On The Road Again 2016: Sunday, July 10, 2016: OPHIR PASS

Much of the history comes from the book, "Backcountry Adventures Colorado" by Peter Massey, Jeanne Wilson, & Angela Titus

This trail begins in a scenic wooded area, climbs above timberline to almost 12,000 feet, crosses a high ledge road with a sheer drop-off on one side & a talus(loose shale rock) slope on the other, comes out into beautiful Aspen stands and goes right thru the little town of Ophir. Start to finish is less than 10 miles and takes us several hours (including a picnic stop). This is the same trail where we take the pictures of the 20' high snowdrifts on both sides of the road earlier in the year.

The trail ends on Colorado Hwy 141. At that point you can turn right to Telluride or left to Cortez. Today, we crossed the highway and visited the World's first generating station to produce AC current -- still operating.

This trail was originally an Indian hunting trail called The Navajo Trail. In the 1860s, white men, explorers & prospectors began using the trail. In the mid 1870s, the Brunot Treaty opened the area and a wagon road was built across the pass. That road was converted to a toll road in 1880' (I guarantee you didn't get your money's worth.) Otto Mears built a railroad thru the area in 1891 and use of the toll road declined.

The town of Ophir gets its name from an Old Testament reference in the Hebrew Bible to a region rich in gold. Claims were staked in 1875, but there was only sporadic mining.

In the 1870s, Mears constructed a railroad to Lizard Head Pass with three tiers of tracks with loops crossing above and below each other and trestles as high as 100 feet running from Telluride to Durango. Two rail-cars of ore shipped from Ophir Loop daily.

In 1885, the population grew to 200, then 500 three years later. The town had five saloons, several churches, a school and its own electricity and waterworks.

After the turn of the 20th century, population dwindled and Ophir became a ghost town by 1929. In 1960, it was listed as one of four incorporated towns in the U.S. with NO residents. It is now home to around 100 summer residents; has its own post office and government. And on some days, you will find the local kids selling lemonade and fresh baked chocolate chip cookies in front of their houses.

Since 1953, it has been a popular 4-wheel drive trail, and unfortunately a few RVs have tried and failed based on debris on the talus slide. No trailers allowed, but we still see them occasionally.

My favorite "Ophir Story" is the one about the mail carrier, Swen Nilson in December, 1882. It is on an earlier post. If you didn't read it, scroll back. It's a good read.