Alpine Loop Scenic Byway
The Alpine Loop Back Country Byway in the northern San Juan Mountains of Colorado is a spectacular
65-mile tour of some of North America's most magnificent scenery. The byway boasts two 12,000+ foot
passes that require a high clearance, four wheel drive vehicle. Drivers on the route take a slower pace,
allowing time to soak in the scenery rather than watching the mile markers whiz by. For those with an
adventurous spirit (and an appropriate vehicle!), the area offers an opportunity to look backward in
time – to a time when early miners struggled in a rugged, often hostile environment. Remnants of the
hard rock mining past – historic structures, old rail beds and tramways -- dot the landscape, telling
a story of a bygone era and a different way of life.
The Alpine Loop traverses land managed predominantly by the BLM between
the gateway communities of Lake City, Silverton and Ouray. (Click on image to enlarge)
While the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS)
manage the majority of land along the Alpine Loop, an unseen legacy of the
mining past is the jumbled pattern of private patented mining claims. Large-scale
hard rock mining has become less and less economically viable in the area.
Backcountry development, particularly the construction of second homes and
vacation cabins, has replaced mining as the preferred use for many landowners
of these private inholdings. Managing this mosaic of public and private
lands to maintain their outstanding natural and historic values is ever
more challenging within this new context. Large-scale development of these private
inholdings threatens the very qualities that have led to national recognition
of the Alpine Loop.
Computer generated view looking NE up the Animas River above Silverton.
Significant development on patented mining claims could substantially change the visitor
experience along the Alpine Loop.
The Alpine Loop Spatial Analysis and Mapping Project is an effort to inventory natural and cultural resources and identify important areas where overlapping resources occur.
The results
from this project will provide an opportunity for area stakeholders – landowners,
outdoor enthusiasts, surrounding communities, federal government agencies
and local preservation groups -- to come together to find solutions that
maintain the Alpine Loop experience for future visitors and residents, while
working within the framework of landowner objectives as well as local and
federal government goals.
