Back in 2004 I went to a conference in Denver in mid October. I went out a few days before the conference started and drove from Denver to Leadville, Salida, Manitou Springs and back to Denver. Along the way, I noticed an interesting road called the Phantom Canyon Road which I really enjoyed. I took photos and Marianne made a scrap book of them. She was interested to see the road so we managed to find it and away we went.
The road starts near Canon City and continues up to Adelaide and on to Victor.
Dirt road virtually the whole way. When I drove it in 2004 I thought it looked like a road that a stagecoach would use. However to my surprise when I looked at the link about its history, the road was originally a train line used to transfer material between Canon City and the gold towns of Victoria and Cripple Creek.
The road is very bumpy in parts.
There are a few narrow tunnels.
Narrow bridge.
Some of the curves are so tight I wonder how the trains managed to go around the turns.
At times there is only room for one car. Do not attempt to bring your camper up this road.
Aspen trees.
Eventually you get up to the top where there are Alpine like pastures.
Some great mansion at the top of the hill.
The end of the road which is about 30 miles long. I noticed that my top speed on the straight bits was about 22 mph so it took about two hours with all the curves.
Thee road rises from 5500 feet to 9500 feet altitude so it is quite a climb.
Some of the left over artifacts at Victor.
The road north to Woodland Park and eventually Colorado Springs. It's no where near as interesting.
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