Slumgullion Pass
Slumgullion Pass (elevation ) is a mountain pass in southwestern Colorado traversed by State Highway 149 east of Lake City. The north side has the steepest grade of any continuously paved road in Colorado (9%), but the pass does not close often in winter because snowplows clear the route regularly during this season. It has a few switchbacks and tight spots, but other than that, most travelers will find it an easy, scenic route. Technically speaking, the current highway does not traverse the true Slumgullion Pass, which lies just off the highway on the ridge between Cebolla Creek and the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River, at an elevation of about . As a result of a realignment several decades ago (evident by comparing USGS topographic maps of different vintages), the road now takes a shorter but somewhat higher route as it travels east and south from this spot toward Spring Creek Pass. The road sign at the high point refers to Slumgullion Summit rather than Slumgullion Pass in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hinsdale County, Colorado
Hinsdale County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 788, making it the second-least populous county in Colorado. With a population density of only , it is also the least-densely populated county in Colorado. The county seat and only incorporated municipality in the county is Lake City. The county is named for George A. Hinsdale, a prominent pioneer and former Lieut. Governor of Colorado Territory. Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.5%) is water. Hinsdale County is one of the most remote counties in Colorado and the United States. The county is covered by mountains, including multiple fourteeners, and contains one of the largest roadless areas in the country. The continental divide crosses the county twice. Most of the county is divided among several different national forests and the Weminuche Wilderness area. Adjacent counties * Gunnison – nort ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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San Juan Mountains
The San Juan Mountains is a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. The area is highly mineralized (the Colorado Mineral Belt) and figured in the gold and silver mining industry of early Colorado. Major towns, all old mining camps, include Creede, Lake City, Silverton, Ouray, and Telluride. Large scale mining has ended in the region, although independent prospectors still work claims throughout the range. The last large scale mines were the Sunnyside Mine near Silverton, which operated until late in the 20th century and the Idarado Mine on Red Mountain Pass that closed down in the 1970s. Famous old San Juan mines include the Camp Bird and Smuggler Union mines, both located between Telluride and Ouray. The Summitville mine was the scene of a major environmental disaster in the 1990s when the liner of a cyanide-laced tailing pond began leaking heavily. Summitville is in the Summitville caldera, one of m ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains. Colorado is the eighth most extensive and 21st most populous U.S. state. The 2020 United States census enumerated the population of Colorado at 5,773,714, an increase of 14.80% since the 2010 United States census. The region has been inhabited by Native Americans and their ancestors for at least 13,500 years and possibly much longer. The eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains was a major migration route for early peoples who spread throughout the Americas. "''Colorado''" is the Spanish adjective meaning "ruddy", the color of the Fountain Formation outcroppings found up and down the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The Territory of Colorado was organized on February 28, 1861, and on August 1, 1876, U.S. President Ulyss ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Colorado State Highway 149
State Highway 149 (SH 149) is a state highway in southwestern Colorado, United States. SH 149's southern terminus is at U.S. Highway 160 (US 160) in South Fork, and the northern terminus is at US 50 west of Gunnison. The entire route is also known as the Silver Thread Colorado Scenic & Historic Byway. Route description SH 149 begins in the south at its junction with US 160 at South Fork. From there the road winds its way generally northward through the San Juan Mountains. The first portion of the road parallels the upper Rio Grande as it passes through Rio Grande National Forest. SH 149 winds through the mountains for before coming to the historic mining town of Creede. From there the road continues its climb into the mountains and eventually turns away from the Rio Grande to cross the Continental Divide at Spring Creek Pass at an elevation of . At this point the road passes into Gunnison National Forest and, after a brief descent, begins an even hi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lake City, Colorado
Lake City is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Statutory town, Statutory Town that is the county seat, the most populous community, and the only List of municipalities in Colorado, incorporated municipality in Hinsdale County, Colorado, Hinsdale County, Colorado, United States. It is located in the San Juan Mountains in a valley formed by the convergence of Henson Creek and the headwaters of the Lake Fork Gunnison River, Lake Fork of the Gunnison River about seven miles (11 km) east of Uncompahgre Peak, a Colorado fourteener. Lake City is named after nearby Lake San Cristobal. This area lies at the southern end of the Colorado Mineral Belt and when rich mineral deposits were discovered the native population was pushed from their tribal lands and the town of Lake City was incorporated in 1873. With the completion of the first road into the mountains in this region, Lake City served as a supply center for the many miners and prospectors flooding into the area. As a supply ce ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lake Fork Gunnison River
