Cebolla Creek and Lake City Colorado
- Grant
- Sep 26
- 7 min read
Updated: Oct 6
The week before the Labor Day holiday, Jeff and I decided to take our dogs on a shorter road trip, to visit some friends outside of Gunnison (Gunnison Vacations, Activities & Things To Do | Colorado.com), in southwest Colorado.
In addition to visiting friends who live on Cebolla Creek (Cebolla Creek, CO: Welcome to Brown Town, USA - American Fly Fishing), we decided to take a side trip to the historic mining town of Lake City.
On US 285 right to Buena Vista or left to Gunnison; Monarch Pass Ski Area; and the road down to Cebolla Creek
Journey to Cebolla Creek
The journey from Greeley to Cebolla Creek is roughly 5 to 6 hours. Cebolla Creek (Cebolla Creek / Cathedral Area | Lake City - A Peak Experience) is about one hour southwest of Gunnison, Colorado. To get around the slow traffic of the Denver metro area, we drove south on US 85 to I-76 then west to I-70 then south to US 285.
The weather was mostly cloudy—ideal for a long day in a car. We also included a stop for the dogs at the top of Trout Creek Pass (Trout Creek Pass - Wikipedia) on US 285, between Fairplay (Fairplay, Colorado - Wikipedia) and Buena Vista (Buena Vista, CO - Official Website | Official Website).
The journey was uneventful, with very little traffic. After a quick pit stop in Gunnison, we arrived at our friends’ place on Cebolla Creek in a little over 5 hours.
Historic Lake City Colorado
We only had an hour’s drive to Lake City (Lake City - A Peak Experience) from Cebolla Creek. Since the early 1870’s, miners have spent lifetimes traveling to and mining the mountains around Lake City (Lake City Colorado – Western Mining History). In fact, in 1871 a group led by Henry Henson discovered the rich gold and silver ore veins of what would be called the Ute-Ulay Mine (Ute-Ulay Mine and Mill | History Colorado). Since most of the land in this area was owned by the Ute Indians, full mining operations didn’t commence there until 1874, after the Ute Indians ceded the land to the United States.
Enos Hotchkiss, who made his gold and silver strike at the location of the Hotchkiss Mine (now the Golden Fleece Mine: Golden Fleece Mine (Colorado) - Wikipedia), is known as “the Father of Lake City.” It was he that triggered the mining boom in the Lake City area. Oddly enough, even with the gold and silver mining boom, the population of Lake City never exceeded 5,000 people.
Throughout the late 1800s, gold and silver seekers came and went, and the mining boom continued. People of every race and nationality came to Lake City by every mode of transportation at that time. However, the railroad didn’t make it to Lake City until 1889 when the Denver and Rio Grande built a narrow-gauge line into Lake City (The D&RG Lake City Branch Railroad and a Galloping Goose | Lake City - A Peak Experience).
Lake City’s boom days ended in the early 1900s. Although lead was pulled from the mines, the gold and silver began to slow. People began to pull up stakes and move away during the 1910s and the population dropped to a little over 600.
For years after the boom days, the population of Lake City dropped as low as 200. Then in the 1940s, the Lake City area saw a resurgence of interest from sportsmen from Texas and Oklahoma. It is considered a trout fisherman’s paradise. These days snowmobilers and other winter sports advocates have found the mountains around Lake City.
Shots going up Engineer Pass and of the Ute-Ulay Townsite and Mine area
We arrived in Lake City around 10:00 AM and drove through the town before deciding to drive up Engineer’s Pass (Engineer Pass - Lake City-Ouray, CO | Via the 4×4 Alpine Loop - Uncover Colorado) on Colorado 20. It’s a gravel and dirt road in relatively good condition. We drove up to the Ute-Ulay townsite and mine site (Ute-Ulay Mine and Mill | History Colorado). Although the terrain is very rugged and steep, it makes for beautiful scenery. Currently the townsite and mine site building are undergoing renovation with plans for organized tours.
