Colorado 2026

The Whole Detour | June 2026

A seven-day Colorado trip, from Sunday to Saturday

Basecamp: Three Rivers Resort — Almont, Colorado

In June, we headed to Colorado for a family reunion near Almont. Of course, I couldn't go all the way to Colorado without doing a little extra exploring while we were there! We made Three Rivers Resort our basecamp for the week, mixing family time with mountain drives, a few hikes, and whatever detours caught our attention.

Sunday: The Drive to Colorado and Cottonwood Pass

We left South Dakota around 7:30 a.m. Sunday morning, planning to tackle the roughly 12-hour drive in one day. The first stretch was your typical, rather boring drive across the Nebraska plains.

We entered Colorado from the northeast and headed toward Denver, where the mountains eventually started coming into view. As someone who lives in the flatlands of South Dakota, seeing those mountains in the distance is always exciting!

Our route took us over Cottonwood Pass, which sits at 12,126 feet along the Continental Divide. Naturally, we had to stop at the top to take in the views.

We decided to follow a short trail up to the viewpoint above the parking area. I quickly regretted that decision when I realized just how much I needed to adjust to the elevation! Thankfully, the views made it worth the struggle. It was a pretty good introduction to the Colorado mountains—and a reminder that we weren't in South Dakota anymore!

Along the trail, we also spotted some mountain avens, moss campion, and phlox growing among the rocks.

We finally made it to our little cabin at Three Rivers Resort around 9:00 p.m. Mountain Time. The cabin was cute, and it made a great home base for our week.

Monday and Tuesday: Family Time in Almont

We spent the next two days taking it easy with family and adjusting to the elevation. Almont sits at around 8,000 feet, so after our little hike at Cottonwood Pass, I was grateful for the chance to acclimate!

We spent some time relaxing at the resort, watching hummingbirds fly around, playing yard games, and hanging out at Blue Mesa Reservoir. Not a bad way to spend a couple of days!

Wednesday: An Unexpected Stop at Lake Irwin

After a couple of days with family, we were ready to explore. We tried to pick a different direction each day.

Our first outing took us toward Kebler Pass, where a detour led us to Lake Irwin. It wasn't part of our original plan, but that turned out to be the best part.

We turned down a dirt road, and as we rounded a bend through the trees, the lake suddenly came into view. With the mountains rising behind it and wildflowers scattered along the shoreline, it was absolutely breathtaking, especially since we had no idea what was waiting around that corner.

We stopped to explore and ended up hiking almost two miles around the lake, with only about 100 feet of elevation gain.

Check out my Lake Irwin post for more about our hike!

On the way back to Almont, we took Ohio Pass and enjoyed even more gorgeous mountain views.

Thursday: Rafting the Taylor River and Exploring Italian Creek

Thursday morning started with a family rafting trip down the Taylor River through Three Rivers Resort. Our guide was great, and we had a lot of fun!

Later that day, we ventured northeast, heading past Taylor Park Reservoir toward Italian Mountain and American Flag Mountain. We turned onto County Road 759, also known as Italian Creek Road, with hopes of making it to Oliver's Cabin, an old mining cabin tucked away in the mountains.

Even before the road got rough, there was plenty to look at.

We figured this would be a good opportunity to test out the Bronco Sport Badlands' Rock Crawl mode and see just how far we could get. Along the way, we crossed paths with a group in 4x4s coming back down the mountain. They had been hoping to make it to the top but hadn't gotten much farther than the cabin. They warned us that we might have trouble making it that far ourselves, wished us luck, and we continued on our way.

The road soon split, and we took the right fork to avoid private property. We got a kick out of the signs someone had put up along the way.

As we climbed higher, the road became increasingly rocky, and we found ourselves bottoming out more often than we'd have liked. Thank goodness for those bash plates! We came close to reaching Oliver's Cabin but eventually decided we'd pushed the Bronco far enough.

Oliver's Cabin would have to wait for another trip. We sure had fun trying, though!

