Bachelor Loop Scenic Drive

The Bachelor Loop near Creede Colorado is a 17-mile scenic drive through mining ruins and forested plateaus.  The most interesting part of the loop is at the north end of Creede and is filled with mining ruins clinging precipitously to the hillside.  Other than some great views of the Rio Grande Valley as you descend on the downward side there is not much happening in between.  The ruins are neat however but if you don't want to do the entire drive,  you could turn around after the steep drive up past them.

Commodore Mine

Trestle used to take ore cars out of the mine

Creede was established in the late 1800s because of the Amethyst Vein (running along West Willow Creek canyon), a 4-10 ft wide vein of silver ore that occasionally reached 100 feet in width. As with all such places in Colorado, such riches resulted in mines, towns, tent cities, and colorful characters such as the card shark Poker Alice and Calamity Jane.

Amethyst Mine

These ruins of the Last Chance Mine look like they could fall down the hillside at any time.

Lots of cars were stopped here at this open meadow, which is all that remains of Bachelor City

The Commodore mine doesn't look like might now, but it has 5 different levels spread out over 200 underground miles. Located at the southernmost extent of the Amethyst Vein, it was in production from 1891 all the way to 1976!

Looking east down into the Rio Grand Valley, with Creed far below 

Looking southwest 

Further down now.  Creed is more visible. 

Iowa Hill Mining District

Distance: 1.2 mile loop, not counting spurs to visit buildings
Elevation: 9,600 ft - 9,910 ft
Elevation Gain: 310 ft
Bathroom at Trailhead: No
Dogs: On leash
Date Hiked: 17 June 2012

The restored boarding house is the highlight of the Iowa Hill Trail

Iowa Hill is a historical mining exhibit just north of the ski resort of Breckenridge.  Its short trail winds up and around a Ponderosa covered hill filled with interpretive signs, old buildings, and mining relics.  While Colorado has no castles it certainly has mining ruins!

The fancy sign at the entrance to Iowa Hill. The verbiage says trailhead, but that is actually 100 yards further up a dirt frontage road that starts near this sign. 

The official trailhead

Early trail segment through young Aspens

Obvious signs lead the way through the exhibits

Sluice box for capturing gold

Gentle trail segment

Blacksmith shop with interesting tools wired to the wall

It took me a bit to find Iowa Hill because it is much further north of town than than I realized. It is actually past the Highway 9 bypass and roundabout. To get there from downtown Breckenridge, take either Main Street or the Highway 9 bypass and head towards Frisco. If you are on the bypass, turn left at Airport Road and continue north. If on Main, go into the roundabout and take the bypass for a quarter mile or so and then turn right on Airport Road. The entrance is on the left of Airport Road near the public works facility. Take the short frontage road near the fancy copper and wood sign to a small parking lot with a typical trailhead sign. A small arrow on the fancy sign points the way.

Old mine shaft now filled in

Crane with Bald Mountain in the distance

Hydraulic pipes use gravity to enhance the  water pressure 

Example of the cannon head

You can actually see where the water cut into the hillside in large swaths.

Mining car outside a closed tunnel

Iowa Hill is all about hydraulic mining.  This technique involved shooting water canons at the hillsides to erode and dissolve the dirt and run it through a series of sluice boxes where heavy metals like gold fall out.  It is engineering intensive and does not exactly leave a pretty picture behind.

Canon perched on a hillside in the distance

Bench overlooking the lower part of the trail

Backside of the boarding house

Weeds along the house highlighting the mud insulation between the logs

Close-up of the log construction

Iowa Hill educational and pleasant, although I did it on a day when it was way to hot, so plan accordingly if you are in Breck during another Colorado heat wave. If you like this sort of thing you can also check out the smaller Lomax Mine on the way to Peak 8 in Breckenridge.