A 177-mile road trip that meanders through the picturesque, wild and wonderful San Juan Mountains of the Rio Grande National Forest.

The colorful old mining camps of the Silver Thread National Scenic and Historic Byway offers history, scenic beauty, and a heavy dose of authenticity. The heights around Creede and Lake City remain strewn with abandoned mining structures, most of them accessible via rugged backcountry roads. Between the two towns, CO 149 shadows the upper reaches of the Rio Grande, serving up a bounty of natural wonders - sparkling North Clear Creek Falls, the Slumgullion earth slide, and the shark-like fin of Uncompahgre Peak. These mountains can be unforgiving: In 1848 explorer John C. Fremont lost a third of his men - and a quarter of a century later the infamous Alferd Packer cannibalized his companions - in two ill-fated winter expeditions.

The Silver Thread Byway was designated by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation as a National Scenic Byway in 2021. It is one of 13 America’s Byways® designated in Colorado.

​Cover photo credit: Golden Hour at the foot of Pool Table Mountain. Granger Meadow