On our way back to Almont, we found another route through the mountains, taking Rocky Brook Road (Forest Road 748) toward Spring Creek. Along the way, we stopped at Spring Creek Reservoir, a quiet little mountain lake tucked among the trees.

From there, we followed Spring Creek Road (County Road 744) back toward Almont, spotting quite a few marmots along the way.

Friday: Gothic, Judd Falls, and a Few More Detours

Our final full day in Colorado took us along Gothic Road north of Crested Butte, past Gothic Mountain and the tiny historic village of Gothic.

Back in the 1880s, Gothic was a busy little silver mining town. These days, it's home to the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL), where scientists from all over the world come to study the plants, wildlife, and mountain environment. I liked that this little town had found a whole new purpose.

Just north of Gothic, we parked and headed out on a short hike to Judd Falls. Along the way, we had some great views of Gothic Mountain.

At the waterfall overlook, there was a memorial bench with an inscription that caught my attention:

“To the wayfarer, friend or stranger this seat is offered in the name of ‘the man who stayed.’”

The bench honors Garwood Judd, who stayed behind in Gothic long after the mining boom ended and most of the town's residents had moved away. I thought that was a pretty neat piece of history to stumble across on our hike!

I dug into more of the town's history in my Gothic post.

My Judd Falls post has more about the hike itself.

Emerald Lake and the Road Toward Devil's Punchbowl

After our hike, we continued north along Gothic Road toward Schofield Pass. The road narrowed to a single lane as it hugged the mountainside, with a pretty steep drop down to Emerald Lake below.

And that lake was gorgeous! I don't think I've ever seen water quite that shade of emerald green. I really wanted to get down there and explore, but we were already high above it, and there wasn't exactly anywhere to turn around!

I found out later that there's a small parking area and a short trail down to the lake. Apparently, we had driven right past our chance to stop without realizing it!

After passing Emerald Lake, we continued north over Schofield Pass at an elevation of about 10,707 feet. We eventually reached a parking area where the warning signs made it pretty clear that the road ahead wasn't something we wanted to attempt in the Bronco!

Instead, we continued on foot toward Devil's Punchbowl, exploring the emerald-blue pools and waterfalls along the creek. We crossed the water a few times, using logs in some places, and didn't see another person the entire time.

It was such a pretty area, and I'm glad we decided to explore a little farther on foot!

The Scenic Way Back: Paradise Divide

Of course, we couldn't just take the same road back to Almont!

We headed back toward Gothic Road and took the route toward Paradise Divide. The scenery up there was gorgeous, with mountain views and wildflowers scattered along the way.

Near the top of Paradise Divide, more than 11,000 feet up, we came across a little pond with campsites nearby and an incredible view overlooking the surrounding mountains and valley. I could have sat there taking in that view for quite a while!

From there, we followed Slate River Road (734) down through the valley and back toward Crested Butte.

Eventually, we made it back to Crested Butte, where we picked up Highway 135 south toward Almont.

Saturday: One Last Stop Before Home

Saturday came around, and unfortunately, it was time to head home. We left around 7:00 a.m. Mountain Time, taking the same route back over Cottonwood Pass.

We did get one last wildlife sighting on the way down when a moose crossed the road right in front of us!

After that, we settled in for the rest of the drive home, finally arriving around 10:00 p.m. Central Time.

We came for a family reunion and ended up with a week of mountain views, unexpected stops, and a few places we'll have to come back for. Lake Irwin was a detour we hadn't planned, Oliver's Cabin was one we didn't quite reach, and Emerald Lake gave us a reason to return.

See yuh next time, Colorado!

Gothic, Colorado: A Little Town With a Lot of History

Just north of Crested Butte, along Gothic Road, is the tiny mountain village of Gothic, Colorado. Today, it's home to the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, where scientists from around the world study the area's mountain ecosystems.

But long before the scientists arrived, Gothic was a booming silver-mining town. And its history goes back even further than that.

