journey Wilderness Arapaho National Byway Historic and White River River White Whitehouse Mountain Irish Canyon Journey Trail Energy Journey Park Browns Trail Energy Plateau Roan Elkhead Journey Hahns Peak Journey Pass Buffalo Journey Park North Trail Energy North Park North Park Scenic Scenic Byway Scenic Flat Tops Trail Scenic and Historic Byway Historic and Scenic River Energy Trail Energy River Ute Journey Journey Ute Journey Falls Rifle Heritage Ranch River Energy Trail Energy River Mesa Journey Douglas Pass in 65 Miles Journey Journey Miles 65 in Dinosaur Diamond Wildlife Refuge Wildlife Refuge Monument Browns Park National Dinosaur National Flat Top Wilderness

OAK CREEK HAYDEN DINOSAUR YAMPA RANGELY PHIPPSBURG MAYBELL GLENWOOD MESA BATTLEMENT SPRINGS NEW CASTLE SPRINGS SPRINGS STEAMBOAT WALDEN / PARK NORTH CARBONDALE PARACHUTE MEEKER SILT RIFLE CRAIG GOULD HAHNS PEAK

. . .

W Y O M I N G 129 SLATER FS 80 FS 80 POWDERWASH 125 129 127 RD I R 50 R R R D 3 D I D 7 E S 7 L

H 1 K 0 H Big Creek C 0 N E 5 A RD 8 2 5 A RD Lakes N D COWDRY Y 13 M CALIFORNIA R O Irish Canyon Journey T North Park N COLUMBINE D N GREAT DIVIDE PARK Mt. Zirkel Loop B S Journey BROWNS PARK I N 3 S HAHNS PEAK 5 C A Elkhead ana NATIONAL B r Lake John e dia H e STEAMBOAT LAKE PEARL LAKE tt n R S v Fortiﬁcation a Walden iv WILDLIFE REFUGE A i Journey STATE PARK STATE PARK l er M R Rock Formation P W k Res. E D ee WALDEN r Vermillion N C D To: GATES OF A ly 12 I e F d h LODORE Falls S Loop A Wild Horse Loop k o a n t C C a rt e O r a I FORT iﬁ h r o ch N Sn c lk e S e at E m 129 N c l E COLLINS i m 80 en a e o

l u i P n c o B

itt S Hahns Peak a u

n d O L C Heritage North Park d r

e– W

r p H e N

oo Gold Journey N i e Ranch Energy Trail

L s o M 318 k t r ARAPAHO NATIONAL or rt te 9 h 2 Journey i T n 14 c i R B P N D D WILDLIFE REFUGE a E JOHNSON W y r S S C R w A L Browns Park Journey SUNBEAM 76 60 N k . A HOMESTEAD RD I a N O l y T E 36 l H MAYBELL MEMORIAL R D R i Cameron Pass I L D R n L S CRAIG 7 T 125 0 H o 10,276' Buffalo Pass Journey i P s LAY STEAMBOAT A MILNER R Y 40 14 R i GOULD ampa K v RD 53 DINOSAUR NATIONAL River JUNIPER 65 Million Year s in HAYDEN mpa River SPRINGS er Ya RAND U T A H MONUMENT HOT SPRINGS 65 Miles Jou rney RD 17 R D Axial to Yampa River Rabbit Ears Pass DEER LODGE PARK 2 7 Energy Trail 10,426' Journey Through Time HAMILTON 40 131 CO PAGODA NTI NE ELK SPRINGS NTAL DI V I DE ROCKY MOUNTAIN 14 40

40 D A N NATIONAL PARK

k F O

e R T Stagecoach e H

r H I DINOSAUR BLUE MOUNTAIN L L Reservoir C S 13 OAK CREEK

r e PHIPPSBURG COLORADO t VISITOR a Note: W THORNBURGH ver NOT all Journey loops are accessible year round. CENTER g Ri 16 ite BATTLE MONUMENT 8

n Wh

i Contact local authorities for current road conditions k Axial to Yampa River

YAMPA

Cripple

i 64 on specific routes. 64 t Energy Trail Creek Pass RD 15

S White River 10,343' Gore Pass ay D Ute Journey ic Byw Journey Walden in Scen 134 Craig Fort Collins osa RANGELY Trail ur ps Cradle of Dinosaur Steamboat

