Lake City in Hinsdale County, Colorado — The American Mountains (Southwest)
Silver Thread Country
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 21, 2025
1. Silver Thread Country Marker
Ute Indian Museum. This Colorado Historical Society museum interprets history of the Utes, Chief Ouray and his wife Chipeta, who lived and farmed on this site.
The high-country Alpine Loop tours ghost towns such as Capitol City, Sherman, and Animas Forks. The entire route, open only in the summer, follows steep dirt roads requiring a four-wheel-drive vehicle with high clearance.
The Slumgullion Slide occurred approximately 700 years ago when a large portion of eroding volcanic rock slid into the valley, damming the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River and forming Lake San Cristobal. The earthflow extends more than four miles and is still moving today.
As the backbone of the Rocky Mountains, the Continental Divide separates the waters of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
The San Juan Skyway tours the magnificent San Juan Mountains, scene of a bustling silver rush in the 1870s. Silverton and Ouray preserve their mining history as National Historic Districts.
In 1883 Alfred Packer was convicted of the murder of five prospectors and accused of cannibalizing them. The Packer Memorial commemorates the victims of this infamous crime.
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The Silver Thread travels through the upper Rio Grande valley and crosses the Continental Divide. Creede, Lake City, and South Fork are historical complements to this extraordinary scenic byway.
Wagon Wheel Gap was once a popular stage station and tourist resort between Del Norte and the mining camps.
The 17-mile Bachelor Historic Tour traces Creedes legacy through silver mines and ghost towns from the 1890s to the 1980s.
Erected 1997 by Colorado Historical Society, Colorado Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Indigenous Peoples and Communities • Roads & Vehicles • Settlements & Settlers • Waterways & Vessels. In addition, it is included in the History Colorado series list.
Location. 38° 2.062′ N, 107° 18.714′ W. Marker is in Lake City, Colorado, in Hinsdale County. It is at the intersection of Gunnison Avenue (State Highway 149) and Henson Street, on the right when traveling north on Gunnison Avenue. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Lake City
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 21, 2025
2. Silver Thread Country Marker
This marker is the rightmost of two interpretive panels on the west side of the Colorado History kiosk. Colorado Highway 149 is in the left background. Henson Street is in the right background.
Regionally, this marker is in the Colorado High Rockies. It is also in the American Mountain West. Globally, it is in North America, the Rocky Mountains, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The Mountain People (here, next to this marker); Metropolis of the San Juans (here, next to this marker); Roads into the Mountains (here, next to this marker); Colorado's Largest Narrow Leaf Cottonwood Tree (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); Pioneer Education in Western Colorado (approx. 0.2 miles away); John S. Hough House Built 1877 (approx. Ό mile away); St. James Episcopal Chapel 1876 (approx. Ό mile away); Henry Kohler House Built 1880-81 (approx. 0.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Lake City.
Also see . . . Silver Thread Scenic & Historic Byway in Colorado.
Excerpt: Points of Interest include the mighty Rio Grande River for flyfishing on gold medal waters, Wagon Wheel Gap, the Historic Bachelor Loop and Creede Mining District, the spectacular and unrivaled North Clear Creek Waterfalls, scenic Slumgullian Pass that cuts through a natural earthflow, Colorado's second-largest natural lake - Lake San Cristobal, the Alferd Packer Massacre site, and the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River ending at Blue Mesa Reservoir.(Submitted on April 24, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)For 10,000 years game wore narrow paths in the San Juan Mountains which were hunted during summers by Ute Indians, whose culture traces back to A.D. 1300. Horses, introduced by European explorers, widened the trails and allowed the Utes to travel greater distances though the explorers and settlers restricted their movement. Private enterprise built toll roads over the rugged and treacherous land, levying from 25’ for a horse and rider to $1 for a wagon and team of horses. An established stagecoach charged $16 for a two- to three-day trip, including meals and lodging, widening the paths over twenty years. The 1880s brought railroad tracks and trains to haul supplies in and out, wearing tracks deeper into the soil for another fifty years.
Automobiles replaced toll road and most railroad traffic in the early 1920s. Asphalt eventually replaced dirt roads for safer and faster travel. Beginning in 1968, the segment from Creede to Lake City was paved, meeting at Slumgullion Pass with the last portion in the Santa Maria Reservoir area in 1983.
Credits. This page was last revised on April 24, 2026. It was originally submitted on April 24, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 10 times since then. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on April 24, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
