4x4 Rocky Mountain Adventure - Saxon Mountain Switchbacks

Politicians like to talk about global warming. No doubt there has been a lot of it going on in Colorado. About 10,000 years ago, give or take a few centuries, the Rocky Mountains near Georgetown were covered with glaciers. All that global warming caused by the campfires from whoever lived here back then must have caused those glaciers to start melting. As they melted, they created raging rivers that carved out massive valleys and left majestic peaks like the one now referred to as Saxon Mountain.

Whoever caused all that melting did not leave any records behind as to how they did it, but by the time the Gold Rush hit the state about 1859, the glaciers were all gone. Saxon Mountain was named in 1866. At that time, a pair of prospectors filed their claim on a rich outcropping of silver and named it the Anglo Saxon Mine. They sold the claim and by the time Colorado became a state in 1876, the mine was booming. Its new owner became one of Colorado's first U.S. senators.

The Anglo Saxon Mine sold again to the Parker family and eventually played out. In 1936, Mrs. Parker gave the mine to a friend as a wedding present. The friend's married name was Idun Marie Berry. She apparently came from a wealthy family and decided to grubstake her husband in his search for the mysterious missing main vein of the Anglo Saxon Mine. The original discovery had only been an outcropping that was severed from the main vein by a fault in the Earth that had shifted millions of years ago. If only they could find the main vein, there should be enough silver to reopen the mine and keep it running for decades. Unfortunately, none of the new shafts ever hit the missing vein. In December of 1983, the Berrys gave their mining claims consisting of 250 acres on Saxon Mountain to the Georgetown Society to be preserved for historic and recreational purposes. It is doubtful the Anglo Saxon Vein will ever be found.

We now use Saxon Mountain for its intended purpose as often as time permits. It is a beautiful day trip or weekend trip from the Denver metro area. There is a picnic table, fire rings, and camping sites at the peak of the mountain with breathtaking views in every direction. The power station for the many antennas hidden in the trees might disturb some people, but it's not difficult to find a nice location to camp a little farther away from them. There are also some historic markers that point out the mountain peaks, the paths the glaciers took as they receded and information about the mining activities.

Most of the fun driving up Saxon Mountain involves the numerous switchbacks. Every turn provides a different view of the mountains and valleys that surround Saxon Mountain. Georgetown and the I-70 corridor is nearly always visible. With each switchback, more elevation is gained, and the more spectacular the views become.

The road begins in Georgetown on the south side of the lake at about 8,500 feet in elevation. The drive to the top is a little less than 8 miles and climbs 3,000 feet to the peak, where our GPS measured 11,446 feet. Some sections of the route are fairly smooth and others require careful rock crawling when using a stock vehicle. Some of the switchbacks have a steep incline while others are fairly flat. Landslides can occur and in some places, the route simply climbs over previous slides that partially block the path.

There are several intersections. Some of them lead to private property so watch carefully for any such posting. Others lead to the remains of mining operations abandoned long ago. There are several log cabins along side the main route that no longer have a roof and will eventually fade into the landscape.