D MEEKER To iver RD 205 Springs C t R TOPONAS

ia WHITE RIVER UTE la hite Wilderness Journey A F W m rk Boulder o N AGENCY Big Beaver Fo n h Denver Y t d 2 r MEEKER MASSACRE o S O 2 Res. 1 N c SITE N e D Trappers Glenwood Vail n R 131 Springs i P 8 S Lake c I o N u Marvine a T th S Grand Junction n S Colorado Springs A F Lakes E d BUFORD D o N r R H O k E L D i I s W t P S o 139 T O Pueblo r Canyon Pintado Journey Pi F L A T

i ce 13

c anc

k e B e C

e ree y r k

w C

a s y la Durango g RD 122 u P RIFLE FALLS o I C E D A STATE PARK

N t C s E e B CARBONDALE PICEANCE STATE WILDLIFE AREA A www.nwcoloradoheritagetravel.org W Rifle Falls Journey LEGEND S I RIFLE GAP N STATE PARK 133 Heritage Town/Site Rivers and Streams N Elevation (feet) Roan Plateau RIFLE ARCH RD 226 High ˜ 14,275' RD 325 Heritage Journey Lakes Energy Trail Low 4,930' Douglas Pass RD 245 NEW I-70 Whitehouse ˜ Energy Trail CASTLE GLENWOOD Energy Trail National Wildlife Refuge RD 237 SPRINGS Mountain 13 SILT Scenic Byway National Park Service ALE S Journey 0 5 10 Miles NAVAL OIL SH IFF CL RIFLE RD 345 RD 331 County Preserve AN RD 311 O I-70 R Whitehouse West Elk Loop REDSTONE Funded in part through a grant from RD 320 Mountain Journey Roads PARACHUTE R 133 D Theodore

3 SILT PRESERVE 2 BATTLEMENT MESA 4

Mesa Journey 342 RD Roosevelt RD 302 T MESA 92 MARBLE Funds for this project provided by: Colorado Tourism Office, Garfield County Board of Commissioners, EMEN Journey TTL RD 344 CARBONDALE Communities of Garfield County, Rifle Visitor Improvement Fund, Town of Silt Board of Trustees, BA CAYTON TO I-70 / GRAND JUNCTION BASALT Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association, and Moffat County Tourism Association. Battlement Reservoir RANGER STATION THEODORE ROOSEVELT • HUNTING CAMP TO ASPEN

Photo courtesy of Library of Congress of Library of courtesy Photo Mitchem Bill of courtesy Photo MCC–2568 1890-1920 Collection, History Western DPL, Hemmerich Leona of courtesy Photo Service Forest U.S. of courtesy Photo Wetterberg Joyce of courtesy Photo

Powell Expedition, Hell’s Half Mile, Lodore Canyon, 1871 Steamboat Rock & Yampa River Canyon at Harpers Corner On the trail to Trappers Lake ca. 1900 Trappers Lake and The Amphitheater, an eroded butte Hahns Peak village celebrating the Fourth of July, 1907 Hahns Peak in winter snow boundless landscapes roam with a view: forests & wilderness roam with a view: mountains & parks Unrelenting forces of nature have carved immense and intimate landscapes in northwest Flat Tops Trail Scenic Byway, linking Yampa and Meeker, showcases the legacy of Routt Cache la Poudre–North Park Scenic and Historic Byway follows the federally designated Colorado. Spanning 14,918 square miles, the region encompasses expansive areas of public National Forest’s multiple-use land management. You’ll follow a Ute trail recorded by the Wild and Scenic River, the Cache la Poudre, from Fort Collins to Walden. Traveling through lands—canyons and rivers, forests and wilderness, parks and peaks, mesas and plateaus— Ferdinand Hayden Expedition, 1874–1878, through pristine scenery with excellent wildlife the river canyon you’ll ascend to 10,276-foot Cameron Pass, cross between the Never Summer preserved for posterity and enjoyment by the National Park Service, United States Forest viewing. It is a working byway for ranching, logging, and mining operations. Take time on and Medicine Bow mountain ranges, and then descend into North Park. Now called “Moose Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Colorado State Parks. our Heritage Journeys to explore Trappers Lake, the Ute legacy at the White River Agency, Country,” the Ute Indians named the area the “Bull Pen“ for the great buffalo herds, which This remote area has always attracted rugged individuals and today rewards adventurers with and Thornburgh Battle Monument. Or, follow the West Elk Loop—described by a forest grazed in the valley. Three Heritage Journeys let you explore mountains and parks in Routt experiences where, like explorers, you can find yourself alone and renewed by vast frontiers. ranger as “the closest you can come to a wilderness experience in a passenger car.” National Forest, the Continental Divide, and Mount Zirkel Wilderness.

