Day 9 of 2026 Trip to the Rockies, Driving Silver Thread Scenic Byway

The ninth day of my 2026 trip to the Rocky Mountains. I would take a break from days of hiking near Lake City. All that was on my itinerary was driving the Silver Thread Scenic Byway from Lake City to South Fork.

When planning this trip to the Rockies, I discovered that finding accommodation in Lake City between July 2-4 was exceptionally difficult. The town was limited in size, and my dates fell right in the middle of Independence Day celebrations. As a result, I scheduled 4 full days of hiking to summit all the 14ers accessible from Lake City before those dates. Additionally, another 14er, San Luis Peak, was best accessed from the town of Creede, which was between Lake City and South Fork. With South Fork being only a 26-minute drive away from Creede and boasting much cheaper hotel rates, I decided to stay there for the July 2-4 period.

With this in mind, I planned to tackle San Luis Peak tomorrow, July 3rd. For today, July 2nd, I simply intended to drive from Lake City to South Fork and give my body a well-needed day off after four days of strenuous hiking. Nonestop, this was only a 1.5 hour drive. But since this stretch of road was dubbed the "Silver Thread Scenic Byway," so I anticipated making numerous stops along the way to appreciate the views.

Since this was designed to be a rather leisurely day, I allowed myself a late start. After packing all my luggage and checking out of the hotel, I left Lake City at 9:50 am.

Lake San Cristobal Overlook

My first stop of the day was the Lake San Cristobal Overlook. It was just outside Lake City at a hairpin turn where the road goes through a steep climb toward Slumgullion Pass. While somewhat informal and limited in size, the overlook offered fine views of Lake San Cristobal below.

Windy Point Observation Site

Just a short drive away was the Windy Point Observation Site, which I had stopped at five days earlier on my drive into Lake City. This time, the peaks were gloriously bathed in morning sunlight, their details clearly visible, as if, after four days of hiking among them, they had grown acquainted with me. I thought this was the mountains waving me goodbye, little knowing that the very next day, from the summit of San Luis Peak, I would glimpse their unmistakable silhouettes one final time.
Nearby, an information marker pointed to where, about 850 years ago, a portion of Mesa Seco broke off as the Slumgullion Earthflow. The slide moved downhill and dammed the Lake Fork Gunnison River, creating Lake San Cristobal.

Spring Creek Valley

A 15-minute drive later, I reached Spring Creek Pass, part of the Continental Divide. It turned out to be quite inconspicuous. I had hoped to get an aerial tour of the surroundings with my drone, but after capturing a brief series of photographs, I moved on.

However, after that, the road traveled through Spring Creek Valley, a verdant corridor that proved unexpectedly delightful.

North Clear Creek Falls

Not long after Continental Divide, I reached a major attraction along the Silver Thread Scenic Byway: North Clear Creek Falls. Here, North Clear Creek had carved its way through volcanic cliffs formed about 50 million years ago. An overlook sat right next to the parking lot, but I still launched my drone for the most up-close and central views.

Here's a short video of the waterfall itself:

13 seconds, 2160p24, H265 only, no sound, compressed aggressively to 10Mbps for 18MB file size.

And here's a video of my drone flying over the waterfall:

19 seconds, 2160p60, H265 only, compressed aggressively to 12Mbps for 30MB file size.

Weminuche Wilderness Vista

This was another roadside turnout that I had stopped at five days earlier, where a series of reservoirs along South Clear Creek lined the floor of a valley, against the backdrop of the prominent Rio Grande Pyramid. Here, as at Windy Point before it, the morning sun provided ideal lighting for photography.

Additionally, I also launched my drone here for an aerial tour.

And here's a video of my drone flying over some of the reservoirs:

46 seconds, 2160p60, H265 only, compressed aggressively to 12Mbps for 77MB file size.

Antelope Park

After that came Antelope Park, where the lush pastures—once used for cattle ranching in the late 1800s—made for a rather scenic and enjoyable ride today.

From this point eastward toward the San Luis Valley, the road traveled with relative ease, free of tight twists and steep grades. Roadside information markers told of the various transportation endeavors that had once connected Antelope Park to the heart of the San Juan Mountains, bound for either Silverton or Lake City. The narrative began with breaking bulk (caravans of mules bearing packs of load), and progressed through a succession of competing toll roads until, at last, Silverton and Lake City secured their respective rail connections and the dust finally settled.

Next came Creede, another mining town just outside Willow Creek Valley. I felt it's about the same size as Lake City (maybe a bit smaller), and so was its population census. Yet thanks presumably to its more accessible location, Creede boasted far more restaurants than Lake City. That greater competition and variety was at least correlated with, if not directly responsible for, the fact that my lunch here surpassed everything I had eaten in Lake City over the previous five days.

Weagon Wheel Gap

My final stop before South Fork was Weagon Wheel Gap, a narrow passage where the Rio Grande carved through the mountains. The narrowness was especially obvious given the landscape since Antelope Park had been wide and lush pastures where the mountains seemed to recline peacefully in the distance. During the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the area drew visitors to its hot spring resort.

In 1863, Charles Baker led a group of prospectors into the San Juan Mountains. While returning to New Mexico for the winter, they abandoned a damaged wagon near the "gap" where the Rio Grande carved a small canyon. In the 1870s, a wagon wheel was discovered in this area and it was believed to be a remnant from the Baker party. Miners referred to this area as "the gap where the wagon wheel was found." Over time this area became known as Wagon Wheel Gap.

In the end, I reached the town of South Fork around 2:30pm. Since this was my only rest day between days of hiking, I called an early end to the day.
END