Before Gothic: The Ute People

Long before Gothic existed, the surrounding mountains and valleys were part of the Ute people's traditional homeland, where they hunted, fished, and gathered food for generations.

As settlers and prospectors pushed west in search of land, gold, and silver, the Ute people began losing more and more of their homeland.

In 1868, the U.S. government established a large Ute reservation covering much of western Colorado. Interestingly, the future townsite of Gothic sat just outside its eastern boundary.

The Brunot Agreement, signed in 1873 and approved by Congress in 1874, resulted in the loss of roughly 3.7 million acres of Ute reservation land, opening up valuable mining territory. By 1881, the White River and Uncompahgre Utes had been forcibly relocated from Colorado to reservations in Utah.

And while all of this was happening, a new mining town was taking shape near the reservation boundary, on land that was still part of the Ute people's traditional homeland.

It All Started With Silver

In September 1878, a prospector named Truman Blancett reportedly discovered silver in the mountains near Gothic. A local history retold by Mesa County Libraries says he only told two people before leaving for the winter.

Apparently, word got around anyway!

According to that story, when he returned the following spring, around 200 prospectors had already arrived, hoping to find silver themselves.

Gothic was officially incorporated on July 17, 1879, taking its name from nearby Gothic Mountain, whose jagged peaks reminded early settlers of Gothic architecture.

The town grew quickly, although accounts differ quite a bit on how many people lived there at its peak. Hotels, saloons, stores, cabins, and even a newspaper popped up to serve the growing community.

It's pretty wild to think about a bustling town so far up in the mountains in the 1880s. We drove through on a maintained road, and it's still a pretty remote place. I can only imagine what it took to get people and supplies up there back then.

Gothic, Colorado, 1880s

Life in Gothic During the Silver Boom

Life in Gothic during the 1880s sounds like it was pretty entertaining!

Stories about the boom years describe revolvers, evening bonfires on Main Street, horse races, gambling, and dancing. I'd take details like "nearly everyone" carrying a gun or a bonfire "every evening" as colorful recollections rather than an exact picture of everyday life.

One reminiscence preserved in a Gunnison history collection was about a couple known as Uncle Charley and Mother Howe, who ran a hotel in town. They were remembered for their hospitality, comfortable beds, and home-cooked meals. Uncle Charley apparently took cleanliness pretty seriously, too. He was known to grab a broom whenever he spotted dirt on the porch!

Local histories also describe a visit from former President Ulysses S. Grant in 1880 while he was touring Colorado's mining towns. One story says the miners welcomed him with explosives and that he spoke from the Gothic House hotel balcony. Quite the welcome for a little mountain town, if that account has the details right!

Hotel and guests, Gothic, Colorado, circa 1915

The Darker Side of Gothic

Of course, not everything about life in Gothic was as entertaining as the bonfires and celebrations.

In March 1881, newspapers across the country reported that a Chinese man named Wang Foo had been lynched in Gothic. His supposed crime? Opening a laundry business.

The reports described opposition to his laundry business and an anti-Chinese group ordering him to leave town. But these were newspaper accounts, and the conflicting versions make it hard to know exactly what happened.

On March 5, the group reportedly returned to his business and demanded that he leave. When he refused again, the men supposedly dragged him outside and hanged him from a nearby tree.

The story spread through newspapers across the country, but here's where things get interesting.

Gothic's own newspaper, the Elk Mountain Bonanza, later claimed that the whole thing had been misunderstood. According to the paper, nobody had actually been killed. Instead, the townspeople had staged a mock hanging using an effigy, essentially a stuffed figure representing a Chinese man.

Another local paper, the Gunnison News, reported a dance afterward to celebrate the effigy hanging.

The newspaper defended the incident, arguing that the town had done nothing wrong because nobody had actually been harmed.

Whether a man was actually killed remains unclear. The effigy account doesn't prove that the killing reports were false, and the killing reports alone don't settle the question either. But either way, it's pretty disturbing to think that threatening Chinese people and telling them they weren't welcome was considered something worth celebrating.

