Delta - Nucla Road - September 30, 2015

Trail name:  Delta - Nucla Road
Total mileage:  42 miles one way
Difficulty:  Easy - partially paved
Starting point:  Delta
Total time:  1.5 hour

The Delta to Nucla Road is an easy 42 mile mountain back road over the Uncompahgre Plateau.  It passes through flat country and canyon country.  There were very few vehicles, one cowboy on his horse, a couple of park employees and several free range cattle on the road.

Utah Hwy 141 from Nucla to Moab is both scenic and a driver's dream with many sweeping turns and long straight aways.  We passed many exotic sports cars clearly on a road rally - Charlie was missing his 911!

Free range cattle on Delta to Nucla Road

View down valley from top of Delta/Nucla Rd.

Eagle/Thomasville Road & Cottonwood Pass - September 2015

Eagle/Thomasville Road

Upper alpine lake

Trail name:  Eagle/Thomasville Road & Cottonwood Pass
Total mileage:  Eagle/Thomasville Road - 44 miles one-way
                         Cottonwood Pass - 30 miles one-way
Difficulty Rating:  Easy
Starting point:  Thomasville
Finishing point:  El Jebel
Total time:  Approx. 5 hours

Access:   Eagle/Thomasville Road
Follow the Fryingpan River Road out of Basalt and towards Reudi Reservoir for 20 miles.

In the late 1800's & early 1900's, Thomasville was a station on the CO Midland Railroad and a settlement around the St. Louis & CO Smelter.  The Bessie mine just outside of town provided ore to the smelt.  Many of the original buildings of this mountain ghost town remain. 

The road is a beautiful and easy drive through aspen forests and some meadows with wildflowers.

Access:  Cottonwood Pass
Southwest out of Gypsum

An easy mountain backroad that passes through ranch land, gentle rolling hills and a broad valley before climbing through the corner of the White River National Forest to the Pass.  From the Pass, the road descends through similiar country before exiting on CO 82 in El Jebel.