There are some excellent off road trips to take in this area called the Gold Belt Scenic Backcountry Byway's. One of the routes called the Phantom Canyon Road starts in Cripple Creek and ends in Florence. Originally this was built by the railroad in 1894 to run gold ore day and night to nine processing plants. It was an engineering marvel at the time and ran until 1912. A huge flood with a 30 foot wall of water cascaded down this canyon and wiped out most of the tracks and bridges.
Our jeep was "born" for a trip like this one. Much of the road is gravel and at times very narrow. It goes up and down the canyon with some spectacular views. We bought a driving tour CD in Florrisant for $5 and it was timed perfectly along this route. It told us a lot about the railroads, gold mining, and floods that swept through this area.
This road is restricted to vehicles no longer than 25 feet. The scenery changed constantly and we really enjoyed this trip. It was definitely a "Wow" experience.
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| Only remaining railroad bridge (others swept away by 30 foot wall of water during a flood) |
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| There were two tunnels along the route |
We plan on taking the Shelf Road next time. Our jeep is looking forward to that adventure too.
what a great jeep route!!..thanks for sharing all the photos!!..nothing like getting a little 'mud on the tires'!!
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting trip that was. I'm jealous of your weather too!
ReplyDeleteGreat tour and photos - thanks for sharing. That tunnel in the road looks a little narrow, glad you only had the jeep with you.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful tour. Thanks for sharing that with us. Our truck is 21' so it should fit too. This one is going on our bucket list.
ReplyDeleteI have been late with my comments lately...sorry!
ReplyDeleteLove the tour and great pics! You are so right....those kind of roads just scream JEEP!! It is indeed a Jeep Thang!
way back in the 70's we started this road way too late in the day after visiting the Royal Gorge, on our way back to Denver with a 3 year old!! nerve wrecking? uh, huh... And, a mountain lion crossed the road and leaped straight up a cliff, almost exactly like the one in your picture, in our headlights!!!
ReplyDeletewe have yet to make it back and do the road in the daylight... thanks for sharing it! the title caught my eye!