roam with a view: canyons & rivers 65 Million Years in 65 Miles Journey: Mather Mimi of courtesy Photo Congress of Library of courtesy Photo North Park Journey: This scenic detour rises A self-guided loop through BLM land, which was from the sagebrush flats of the valley floor up into Dinosaur Diamond Scenic and Historic Byway connects you to the canyons and rivers of once a shallow sea, reveals sixty-five million years the forest. Lake John, a remote 656 acre high plains northwest Colorado. Here you can choose a Heritage Journey to view time in the geology of geological time—from fossils and coal deposits lake, offers expansive water and mountain horizons, of the land, discover the painted pictographs and carved petroglyphs of the Fremont and to hot springs. As you travel the landscape of rugged which powerfully reconnect you with the natural Ute Indians, see where wild horses still roam, or stand 2,700 feet above the Green and Yampa beauty, you’ll also find historic homesteads, outlaw heritage of this remarkable region. Trappers and Rivers. You may observe a twenty-five foot waterfall, the Gates of Lodore, or experience hangouts, and open vistas for wildlife viewing. mountain men hunted the area and intrepid settlers the solitude of a wildlife refuge. carved out ranching and logging enterprises that White River Ute Journey: Northern Utes continue today. In Routt National Forest, the Big Creek Lakes are fishing destinations where you’ll called the White River “Smoking Earth River” for the Working horse on Flat Tops Trail Scenic Byway Buffalo herd ca. 1900 - 1910 Irish Canyon dates Appearing much as Irish Canyon Journey: Browns Park Journey: clouds of mist rising from the water on cool mornings. compete with osprey and golden eagles for the back to the Pleistocene time when a stream pirated it did one hundred years ago, this high desert valley In 1879, Indian Agent Nathan C. Meeker’s aggressive Cradle of Wilderness Journey: Located Buffalo Pass Journey: The pass was originally catch of the day. from Vermillion Creek began the formation of the formed by the Green River, was a favored wintering campaign to convert the nomadic Northern Ute to at 9,600 feet in the White River National Forest and a Native American trail over the Continental Divide, Check with the U.S. Forest Service for local road conditions. 1,000-foot deep dry gorge. Irish Lakes represent place for the Ute and Shoshone. In the late 1800s farmers ignited conflict, resulting in the killing of accessible by the Flat Tops Scenic Byway, Trappers which provided hunting access to buffalo herds in one of the few natural playa or dry lakes in this part cattlemen arrived lured by its mild winters, game, Lake offers striking views of the Flat Tops Mountains North Park. The route later served mountain men

