Colorado Vacation - 2004
Day 4 - Roadtrippin' To Creede
Sunday, August 29th
Creede, Colorado, Clear Creek Falls
We had heard several good things about the little town of Creede, Colorado. It has been on our list of to do items for quite a while now. We finally decided to head out. We decided to make a big loop, start from Poncha Springs going south and then west, till we arrived in Creede. Continue on to Lake City, then to Gunnison and back on 50 Hwy to end up back in Poncha.
The run from Poncha to Creede is mostly flat, open scrub land until you get to South Fork. Then things start to look more interesting. You follow the Rio Grande River all the way to Creede. Very scenic, and something beautiful to look at after every turn.
We really enjoyed the town of Creede, and plan on returning on our next trip out. We didn't have nearly enough time to look around, or explore any of the things to do in the area.
We drove on past Creede towards Lake City, but we were looking for a waterfall along the route. I had seen pictures of it, but had never been there. You have to watch for the sign, you'd never see it if you were watching for the falls.
We arrived in Lake City after 5 pm, so the handfull of stores there were already closed. We weren't nearly as impressed with Lake City as we were with Creede. One thing I did find out later was that Lake City is connected by an off-road route called the Alpine Loop, that connects it to Ouray, Silverton and Telluride. It would make an excellent location as a base camp for a weekend of 4 wheel drive adventures.
We finished our day trip with a stop in Gunnison for dinner, then back across Monarch Pass to return to Poncha Springs.
(click thumbnails for full size picture)
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| View of the direction we came from, after arriving in the upper valley that Creede is nestled in. | Shot of main street in Creede, looking at the rocky bluffs at the end of town. |
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| Another shot of the scenic surroundings of Creede. | Mining structure just outside of town. |
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| Clear Creek Falls | Another shot of Clear Creek Falls |
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| While we were taking in the falls, an older gentleman mentioned that there was a moose just off the road leading to the campground. Needless to say, we were off to try and get a shot of the little fella. | |
Additional Links -
Coloradobyways.org - Alpine Loop
