Salida to Buena Vista, Colorado

Chalk Lake Campground

This small campground (18 sites) is directly across from Cascade Canyon in the valley between Mount Princeton and Mount Antero (both >14,000-foot peaks) in the Sawatch Range.

To say that this campground has incredible views is a gross understatement. We can actually see Agnes Vallie Falls from the back of our camper. 

Chalk Lake

Just up the road and connected to the campground is Chalk Lake.

On the path from the campground to the lake, we cross Chalk Creek and see a little wildlife having dinner.

Salida, Colorado

After doing an abbreviated setup on the camper, we pile into the Jeep and head into Salida to pick up packages, have lunch, and do a little shopping. After finishing our chores, we head downtown to the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area Visitor Center. It’s not busy and the two ladies manning the facility are very helpful, providing information about the area and specifically Aspen Ridge Road. It’s most popular in the fall when the colors are changing but it should still be beautiful today.

Aspen Ridge Road

This off-road trail begins in Salida, Colorado and travels through the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area and Browns Canyon National Monument before ending in Buena Vista, Colorado. Based on the information we received at the visitor center we decide to take this scenic route back to the camper. Follow along with us…

What an incredible trail! It’s everything we were hoping for. And as we were airing up, we met several very nice people who stopped to see if we needed any help.

Browns Creek Falls

Day 2 we head south to the other side of Mount Antero and climb up the Browns Creek Falls Trail between Mount Antero and Mount Shavano (both over 14k feet). Beginning at the Browns Creek Trailhead (8,916 ft) this 6-mile round trip hike roughly follows Little Browns Creek before switching to Browns Creek about the same time it takes us on a short portion of the Colorado Trail.

Trail

The trail terrain is quite diverse, passing through pines and aspen and traversing rocks, sand, soil and crossing creeks via split log bridges.

Trail Views

The views are incredible! We can see the mountain range across the valley that we drove yesterday, Salida in the distance, and get some really good views of Mount Shavano.

Once the Colorado Trail diverges, we continue upward until we see the falls at the top of the trail around 9,830 ft.

Browns Creek Falls

This 60-feet high waterfall has five drops. You can see three of them from the bottom but to see the other two you have to do some climbing. The water is so clear you can easily see the bottom of the small pool.

If you want to see the falls but don’t want to walk, you can click this link and this link to see them on our YouTube channel. Or if you’re in the area, there are several outfits that run trail rides up here via horse or burro. We saw a few groups of both horses and burros along the trail and yes, they left some droppings but it wasn’t obnoxious. 

We actually got very lucky with the weather today. By going south, we missed a morning thunderstorm. We felt a few drops of rain as we were walking and heard a few loud booms of thunder but that was all. After the hike we had “linner” (lunch/dinner) in Buena Vista, did our weekly grocery shopping, and got back to the camper before an early evening rain shower hit. Rain this area desperately needs!

Cascade Falls

Today we’re expecting high winds in the afternoon so we head out early and go west up into the Collegiate Peaks. Our first stop (less than a mile from the campground) is Cascade Falls Overlook. Here we can see multiple falls along Chalk Creek.

To see and hear the falls for yourself click here.

St. Elmo Ghost Town

Our next stop and destination for the morning is the Historic St. Elmo Ghost Town near the summit. Settled before 1879, it was initially the beginning of the toll road from Gunnison to Aspen over Tincup Pass. It later became a railroad and mining town which managed to adapt and survive the ups and downs of the railroad, mining closures, and two fires until the late 1950’s. At this point it became a tourist destination and remains so today.

Many of the original buildings have been reduced or reinforced to keep them safe but much of main street is still intact as well as the schoolhouse and several other buildings just north of main street. As we’re walking around, it’s easy to get a feel for what it was like 100’s years ago when this was a bustling town.

Main Street

Main Street contains many buildings including a working General Store, the parlor from the American House which serves as a museum, the Jail, and the Ghost House Hotel.

Main Street after the bend

This section is only accessible by foot and seems to lead up to one of the old logging or mining operations.

Schoolhouse

The schoolhouse also served as the town church and there’s a viewing window that lets us see the classroom inside.

Gunnison Steet

Just across Chalk Creek and providing access to Tin Cup Pass, this street has a mix of old and new buildings. I only took pictures of the older ones maintaining the privacy of the current residents in the newer homes.

Wildlife

As we were touring the town, we were greeted / warned off by a few characters. The first is a marmot that seems to be living under the Lawyers office and the others are a couple of hummingbirds on or near a feeder in the outside portion of the antique store.

To hear the marmot barking at a dog walking by click here.

Alpine Lake

On the way back to camp, we take a slight detour to get a view of Alpine Lake.

We then drive through the tiny town of Alpine and take a backway to the main road where we get a great view up Chalk Creek as we cross it.

As planned, we arrive back at camp for lunch just as the high winds begin gusting.

Narrow Gauge Trail 1432

We’re anticipating high winds again this afternoon so we head out early for the Denver South Park & Pacific Railroad Historic Trail (1880 – 1926) to walk the Chalk Creek Grade. This trail features incredible views without having to torture our bodies with extreme elevation gain.

We begin the trail just beyond the Cascade Falls Viewpoint at the bend in the road. Looking down the valley we can see some of the smoke from one of the forest fires west of here.

Continuing down the trail we get a good view of Chalk Lake and Mount Princeton beyond.

A little further along we get a good view down toward the city of Nathrop.

While here we hear a few birds trilling and see a few Clark’s Nutcrackers in a tree just off the trail.

On the way back, we get a good view up the valley toward the St. Elmo ghost town we visited yesterday, a nice view of the trail, a view of the campground from above, and a long-range view of Agnes Vaille Falls.  

We’ll be hiking up to Agnes Vaille Falls tomorrow, but here’s a preview from across the valley.

Once back at the camper, we have a nice lunch and spend the afternoon relaxing while watching more of the World Cup.

Agnes Vaille Falls

The waterfall cascades down the canyon with a total drop of 450 feet and is named after a female mountaineer who died in 1925 while trying to ascend Longs Peak during the winter.

As planned, we head up the trail this morning, and I’m really glad we got pictures yesterday because visibility from the overlook is limited. We can actually see it better from our campsite.

As usual, we have a video of the falls on our YouTube channel. Click here to see it.

Views from Mount Princeton

After relaxing at camp for a little while we head into Buena Vista via the scenic route partway up Mount Princeton where get a really good look at the mountain range we drove across our first day here when we did the Alpine Ridge Road.

Buena Vista Whitewater Park

Once in Buena Vista, we head down to the Whitewater Park on the Arkansas River to do the Bridge-to-Bridge loop trail. We get some beautiful views of the mountains, the river, and even an overlook of the town.

What makes this park unique is that underwater “ramps” were installed to create whitewater areas for people to raft and even surf. We were lucky enough to catch a group playing in one of these areas.

Click here to watch him in action.

Jan’s Restaurant

After our hike we head to Jan’s Restaurant for lunch where we had the best meal we’ve all tasted in quite a long time. The food is incredible and, in our opinion, this is a must visit if you’re in the area. 

Next Stop… Curecanti National Recreation Area