Silver Thread Trail
Scenery in Many Senses
Tracing a high and remote path through Colorado’s least populated region, the Silver Thread Scenic Byway winds its beautiful way through montane forests and meadows from the low to the high, past mountain lakes that teem with waterfowl in migration. The stunning mountain skyline of this place has formed the scenic backdrop for much of Colorado’s most colorful Wild West history, which is still on display in the old mining towns of Lake City and Creede. The wildlife here make the scenery audible as well as visual: the choral music of Hermit and Swainson’s Thrushes backs up the improvisational riffs of Cassin’s Finch, while five species of woodpecker drum out the rhythm section’s beat. And the scenery doesn’t even sit still: here you’ll find the geological oddity called the Slumgullion Earthflow, a slow-motion rockslide the size of a mountain, which bottled a whole valley to form sparkling Lake San Cristobal. This should be the scenery behind your next high-country adventure.
Sites on this Trail
- Coller State Wildlife Area
- Wheeler Geologic Area
- Creede
- FR 503 North of Creede
- Broadacre Ranch Pond
- Pond along FR 523
- Reservoirs along CO 149
- Rio Grande Reservoir and Road Canyon Reservoir
- North Clear Creek Campground
- Brown Lakes State Wildlife Area
- North Clear Creek Falls
- Rito Hondo State Wildlife Area and Continental Reservoir
- Slumgullion Pass
- Mason Family State Wildlife Area (Cebolla Creek)
- American Basin
- Engineer Pass Road
- Lake City
- Lake Fork Gunnison River State Wildlife Area
- Last Chance Mine