Lake Fork Gunnison River or (Lake Fork) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed March 18, 2011 tributary of the Gunnison River in Colorado. The river's source is Sloan Lake near Handies Peak in the San Juan Mountains of Hinsdale County. Lake Fork flows through Lake San Cristobal and Lake City before a confluence with the Gunnison River in Blue Mesa Reservoir. See also *List of rivers of Colorado This is a list of streams in the U.S. State of Colorado. __TOC__ Alphabetical list The following alphabetical list includes many important streams that flow through the State of Colorado, including all 158 named rivers. Where available, t ... * List of tributaries of the Colorado River References Gunnison River Rivers of Colorado Rivers of Gunnison County, Colorado Rivers of Hinsdale County, Colorado Tributaries of the Colorado River in Colorado {{Colorado-river-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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United States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization's work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The USGS is a fact-finding research organization with no regulatory responsibility. The agency was founded on March 3, 1879. The USGS is a bureau of the United States Department of the Interior; it is that department's sole scientific agency. The USGS employs approximately 8,670 people and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia. The USGS also has major offices near Lakewood, Colorado, at the Denver Federal Center, and Menlo Park, California. The current motto of the USGS, in use since August 1997, is "science for a changing world". The agency's previous slogan, adopted on the occasion of its hundredt ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Spring Creek Pass
Spring Creek Pass, elevation , is a mountain pass on the Continental Divide in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. The pass is traversed by State Highway 149, and the Continental Divide Trail and Colorado Trail follow the divide and cross the highway here. Somewhat unusually for a pass on the Continental Divide, it is not the highest point on the highway in the vicinity; heading north from the pass, the road climbs over the considerably higher Slumgullion Summit before descending toward Lake City. Water Diversion Around 1910, the Tabor Ditch was constructed to divert water from tributaries of Cebolla Creek in the Gunnison River basin over the continental divide at Spring Creek Pass into Big Spring Creek in the Rio Grande basin. This 0.5 mile (0.8 km) ditch was originally constructed to divert water for irrigation, but it is now owned by the Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The ditch can carry approximately 30 cubic feet per second (0.85 m3/s), and in an average year, it diverts a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Donner Pass
Donner Pass is a mountain pass in the northern Sierra Nevada, above Donner Lake and Donner Memorial State Park about west of Truckee, California. Like the Sierra Nevada themselves, the pass has a steep approach from the east and a gradual approach from the west. The pass has been used by the California Trail, First transcontinental railroad, Overland Route, Lincoln Highway and Victory Highway (both later U.S. Route 40 and still later Donner Pass Road), as well as indirectly by Interstate 80. The pass gets its name from the ill-fated Donner Party who overwintered there in 1846. Today the area is home to a thriving recreational community with several alpine lakes and ski resorts ( Donner Ski Ranch, Boreal, and Sugar Bowl). The permanent communities in the area include Kingvale and Soda Springs, as well as the larger community below the pass surrounding Donner Lake. History To reach California from the east, pioneers had to get their wagons over the Sierra Nevada mountain r ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cajon Pass
Cajon Pass (; Spanish: ''Puerto del Cajón'' or ''Paso del Cajón'') is a mountain pass between the San Bernardino Mountains to the east and the San Gabriel Mountains to the west in Southern California. Created by the movements of the San Andreas Fault, it has an elevation of . Located in the Mojave Desert, the pass is an important link from the Greater San Bernardino Area to the Victor Valley, and northeast to Las Vegas. The Cajon Pass area is on the Pacific Crest Trail. Cajon Pass is at the head of Horsethief Canyon, traversed by California State Route 138 (SR 138) and railroad tracks owned by BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad. Improvements in 1972 reduced the railroad's maximum elevation from about while reducing curvature. Interstate 15 does not traverse Cajon Pass, but rather the nearby Cajon Summit, , elevation . The entire area, Cajon Pass and Cajon Summit, is often referred to as Cajon Pass, but a distinction is made between Cajon Pass and Cajon Summit. In 1851 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Slumgullion Earthflow
The Slumgullion Earthflow in the San Juan Mountains in Hinsdale County, Colorado has been a National Natural Landmark since 1983. It is also a Colorado Natural Area and an Area of Critical Environmental Concern. The earthflow, a slow-moving landslide, crawled down the valley about 700 years ago creating the long and wide mass. The earthflow lies a few miles south east of Lake City. The landmark site covers and is owned by the US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. It is "a striking example of mass wasting (the movement of large masses of earth material)." The Lake Fork of the Gunnison River was dammed by the earthflow, creating Lake San Cristobal. A second earthflow has been moving continuously for about 300 years over older stable rock. It moves at a rate of about 7 meters (23 feet) per year. The area is a habitat for elk and deer. It is crossed by Colorado Highway 149, the principal highway of the area connecting Lake City, Colorado Lake City is a List of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lake San Cristobal
Lake San Cristobal is a lake in the U.S. state of Colorado. Located in the San Juan Mountains at an elevation of , the freshwater lake is long, up to deep, has a surface area of , and holds about of water. The town of Lake City, a few miles to the north, is named after Lake San Cristobal. The name ''San Cristóbal'' means Saint Christopher in the Spanish language. Many old silver mines are near the lake and it is very clean and well kept, and stocked with Rainbow Trout. Geology Lake San Cristobal was formed about 700 years ago when the first Slumgullion Earthflow, a natural landslide, created a dam across the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River. Natural landslide dams are usually short-lived, but some have been known to fail after long periods—131 years in the case of Lake Yashinkul in the former Soviet Union. This prompted the United States Geological Survey to investigate the possibility that the Lake San Cristobal dam might fail. Based on its non-porous composition a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |