Argentine Pass Trail
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Better conditioning? Consider the Argentine Pass, which crosses the Continental Divide at 13,000 ft. Amazingly, this sometimes narrow trail was once a major passage into Summit County. |
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Argentine Pass Trail
Grays Peak
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The trail affords scenic vistas from the beginning and proceeds at a steady pace to the top of the Argentine Pass. The first section is filled with wildflowers in July. The upper section is a traverse of the western slope of Argentine Peak. The mountain goats use this area in the evening, as evidenced by the hair, spore, and browsed plants. The guidebooks comment on the narrowness of this section but there is only one washout that requires any scrambling at all. Our collective expectations of Argentine are simply greater -- this pack trail was the major thoroughfare into the Montezuma silver mining district from Denver! The jeep road up from Waldorf on the eastern side remains in much better shape. |
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Getting to the trailhead requires traversing about 5 miles of gravel road in Peru Creek. Some sections are difficult for lower clearance vehicles. From Tenderfoot Lodge proceed east on US 6 and bearing right onto the Montezuma Rd. After 4.5 mi. and at a sharp S curve in the Montezuma Rd, pull into the parking area beyond a break in the guard rail. The NFS Road 260 departs the rear of this area. After about 5 mi., the road reaches a tailing pile and a ruined building. Park here at the Shoe Basin Mine and proceed up the jeep road about 0.3 mi. to the marked trailhead on the right. |
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