And Gothic wasn't alone. Anti-Chinese sentiment was widespread throughout the American West at the time. Just a few months earlier, in October 1880, a violent anti-Chinese riot in Denver had left one man dead and much of the city's Chinatown destroyed.

I came across a fascinating article from History Colorado called A Lynching in Gothic, Colorado? by Benjamin Wong Blonder. He dug through the original newspaper reports trying to figure out what really happened, and the article goes into quite a bit more history than just this one incident.

It's definitely worth a read if you enjoy digging into the lesser-known stories behind these old mining towns.

When the Boom Faded

Unfortunately, Gothic's glory days didn't last very long.

Gothic's boom was short-lived. By 1890, according to RMBL's history, the prospectors seeking their fortunes had moved on. One by one, people packed up and left.

By the early 1900s, Gothic was practically a ghost town.

But there was one man who wasn't ready to give up on it.

His name was Garwood Judd, and he would eventually become known as "The Man Who Stayed."

Garwood Judd, Gothic, Colorado, circa 1913

Garwood Judd: The Man Who Stayed

Garwood Hall Judd arrived in Gothic around 1880, hoping to make his fortune in silver mining. Over the years, he ran a saloon, worked in real estate, and even served as mayor and police magistrate.

But as the town emptied out, Judd stayed.

Local accounts describe him looking after the nearly abandoned town and keeping a little museum of memorabilia in his cabin.

A local account, citing historian Duane Vandenbusch's The Gunnison Country, says the Fox Film Company made a documentary about him in 1928 called The Man Who Stayed!

He died in 1930 at the age of 78, and according to historical accounts, his ashes were scattered along the streets of Gothic.

Today, nearby Judd Falls is named in his honor. We actually hiked out to the waterfall during our trip, where there's a memorial bench overlooking the falls with this inscription:

To the wayfarer, friend or stranger this seat is offered in the name of "the man who stayed" Garwood Hall Judd.

At the time, I had no idea there was such an interesting story behind that bench!

A Second Life for Gothic

Gothic's story didn't end when the miners left.

In 1928, a biology professor named John C. Johnson founded the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) in the nearly abandoned town. He recognized that the surrounding mountains, wildflowers, and wildlife made it an ideal place for scientific research.

Rather than building an entirely new facility, the researchers made use of Gothic's abandoned buildings, turning old mining-era structures into laboratories, classrooms, and living quarters.

Over the years, Gothic became an important research site, attracting scientists and students from around the world to study everything from wildflowers and pollinators to marmots, snowfall, and climate change.

One of the more interesting residents is a man named billy barr, who first came to Gothic as a student in the early 1970s and returned for good in 1973. He began keeping detailed records of the weather and snowfall. What started as a personal hobby turned into decades of valuable climate data used by scientists!

Today, Gothic is still an active research community, and some of its original mining-era buildings are still standing.

Visitors can stop at the seasonal visitor center to learn about the town's history. Check RMBL's current visitor information for hours and guided tour options before heading up.

Not bad for a little mining town that nearly disappeared!

Judd Falls | The Man Who Stayed

Worth the Detour | June 2026

The Trail at a Glance

Location: Gothic, Colorado, north of Crested Butte

Trailhead: Parking area along Gothic Road, north of Gothic

Distance: 2.33 miles round trip (our recorded hike)

Elevation Gain: 446 feet (our recorded hike)

Difficulty: Moderate

Trail Map: AllTrails

Highlights: Judd Falls, Gothic Mountain views, wildflowers, aspen groves, and scientific research sites

Important: Portions of the trail cross private property belonging to RMBL. Stay on the designated trail, keep dogs leashed, and avoid disturbing ongoing research.

Hiking to Judd Falls

We started our hike at the parking area just north of Gothic. The trail wound through beautiful aspen groves and open areas scattered with wildflowers, with incredible views of Gothic Mountain towering above us.

