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Leadville Ranger District

Quick Facts

Clear Creek General Forest Area

General Description

Clear Creek flows from the mountains passed the ghost towns of Beaver City, Rockdale and Winfield into the Clear Creek Reservoir

Copyright: Loretta McEllhiney-USDA Forest Service
Clear Creek flows from the mountains passed the ghost towns of Beaver City, Rockdale and Winfield into the Clear Creek Reservoir

Clear Creek offers unique recreation opportunities and history. Clear Creek Reservoir has public fishing and boating accesses. Two to three miles of Clear Creek road are privately owned. Please be respectful of the owner's rights. Clear Creek Drainage also offers a number of dispersed camping sites, hiking trails, four wheel drive roads, historical sites and access to the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness.

Directions from Highway 24: Clear Creek Road is about 19 miles south of Leadville or 14 miles north of Buena Vista, Colorado. Forest Road #120 is graveled and sometimes rough but satisfactory for most vehicles.

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Recreation Opportunities

Activity		Remarks	On Site
	Camping	primitive and dispersed along Clear Creek Road	Yes
	History	Clear Creek Flume	Yes
	Fishing	Clear Creek, Clear Creek Reservoir	Yes
	Forest Areas	Clear Creek General Forest Area	Yes
	Four-Wheel Driving	Clear Creek Road (Chaffee County Road #390), South Fork Clear Creek Road (FDR #390), North Fork Clear Creek Road (FDR 390.2A), Clohesy's Lake Road (FDR 338)	Yes
	Hiking & Walking	Colorado Trail, Missouri Gulch, Mt. Belford, Mt. Oxford, Missouri Mountain, Sheep Gulch, Huron Peak	Yes
	Mountain Biking	Clear Creek Road- North and South Forks, Clohesy's Lake Road	Yes

Related Activities

Clear Creek Road - Clear Creek Road is passable by most two-wheel drive vehicles. Many recreation opportunities are accessible from this road including hiking, fishing, viewing scenery, touring historic sites, mountain biking and four-wheel driving.

Clohesy's Lake Four-Wheel Drive Road - This road is a fork from Clear Creek Road that leads to Clohesy's Lake with hiker access to Pear Lake. Clohesy's Lake Road is recommended for high clearance vehicles only as it is extremely rough.

Missouri Gulch Trail - This area is extremely popular with climbers with access to Mt. Belford, Mt. Oxford and Missouri Mountain. To experience solitude, plan your trip for a week day.

Missouri Mountain - This is a popular trail through high alpine terrain that exists above tree line to the 14,067' summit of Missouri Mountain. No well defined or marked trail exists on all three routes above tree line to summit.

Mt. Belford - Mount Belford reaches a height of 14,197' and is one of many fourteeners in the Sawatch Mountain Range west of Buena Vista.

Mt. Oxford - Mount Oxford reaches a height of 14,153' and is one of many fourteeners in the Sawatch Mountain Range west of Buena Vista. Many people climb Oxford and Belford in the same afternoon.

North Fork Clear Creek Four-Wheel Drive Road - The ride is a gradual, bumpy climb into an open alpine valley with meadows, willows, wildlife and wildflower viewing.

North Fork Clear Creek Trail - The North Fork Clear Creek jeep road continues as the North Fork Clear Creek trail beyond the wilderness boundary barrier.

Pear Lake Trail - Pear Lake Trail continues into the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness beyond Clohesy's Lake Road (Forest Road 338). The trailhead is located approximately 1/3 of a mile from the end of the road to the east.

Sheep Gulch Trail - Sheep Gulch Trail also harbors traffic of the Colorado Trail and the Continental Divide Trail. Hope Pass offers extraordinary views of the Collegiate Peaks with exceptional views of Missouri Mountain, Mt. Belford, Mt. Oxford and Huron Peak.

South Fork Clear Creek Four-Wheel Drive Road - The South Fork of Clear Creek Road begins at Winfield and ends at the road closure just south of the Banker Mine. The road is extremely rough and recommended for high clearance vehicles only.

South Fork Clear Creek Trail - This easy family hike gently climbs through both forest and open meadows with magnificent views of the Three Apostles.

Vicksburg Historic Site - Vicksburg became a mining camp during the last decades of the Nineteenth Century. It's prosperity didn't last long and most of the residents moved from the area for more profitable mining.