CSP - Trout Creek Pass Traditional Geocache

Trout Creek Pass

This geocache is part of Colorado's South Park GeoTour, which means you can win prizes by finding 20 or more caches. Visit our website for more information and to download your GeoTour Passport!

Container Type: Lock & Lock
Code Location: Inside container
Access Info: This cache is located on USFS property. Please respect all signage and fencing.
Winter Access:  Same

Trout Creek Pass was once the meeting point of the great railroads of South Park: the Denver, South Park & Pacific (DSP&P) and the Colorado Midland. The DSP&P was incorporated in 1872 but did not reach the summit of Kenosha Pass until 1879, eventually crossing South Park and reaching Trout Creek Pass in the summer of 1880. The DSP&P was constructed as a narrow gauge railroad for its cost benefits in the mountainous and sparsely populated terrain of the Rocky Mountains. The Colorado Midland Railway was incorporated in 1883 and constructed as a standard gauge railroad, reaching the summit of Trout Creek Pass in the 1890s. The differing rail gauges resulted in the construction of a bridge over the DSP&P’s existing line, as depicted in a painting by Howard Fogg. Both railroads were closed and scrapped by 1940.

Looking towards South Park from Trout Creek Pass in the 1950s, courtesy of the Park County Local History Archives

Take highway 285 to the Park/Chaffee County line and turn into the parking area on the north side of the pass. The cache will be a short walk from your car. See if you can spot where the Colorado Midland used to cross over the DSP&P!