Lake Fork of the Gunnison River
Taking Highway 149 out of Lake City toward Slumgullion Pass (Slumgullion Pass - Lake City-Creede, CO | Highway CO-149 - Uncover Colorado) quickly brings you to CR 30—where you pass by the Lake City Ski Hill (Ski Hill and Terrain Park | Lake City - A Peak Experience)—Vail has nothing to worry about. A turn onto CR 33 leads to the scenic Lake San Cristobal (Lake San Cristobal | Lake City - A Peak Experience); it’s the second largest natural lake in Colorado. Don’t forget your fishing rod or maybe a paddleboard. We went back to Highway 149 and continued toward Slumgullion Pass along the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River.
Shots from around the Town of Lake City; the Packer Saloon and Cannibal Grill
Back in town, we walked the dogs a bit and decided to have a late lunch at the Packer Saloon and Cannibal Grill (packersaloonandcannibalgrill.com – Great Outdoor Dining Experience). They need to work on their website and make it much more user friendly. Anyway, I had the Rocky Mountain Reuben and Onion Rings, and it was excellent!
After another walk around town, we headed back to our friends on Cebolla Creek.
A Day on Cebolla Creek With Friends
The day following the trip to Lake City, we just chilled with our friends at their cabin at the Cebolla River Ranches and let the dogs swim in the creek and chase critters—they never caught any. The day included hiking and mostly spending time at the creek, with one or two adult beverages of course.
Several candid shots near and at our friends' property on Cebolla Creek
Land and Farm real estate company described this area in a recent listing, on their website (Rural Homes, Farms, and Land for Sale Near Me | LandandFarm.com).
“This remote fishing paradise is a true legend in ranch communities hosting over 6 miles of private Cebolla Creek ranging from open meadow streams for the relaxed fishermen to tight canyons for the most adventurous sportsmen. The full family membership includes a riverfront deeded 35 acre parcel, a common club house and a full time caretaker. Family Legacy is the best description of Cebolla River Ranches many of the founding families still proudly call this their private getaway. Seldom do you find a fishing property that is so tranquil and has such dynamic recreation.”
The Cebolla Creek valley is beautiful, wooded, and very scenic. It is a great area for fishing, hiking, camping, and exploring. Remember, it is remote and very much a wilderness area, so be forewarned and be prepared.
Homeward Bound
The drive back to Greeley took us back through Gunnison, up and over Monarch Pass, and northeast on US 285 to and through Denver. Although it was the Friday before the Labor Day weekend, the traffic was surprisingly light. As I described, the drive back was essentially backtracking the same route we took to go to Cebolla Creek.
A fun trip to visit friends and to see historic Colorado...
Reference for all of the historical information:
Bates, Margaret, A Quick History of Lake City Colorado, Little London Press, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 1973
In Support of Colorado’s Mining Industry
Lake City is one of many old mining towns of the Colorado mountains. Other mountain towns in Colorado with rich mining histories include Telluride, Aspen, Ouray, Breckenridge, Silverton, Creede, Glenwood Springs, Fairplay, Cripple Creek and many more. As much as the oil and gas industry built Colorado over the last several decades, the mining industry opened Colorado to miners, pioneers, and prospectors over the past century. In a few places in the Colorado mountains mining continues today—small amounts of gold, silver, coal, lead, and molybdenum continue.
Unfortunately, the oil and gas industry continues to decline in Colorado. As with the mining industry, the oil and gas industry is over-regulated by the state government. Colorado’s far-left, liberal politicians over-regulate these industries in support of their deeply flawed cause of battling man-made climate change (continuing to call it “global warming” doesn’t make sense as our global climate slowly cools). They also ignore the science and the facts about climate change. Climate change is a necessary, natural, planet-wide cycle.
Measuring climate change by measuring atmospheric carbon dioxide, which makes up only about 0.04% of our atmosphere is laughable. Add to that the use of extrapolated numbers based on highly suspect computer models would cause any critical thinking person to dig deeper.
Recently, many environmental and atmospheric scientists have published papers disproving the "manufactured science” regarding climate change and the role of humans.
In addition to over-regulation, this liberal cause has directed countless millions of dollars to battling climate change. Well, some of the money may find use in alternative energy sources, mostly wind and solar electricity generation. However, much more is simply an illegal redistribution of tax money to politicians and their cronies.
Wind and solar companies have received billions of dollars over the years to develop their technologies and to support their businesses. If left to free market dynamics, without government subsidies, the wind and solar companies would fail.
We need to stop this grift and wastefulness and return to supporting our mining and our oil and gas industries.
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