With temps heating into the 90’s we decided to head to high country and try out a new loop. This route took us up a rough dirt road to the ghost town Alta Lakes with a handful of crumbling sites, on up further to some lakes, and ended with a swooping descent down Magic Meadows Trail to the start. The ride started at a whopping altitude of 9600′ and topping out at 11,300′ so we earned our downhill.
The starting is a climb up to the ghost town but it’s beautiful and only about 5 miles. Just look at the pictures! The mining town was famous for being the first place in the world to use Tesla’s AC transmission system. Originally, the mines were powered by coal, requiring a 4 mile trip by pack mule to reach the mines. Construction of a powerplant and switching to electricity solved this. We walked around and marveled at the dramatic backdrop.
Recently, out of state owners have been approved to develop the 540-acre site for private residences (28 homes). The company is working with the City of Telluride and the San Miguel County Open Space and Recreation Program in order to try and save the site’s historical integrity. Their efforts have so far included stabilizing the boardinghouse and rehabilitating one of the cottages. So sad that this will be overtaken by rich people wanting to live wherever they can. (rant off)
Back on our bikes, we climbed the rest of the way up to Alta Lakes. There is a 20 or so spot campground up here but it’s only accessible by 4X4 since the road is so bad. The lakes were absolutely jumping with fish so if you fish, this looks like a good spot!! We continued on past for our descent down the Telluride Mountain trail called Magic Meadows. The meadows and mountainsides are covered in greenery and flowers and the vegetation in spots is VERY dense.
The descent isn’t technical, just swoopy and fast with some switchbacks and big views on the lower slopes. It was a perfect ending to a great loop.
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