Meeker, nine of his men, and the troops of Major Brown Jamie of courtesy Photo of the state. Rock art sites abound in the canyon. grass, and water. Due to its remoteness and access Thornburgh. In the aftermath, the Ute lost their as well as opportunities for fishing, hiking, and and fur traders. Rarely open to travel before July to three state borders, outlaws—Butch Cassidy, ancestral home and were forced onto reservations. camping. Considered by many to be the birthplace 4th, the journey provides remarkable opportunities Photo courtesy of Bureau of Land Management, BLM Management, Land of Bureau of courtesy Photo Canyon Pintado Sundance Kid, Isom Dart, Tom Horn, and Matt Rash— of the U.S. Wilderness Area system and the “Cradle for scenic vistas as the pass climbs over 3000 feet. Journey: Striking rock also frequented the area. Browns Park National Heritage Ranch Journey: The loop passes of Wilderness,” this lake inspired Arthur Carhart in Following Joseph art of the Fremont people Wildlife Refuge was established in 1963 and offers ranches listed on local, state, and national registers 1920 to preserve the area in its natural form for all Hahns Peak Gold Journey: Hahns discovery of gold in the late 1800s, the area dates back to 1200BC and wildlife viewing and scenic solitude. of historic places including the Carpenter Ranch. people rather than develop it for private residences. abounds in the “Painted “Old Fred,” the founding stallion of the Quarter boomed and was once the Routt County seat of Canyon.” Later the Ute Journey through Time: Orient yourself at Horse breed came from one of these ranches. The Gore Pass Journey: Tracing the historic stage government. After the gold bust, Hahns Peak Indians added their art the Dinosaur National Monument Visitor Center, routes feature Elkhead Reservoir and State Park route south from Steamboat Springs, this scenic became a mining ghost town, yet over time timber to the canyon walls too. then travel through open rangeland to arrive at the as well as the Yampa River. detour passes through the historic mining and harvesting brought people back into the area. Migratory birds in Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge Look for figures called Monument’s canyon lands. If you’re bold, make railroad towns of Oak Creek and Phippsburg. Stop Today, Hahns Peak is a quiet historic village near carrot men, flute players, the steep descent to the river bottom on Echo Park Elkhead Journey: On this day-long trek you’ll by the Tracks and Trails Museum in Oak Creek for Steamboat Lake. Here you can learn about early Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge: Created in horses, handprints, white Road. At Harpers Corner, stand at the precipice travel through stunning California Park on your way a preview of the area’s coal mining and railroad pioneer life at the Hahns Peak Museum before 1967, the Refuge provides habitat for waterfowl birds, corn, and weapons. above the convergence of the Green and Yampa to the small ranching town of Slater—marked only heritage. Then, visit Yampa for a glimpse of ranch venturing north to Columbine, a former gold and moose. Bring your camera and take the six-mile Rivers and trace where the John Wesley Powell by a post office—and then through to the historic life before leaving the Yampa Valley and climbing mining camp and stagecoach stop, and then self-guided tour to learn about the Refuge, its Do not touch; oil from fingers Irish Canyon rock art damages the fragile images. Expedition ran the Green River in 1869 and 1871. mining areas of Columbine and Hahns Peak. to 9,527 feet on Gore Pass over the Gore Range. on towards Hahns Peak itself. wildlife, and habitats.

Photo courtesy of Town of New Castle New of Town of courtesy Photo CHS, Western History Collection, ca. 1910 MCC–2568 1910 ca. MCC–2568 Collection, History Western CHS, Rangely of Town of courtesy Photo Castle New of Town of courtesy Photo Mesa Battlement of Town of courtesy Photo

70 70

Theodore Roosevelt on hunting trip, 1905 Vast body of oil shale, ca. 1910 Modern day drilling near Rangely Garfield County’s Union Mine Workers, 1913 Battlement reveals geological layers roam with a view: mesas & plateaus roam with a view: energy trails The Colorado River defines this region—its waters coursing through the mesas and plateaus Deep below northwest Colorado’s diverse landscapes lie geological expanses of fossil A wealth of natural resources are found here—from oil and natural gas, uranium and coal, and geologic time—to carve Glenwood Canyon and nourish its valleys. Recognized as one fuels and minerals. When traveling in the region, your journeying across an energy trail. oil shale and geothermal energy. of the most biologically diverse areas on the Western Slope, the Roan Plateau provides outstanding habitat for fishing, deer, and other wildlife. Sixty percent of the area is public land where for generations outdoorsmen have come to camp and hunt. Here you can follow Oil Field Tow Creek Tow Colorado River Loma DOUGLAS PASS Rangely White River Dinosaur Colorado River Grand Junction BOOK CLIFFS ROAN CLIFFS CALLAHAN MT. Parachute ROAN CLIFFS Rifle GRAND HOGBACK Craig Hayden Milner Steamboat Springs RANGE PARK MUDDY PASS Walden MEDICINE BOW RANGE in the footsteps of Ute Indians, Theodore Roosevelt, forest rangers, and oil drillers. And, on Oil Oil Oil

