A Drive Up Marshall Pass Road
Didn't Reach The Pass, But Photos Of Mt. Ouray And Northern Sangre De Cristo Range (April 2006)
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Marshall Pass is part of the Continental Divide.
To get there, take Chaffee County Road 200
(about halfway between the town of Poncha Springs and
Poncha Pass) and follow it for 14 miles.
There are two right turns that need to be made along the way,
but there is clear signage directing when to do so.
Adjacent photo: Looking at Chaffee County Road 200 from Highway 285. |
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This is a very interesting area! A snapped
a photo of a sign giving some of the history of the area. The
old mining town of Bonanza
is on the other side of these mountains. |
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More history about Marshall Pass. |
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A few miles, the
scenery becomes nice. Here's a shot of
O'Haver Lake from Marshall Pass Road, which rides above it. |
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The views continue to get better with some stunning views of Mt. Ouray, altitude 13,971 feet. |
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About eight or nine miles in, I looked back to get a great
shot of the northern Sangre De Cristo Mountain range, which sits behind the small
town of Villa Grove in the San Luis Valley. |
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At about the 10 mile mark, there was a sign saying the road was closed.
The road conditions up to this point were relatively good for a low car like my Honda Accord,
so I continued on to see if I could reach the Marshall Pass summit. |
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Ah, but about 0.5 miles up, I came upon this snowy and
muddy spot and decided to turn around. It just didn't look safe enough.
Plus, if I had gotten stuck way up there, that would not have been good.
My suggestion: This looks like a very exciting and scenic drive ... in the summer! ;)
Addendum: View photos at Marshall Pass
here. |
