Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Old Railroad Tunnels through Ute Pass

The railway that went up Gold Camp Road was narrow gauge, it was nicknamed ‘the short line.’ The railway that went up Phantom Canyon from Florence was narrow gauge too. But this one, the Colorado Midland...and the Midland Terminal...was standard gauge. Much of present Hwy. 67 between Divide and Cripple Creek runs along the old Midland Terminal spur between Divide and the mining district. There is a former wood-shored Midland Terminal tunnel that was once used as a one-lane highway tunnel on CO 67 until the 1990’s when part of it collapsed. It was bypassed with a new cut and the old tunnel is still there. You can look inside of it and still see the shoring on the inside. Access has been closed with a grille though. It’s at the trailhead for Pancake Rocks on CO 67.

OK,I was thinking since the one running from Cripple Creek to Victor is narrow gauge,so were those.Interesting to know

Very cool, thanks for sharing.

Relatives in a beach community in SoCal have some homeless folks that they could ship you folks. Those look like they'd make a good shelter.

No, those are really cool.

That's cool Ant, I was going to ask you what you thought happened to the tracks. Have you been in the old mines yet?

About twenty or maybe twenty-five years ago, there was a big stink about bums and tramps living in the tunnels. I thought that the tunnels were closed off. Guess not.

A lot of the old tracks all around the country were torn up and used for steel during WW2.

Well said

Looks like a good place to dump a body

I think a commercial tourist operation went in there later on and laid that narrow gauge track on part of the old standard gauge railbed, and now it’s the Cripple Creek & Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad. I believe it’s only about 4 miles round trip.

Thank you Antlers. Be Well, RZ.

When they abandoned the railroads, they took up the tracks. This country is honeycombed with old mines. Literally thousands of miles of shafts, slopes, tunnels, cross cuts, drifts, stopes, and chutes. I have been in many; many are flat-out dangerous; many...due to erosion, collapse, and the passage of time...have an opening that is only a foot or so across, and from top to bottom. In a few more years they’ll be gone. Some of those big mines up in the mining district at Cripple Creek and Victor had enclosed headframes so they could continue working 24/7/365 in inclement weather at 10,000 feet elevation.

Good stuff antlers.....

You always post cool stuff..............

Enjoyed that, antlers, very interesting time in history. I grew up on a ranch between Fairplay and Hartsel. Have explored that area back in the day.

I love that part of Park County that the Middle Fork of the South Platte runs through. There’s some awesome ranches up in there.

Ssshhh!

Cool pictures! Thanks for sharing.

USRA drew a line across the country and decided all the rail traffic for ww1 should use the midland. They did have small tunnels so were limited on locomotive size, and with 3.5% grades, single track couldn't do it. So all the traffic was sent elsewhere. Led to bankruptcy. The only thing they did right was design some very good standardized locomotives

Over by leadville there is the carleton tunnel and busk-ivanhoe tunnels, part of the same RR. Lots of old track fills and cuts on Trout creek pass area.

Nice pictures,I worked at a Rv Park (Mountain View Resort) for 5 months on 8 mile hill west of Canon City.Wife and i went all over the place sightseeing,had lots of fun.Beautiful country

I’m real familiar with that area. I climb and hike in and around the Gorge all the time.

We were there when they had the 2013 fire that burned down the Gorge,had to leave the park
for 4 days before we could return.