Day trip to South Fork, Creede and Lake City

October 11, 2020 · by Dano · in Colorado

Off on another day adventure from beautiful Fairplay. Heading south on hwy 285 for about 2.5 hours is the small town of South Fork (not South Park, that’s the valley where Fairplay is located). It is a very small town with somewhere around 390 residents, as of the last census, but it has a claim to fame which I’m sure everyone knows about.

This wide spot in the road was the location of a famous movie, a classic, a landmark in cinematography, no other than National Lampoon’s “Vacation”. South Fork’s Riverbend Campground became the funky, dirty little campsite, Kamp Komfort, where Clark and his family rented 3 tents for the night at the low, low price of $37. Including the wonderful scenery, of course.

We passed on visiting the campground and instead drove around to enjoy the scenery without paying the $37. Oh, one other famous actress visited here, Oprah Winfrey stopped by during a road trip somewhere around 2006.

Holy Family Mission

Back in the early 1880’s, South Fork was nothing more than a stage stop and a small fur trader outpost. That’s pretty much the start, but like most Colorado towns, mining soon became the major industry with silver mines springing up around the area. And just like most of these mining towns, the well ran dry and ranchers moved in. The town was the perfect place for the railroad which was expanded to support ore shipments from Creede. Meanwhile, South Fork was busy growing produce for transport to Colorado’s larger cities. Cauliflower, lettuce, corn and strawberries were major crops once grown in this region. Today, hay is the crop and it’s grown pretty much everywhere you look. And South Fork, well it’s now a major tourist hub with vacation homes scattered about the Rio Grande river.

Stop #2 on today’s trip is Creede, Colorado. Creede is located on highway 149 which parallels the Rio Grande river and is known as the “Silver Thread Scenic Byway”. It’s no wonder why today the area is mostly vacation homes, the scenery here is gorgeous. Lots of Aspens, pines, a windy river, large fields of hay, and the San Juan mountains make for a really dynamic setting.

Creede is a little smaller than South Fork, 290 residents, but has a bit more history. Founded in the mid-1800’s, Willow Creek, as it was first known, had a small mining population of around 600. But by 1889, the town saw massive growth, growing to over 10,000 residents. Why? Simple, silver! Although numerous mines sprang up around the area, it was the Holy Moses silver mine that really brought in the loot. Nicholas C. Creede (get the connection) founded the mine and soon the town name was changed. The mines in Creede had a long period of operations. Starting around 1890 and running until 1985 they extracted more than 870 metric tons of silver, 4.7 metric tons of gold, 112,000 metric tons of lead, and other minerals.

The Clay Mine – Bentonite clay used in salt water taffy, cosmetics and ammunition

And there is another part to the growth story in Creede. Apparently around 1891, Denver was ridding itself of gambling houses, brothels and the like. Most of the owners of these establishments decided a move to Creede would be economically beneficial since Creede was booming. Some were famous, Robert Ford, the man who killed Jessie James; Bat Masterson, famous lawman and journalist; and some were infamous, like Jefferson Randolph “Soapy” Smith, con artist and gangster. And since Denver didn’t want them, and Creede was growing in leaps and bounds, a move made sense.

Downtown Creede

Seems all these towns, at one time or another, are ravaged by fire. Creede is no exception, June 5, 1892 fire swept through the town and destroyed most of it. Robert Ford had just finished building his emporium when the fire broke out and burned down his building. He set up business in a tent while planning to rebuild his store. 3 days after the fire, Edward O’Kelley strolled into Ford’s tent and shot him dead. O’Kelley became known as, “the man who shot the man who shot Jessie James”. O’Kelley was found guilty of murder but his sentence was commuted after public outcry. Two years later he was killed while trying to shoot a policeman. Justice?

Well, that was exciting. Time to continue on highway 149 to Lake City, our last town before heading back to Fairplay. The road now takes us over the Continental Divide at Spring Creek Pass, an elevation of 10,898’. Big deal, it’s only 840’ higher than my driveway!

Some 50 miles from Creede, the town of Lake City began much like South Fork, as a supply stop for prospectors. To make room for the expansion of Lake City, the native Utes were “relocated” to another site after the government renegotiated the treaty. In the new treaty, the Ute tribe gave up their rights to the San Juan mountains and miners moved in. That was 1873.

By 1874 the small town had been platted and the Saguache & San Juan Wagon Toll Road was opened. The entire valley floor was platted, some 260 acres of uniform blocks consisting of 32 lots per block. They were planning on some real growth!

By 1877 the town was booming with merchants, lawyers, assayers, everything you would need to supporting mining, including saloons, dance halls, and brothels. But as luck would have it, Lake City was located at the end of the Colorado Mineral Belt and had little in the way of precious ore. To add to this, extracting and shipping the ore was very costly, so by 1879 the town went into decline. Just so happens, 1879 was the year the Denver & Rio Grande railroad completed their line from Sapinero to Lake City, what timing. And, just like Creede, 1879 was the year of a massive fire that destroyed most of the town. See, I told you this happens.

The town was rebuilt using local materials, especially clay used to make bricks. The clay came from the Slumgullion Earthflow, a slow-moving landslide that today still moves about 7 meters per year. An earlier earthflow, about 700 years ago, blocked the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River to create Colorado’s second largest natural lake, Lake San Cristobal. About 5 miles outside of Lake City, on hwy 149, there is an overlook to see Lake San Cristobal.

Slumgullion Earthflow

Located at the edge of Lake City is a small monument to 5 men who lost their lives in the winter of 1874. The men were part of a prospecting group that was caught in a winter storm. The group was led by a man named, Alferd Packer, a prospector and professional guide. The story goes that the men were trapped in a snow storm and facing starvation, Alferd murdered his companions and ate them to survive. When Alferd wandered back into town, the first thing he wanted was whiskey, not food, which raised a bit of suspicion about his story of survival. When the bodies of the other prospectors were found, they showed signs of being bludgeoned to death. Alferd’s story didn’t add up.

Alferd decided to make a run for it and ended up in Wyoming where he lived for 9 years before being found and brought back for trial. He was convicted of killing one man but the Colorado Supreme Court over turned the conviction. He was re-tried in 1886 and found guilty of murder and sentenced to 40 years. (You can see his cell at the Canon City Prison Museum)

Today, Lake City has a population of about 400 residents and is supported mostly by tourism. People come to enjoy the skiing, climbing, hiking, fishing, and OHV trails surrounding the area. Fortunately for us, in the early 1900’s the residents of Lake City realized the value of restoring and maintaining their town. Many of today’s buildings are the original structures built in the 1800’s. Some have had minor renovations but others have had extensive work done to return them to their original condition. One such structure is the Baptist Church, originally built in 1875, which stood vacant from 1930 to 1970 when volunteers began to restore the building. Extensive repairs were made to both the interior and exterior of the building to bring it back to its original condition. Throughout the town, the restoration and preservation efforts continue.

The Baptist Church

The Community Presbyterian Church

After a nice picnic lunch in the park, we headed back to Fairplay via hwy 149 to hwy 50. And over Monarch Pass. Hwy 149 intersects hwy 50 at the east end of the Curecanti National Recreation Area and Blue Mesa reservoir. We couldn’t believe our eyes when we reached the reservoir. There was hardly enough water to raft the Gunnison river at the bottom of what was the east forebay of Blue Mesa. The water level was down at least 50’. Never seen the water this low, ever. Hope our winter makes up for a mild spring.