Two years ago, my son and I rode the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad up to Silverton.  It was a spectacular all day experience up through the Animas River valley to the small mountain town located at 9,300 ft.  But we only got to spend two hours in Silverton.  That brief visit left me wanting to do a return visit.

Last year, as I was researching Colorado mining towns, I read more about the history of Silverton.  Like Cripple Creek, it was quite a bustling place during the mining boom times of the late 1800’s.  This year, I decided to spend more time in Silverton to see and learn more about the town.  It would be an exploration of me finding todays “gold” in Silverton.

Like Cripple Creek, Silverton sits in an ancient caldera.  In the 1870’s, gold and silver were discovered in the Silverton area.  The first settlers came from eastern Colorado, but soon the mining companies were advertising for experienced workers in Europe to come work in the mines in Silverton.  In 1879, it was a rowdy place with 40 saloons, 27 gambling halls, and 18 brothels.  By the 1890’s, the population has peaked at 5,000.  But, the Crash of 1893 and several mine disasters and closures began a rapid decline.  But the town refused to die.  Some mining continued into the 1950’s.

Now, Silverton with a population of about 600, is a tourist town made possible by the daily train loads of tourists that are brought into town each day.  The main street (Greene Street) has many of the original historic buildings from the 1880’s.  They now house restaurants and gift shops.  On Blair Street, which was the red light district, two of the original bordellos buildings are still there, but are now serving food versus “entertainment”.

We drove up to Silverton from Durango on Route 550.  The is a very scenic road that goes over two mountain passes (Coal Bank and Molas) to get to Silverton.  Although it’s advertised as one of the worlds 12 most dangerous roads, I found this part of the route, between Durango to Silverton, to be pretty easy-going.  I would find the next section (to Ouray) hair raising.

Our overnight base while in Silverton was the Silver Summit RV Park right in town and right near the railroad tracks coming into town.  It was an easy walk into town from the RV park.   This is a nice place to stay.  The sites all have full hook ups.  There’s showers, laundry, a store, and free wifi.  The views are also pretty good.  At $36 per night (with Good Sam discount), the location and amenities made it worthwhile.  And the views were great.

In my quest for finding the “gold” in Silverton, here’s what I found during our stay.

Food & Drink

There are lots of choices which all cater to the lunch crowds that come in town on the trains.  Here’s my take on some of them.

Grand Imperial Restaurant & Saloon – Housed in the Grand Imperial Hotel, you get to experience a great bar / saloon from the Victorian era complete with a rag time piano player.  Perhaps the best bar and experience in town.  The food is good but basic stuff you’ll find in any pub.

The Rum Bar – This place focuses on upscale artisan cocktails and has tapas food.  The setting is modern and nice with a roof top sitting area.  When I asked about the rum, they only had two choices and one brand – white or dark.  No Captain Morgan, no Bacardi, no Malibu, no Myers or Appleton Estate.  I guess the name sets a higher expectation. I had a Cuba Libre, which was good.

Golden Block Brewery – A brew pub that serves craft beers and wood fired pizzas.  They also serve salads.  I went in to recon and have a drink.  I got a chance to meet the owner and chat about the business.  It seems like a place the locals frequent.  We came back a day later for a pizza, which was very good and reasonably priced.

Handlebars – An eclectic saloon with very good food.  It’s a crowd favorite with the train riders. The bar is small.  We ate there 2 years ago and had a good lunch.

Natalia’s 1912 – Housed in an old bordello on Blair Street, the food is Mexican and America fare.  Inside the decor is Victorian.  The owner is very friendly and engaging about the history of the area. The building was built in 1883 for use as a boarding house for the miners.  It quickly turned into a more profitable saloon / bordello.  The last madame to own the building was Matilda “Big Tillie” Fattor.  When Big Tillie died of influenza in 1918, it took 6 men to carry her downstairs.  They had to use two coffins, somehow merged together, to bury Big Tillie.