One of the more interesting things about this hike was that the trail crosses private property belonging to the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory. Scientists have been studying the natural world here since 1928, and we actually got to see some of them working along the trail. It's not every day you get to witness scientific research happening right alongside your hiking adventure!

Science Along the Trail

Along the way, we also came across the Judd Falls Weather Station, part of RMBL's network of permanent weather stations at different elevations. The stations collect environmental data that help scientists study the mountain ecosystem.

One of the things I found interesting was a graph on the informational sign showing how marmots have been emerging from hibernation earlier in the spring over the decades. It's a fascinating example of how changes in climate can affect wildlife, and how decades of scientific research can reveal patterns that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Eventually, the trail brought us to an overlook above Judd Falls, where Copper Creek rushes through a narrow, rocky gorge, plunging over several drops between the steep rock walls. 

The waterfall was impressive, but something else at the overlook caught my attention.

There's a memorial bench dedicated to Garwood Judd, known as "the man who stayed." There were people sitting on it when we visited, so I wasn't able to get a picture of the inscription, but I did manage to read it when they leaned forward.

As I remember it, the inscription read:

To the wayfarer, friend or stranger this seat is offered in the name of “the man who stayed”

The Man Who Stayed

That inscription honors Garwood Judd, one of Gothic's early residents, who died in 1930.

Judd came to Gothic during its silver-mining boom.

But as the silver boom faded and Gothic's population dwindled, most residents packed up and left. Judd, however, stayed behind.

He continued living in the nearly abandoned town and became known as “The Man Who Stayed.”

It's interesting to think that as Gothic's mining era came to an end, another chapter was beginning. The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory was established in 1928, just two years before Judd's death. The town that had once attracted people hoping to strike it rich would eventually become a place where scientists came to study the mountains and the life within them.

Today, Judd's name lives on in the waterfall, and the memorial bench offers hikers a place to rest and take in the scenery, just as its inscription intended.

You can read more of the history I uncovered in my Gothic post!

Lake Irwin, Colorado

Worth the Detour | June 2026

The Trail at a Glance

Distance: Approximately 2 miles (our loop around the lake)

Elevation gain: Approximately 100 feet on our route

Difficulty: Easy for us, with a few natural obstacles

Route: Clockwise around Lake Irwin

Trail map: AllTrails

Getting to Lake Irwin

We stumbled across Lake Irwin while exploring Kebler Pass during our Colorado trip. We turned off Kebler Pass Road (County Road 12) onto Lake Irwin Road (Road 826), not really knowing what we'd find. What started as a random detour down a dirt road turned into one of our favorite stops of the trip.

We followed the road through the trees, crossed the small dam, and parked in the lot just beyond it. With mountains surrounding the lake, we were already impressed before we even started hiking.

Hiking Around the Lake

We decided to hike clockwise around the lake, following the shoreline for almost two miles. With only about 100 feet of elevation gain on our route, it was a fairly easy hike.

The trail wasn't particularly well marked, but we found it easy enough to follow by staying near the shoreline.

It was mostly flat, although we encountered a few downed trees and a creek crossing just above a small waterfall. There wasn't a bridge where we crossed, so we had to make our way across the creek.

The scenery made this one of those low-effort, high-reward hikes. We had mountain views throughout, with wildflowers scattered all along the trail.

We spotted quite a few varieties. From what we could identify, they included frasera, flax, columbine, monkshood, Indian paintbrush, and king's crown.

One of the highlights was spotting a mule deer resting near the shoreline. We noticed she had a fawn hidden among the plants nearby, so we kept our distance and continued on our way.

A Few Things to Know

On our visit, the trail was fairly easy to follow, but it wasn't clearly marked the whole way. Fallen trees and the creek crossing added a few obstacles, and conditions may be different when you visit.

Access update (October 2026): The campground closed September 8, 2026, and is scheduled to remain closed for the 2027 season while improvements are made. The project also calls for a full closure of the day-use area and its access road during 2027, with reopening anticipated in 2028. Check the Forest Service project page and Recreation.gov before planning a visit.