alternate routes, working ranch land, farm land, and the work of marble stonemasons. 70 Pierre Shale 70 Mancos Shale hale ancos S M FAULT Mancos Shale Morrisania Mesa, just east of A scenic loop featuring Mesa Journey: Rifle Falls Journey: Battlement Mesa, features the “fruit basket” of the Rifle Falls State Park, offers a trio of side by side, Section between Dinosaur and Loma on CO 139* Section parallel to I-70 from Rifle to Grand Junction* U.S. 40 section between Craig and Steamboat Springs* Northeast-southwest section across North Park* western U.S. Here, early fruit farmers cultivated 90-foot cascading waterfalls and limestone caves. Douglas Pass Energy Trail: Paralleling the lakes in an area north of Rifle. It is estimated that Axial to Yampa River Energy Trail: layer of limestone 2,500 feet deep. Further east, in cherries, apples, and apricots. This Journey also Within Rifle Gap State Park and Harvey Gap, is a 350 Canyon Pintado Journey, this trail traces the story of 1.8 trillion barrels of oil exists within the shale of Traveling north on Colorado 13 to Craig you enter Steamboat Springs, at depths of 12,000 to 15,000 travels to the trailhead of historic Battlement acre reservoir for swimming, boating, water skiing, oil. Ute Indians used oil seeping from the ground for the Roan Cliff area. coal mining territory. Here, 65-million years ago, feet, geothermal activity creates a potential Reservoir, a chain of reservoirs carved out by fishing, and ice fishing. Rifle Mountain Park, in a medicinal purposes. Early explorers encountered a retreating sea left coal beds in the White River source for alternative energy. horse-drawn equipment in the 1890s. Today, the narrow box canyon, provides world-famous rock and places where oil mixed with surface water. But it When traveling between Rifle and Parachute on Plateau from Hamilton to Oak Creek. This “black Glacial meltwater area offers a pristine high mountain setting for ice climbing opportunities for advanced climbers. wasn’t until the 1930s that technology enabled Interstate 70, you’ll see a dark brown layer of an gold” enticed miners to the region beginning in the North Park Energy Trail: carved rock terraces and faults, which trapped and fishing and hiking. Don’t miss Rifle Arch in the Grand Hogback, a 60- oilmen to drill over a mile down to a vast pocket oil bearing strata called the Mahogany Ledge. Oil 1870s. Today coal is mined in the northwest counties collected oil in the North Park basin. In this wide foot high sandstone arch, which spans 150 feet. of trapped oil. Measuring ten miles long and five extraction, from this strata of a waxy compound of Garfield, Moffat, Routt, and Rio Blanco. Near valley, ringed on three sides by mountain ranges, Theodore Roosevelt Journey: During a miles wide the deposit of natural gas and oil floating called “kerogen,” involves a costly process of Oak Creek on Colorado 127, Twentymile Coal is oil was first drilled west of Walden in 1926. Named hunting trip in 1905, in which he bagged three Trek on a reservoir of water makes the area the most heating the shale to 900 degrees Fahrenheit. the world’s most productive coal mine in terms Whitehouse Mountain Journey: McCallum Field, this first drill site has accounted black bears and three lynx, TR rode to the Little to Marble where, at 9,500 feet, snow-white Yule productive oil field in Colorado. of output per man-year. As you travel north of Rifle on Colorado 13 and west for more than half the oil production in North Park. Blue School House on Divide Creek (south of Silt) marble was cut from a steep mountainside and The world’s on Colorado 64, you’ll traverse the Roan Plateau Following US 40 east from Craig to Steamboat Early in the 21st century, 153 wells throughout and addressed 1,400 residents. He then returned hauled over a three-mile wagon road. Colorado Roan Plateau Energy Trail: largest known source of oil shale was deposited where, west of the junction at Rd 122 and Hwy 13, Springs, you pass near the Tow Creek Oil Field, the Park region produced 96 thousand barrels to the Colorado Hotel for a dip in the hot springs. Yule Marble graces the Lincoln Memorial, the Tomb 50 million years ago in a series of intermountain an oil shale reserve lies buried in geological time. which is south of Milner. Oil is pumped from a of oil and 1.3 billion cubic feet of natural gas. The first ranger station in the area is also featured. of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery,

and the Colorado Governor’s Residence. *Sections courtesy of Roadside Geology of Colorado, Halka Chronic and Felicie Williams, Mountain Press Publishing Company