Going Off Road

The mining companies left the mountains and valleys around Silverton networked with old mining roads.  These roads / trails are now play grounds for ATV’s and 4WD vehicles.  On one day, I decided to rent a Jeep and do some exploring up in the mountain’s west of town.

We followed the popular Alpine Loop trail, which is one of the premier off-road adventures in Silverton.  The Alpine Loop goes past the ghost towns of Eureka and Animas Forks and then proceeds onto Lake City via a couple of mountain passes.  We had a great day weather wise to go exploring beyond where the pavement and railroad ends.  The Animas Valley is spectacular.  The road is nice and wide gravel for the first 8 miles and then at Eureka becomes a rugged 4WD single lane carved into the hillsides.  We left gravel for what appeared to be mining rubble.

This was my first time driving a 4WD Jeep up a road more suited for hiking or animals.  Large rocks and sheer drop offs dominated all the way up to Animas Forks.  There’s no guard rails on these cart paths.  When meeting an on coming vehicle, you or the other vehicle needs to find a wide place in the road to stop so the other vehicle could squeeze by.  All this on a 7-8% grade. It was un-nerving and took all my concentration to keep “Honey Bee” (the name I gave our well-worn veteran Jeep Wrangler rental) on the road.  At Animas Forks, I had had enough, turned around and began the slow descent.

While 4 wheeling up a mountain may not be my forte, the scenery was spectacular.  I’m glad we went to see and experience what it looks like beyond the town up in the mountains.  For those with a good back and nerves of steel, I would highly recommend it.

Silverton Historical Society Museums

The historical society runs two museums – the 1902 County Jail and Mining Heritage Center.  I visited both and they were very worthwhile visits.  At one time, there were 5 jails in Silverton (remember it was a rowdy place in the 1890’s).  The County Jail is restored to its original setup.

The mining center has an extensive mineral collection and many mining artifacts.  It does a good job showcasing how the men worked in the mines along with the equipment they used.

Hillside Cemetery

Perhaps one of the most interesting pieces of Silverton “gold” is the Hillside Cemetery.  Here on the far end of town up on a hillside overlooking the town, is Silverton’s original burial grounds.  It’s not the type of place that the train tourists get to and you won’t know it’s there unless you ask.  I had read that it had some interesting grave inscriptions.

So on our way back from 4 wheeling we took “Honey Bee” up to the hillside to see it.  It’s a rugged place with no organization or paths.  When a burial was needed, it looks like they just looked for an open place.

In the 1990’s, local resident and historian, Freda Peterson began an effort to research the deaths and compiled an extensive list of the burial records.  She published her research in three large volumes.

From her book, the Historical Society began an effort to replace and add grave stones for many people buried in the cemetery.  The grave stones give a depiction of what life was like living in a mining town way up in the mountains.  It was a hard place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I’m sure there’s more “gold” in Silverton than I was able to experience.  There’s a gold mine tour, more off-roading rails, and hiking that I didn’t get to experience during our stay.

Just a final note about SIlverton as I compare it to some of the other former mining towns we’ve visited.  The town is geared all around the daily trains that bring tourist into town.  The dirt streets are watered down every day by 9:00 am to keep the dust down.  The businesses open up by 10:00 pm to be ready for the first train that arrives at 11:00 pm.  It’s a bustling place between 11:00 pm and 3:00 pm.  The streets are full of people and most of the restaurants are full.

After 3:00 pm, when the last train leaves, it is dead.  Many businesses close after 3:00.  There is a small school, a public library, police, and fire.  But there’s no doctor in town, no pharmacy, no clothing store, only a small grocery, and one gas station.  There’s no night life, no movie house, no live music.  Many of the 600 folks who live here seem to do stuff that relates to the daytime tourists.

It’s just a little weird.  SIlverton is a nice historic place to visit but I’m not sure too many folks would live there.  I think if the trains ever stopped running, Silverton could quickly become another ghost town.

After three days, it was time to move north over Red Mountain Pass to Lovely Ouray.