Vicksburg and Winfield, Colorado
August 9,2013
From our base camp in Buena Vista, we headed up CR 390 to Clear Creek Canyon. The ride along this bumpy wash-board road is amazing as one is surrounded by fourteeners : Mountains Oxford, Belford, Missouri and Huron. The mountain peaks reaching these elevations above 14,000 ft is a sight and are only three or so miles south of Clear Creek Rd.
The ghost town of Vicksburg has some preserved historical building and mining equipment. It was an active mining town in the 1880’s. The town had more that 40 buildings by 1882. Here is one of the log cabins with a wooden wagon left behind.
Further down the road, we explored the ghost town of Winfield. The town had a population of 1,500 in the 1880’s. This is Ball cabin in the town. It is representative of the many cabins in town during the silver era from 1870 -1915.
A view of Clear Creek as it flows into Winfield.
We further explored Lost Canyon Road up to Lennie’s Overlook at 12,000 feet. This is the remains of Lenny’s cabin. The view from here was a panoramic 360 degrees with views into Twin Lakes. We enjoyed lunch here until the thunder rolled in with threatening clouds.
