The Road Less Traveled - AAA Colorado Encompass eUpdate Article
Over the past several months I have been freelancing as a writer and photographer for AAA Colorado's Encompass Magazine. My articles are about travel in Colorado - where to go, what to see, and what to do when you get there. This is my most recently published article:
The Tarryall Road
Most folks traveling west on Highway 24 from Colorado Springs drive through Lake George and pass by the south end of Park County Road 77 without ever knowing what an incredibly beautiful stretch of road leads from here to Highway 285.Known by the locals simply as the Tarryall Road, it follows the path of the glittering Tarryall Creek as it meanders its way through the Puma Hills. The Tarryall Range looms rugged and rocky to the east, with the vivid blue Colorado sky as their backdrop. Majestic elk call this home, as do deer and big horn sheep, and the mighty mountain lion after which the hills were named.
The Lake George Cemetery, just to the left after turning onto County 77, is a Who’s Who of the original Puma Hills settlers and the generations that followed. The older section of the cemetery is at the back and up the hill, where the best views were to be had. If you look carefully, you may find the grave of Summit Marksbury, the only local known to have been killed by Native Americans.
Several of the old homesteads along the Tarryall are still being ranched, and while most have changed hands many times through the years, some are lived in by descendents of the original owners. Each has a story.
One of the jewels of the Tarryall is the McLaughlin Ranch, homesteaded on either side of Tarryall Creek around 1878. They operated a freight company and livery stable from their home which sat at the edge of the road, and also served as a stage stop. This beautifully constructed, chinked-log home still stands today, looking much the same as it may have then.
The old town site of Tarryall, originally named Puma City, sits west of Tarryall Mountain. In 1896, an old miner from Cripple Creek staked a claim, and as was the case in those days, it did not take long for the word to get out. By 1897 Puma City boasted a thousand citizens. The Tarryall schoolhouse, built in 1921, sits on the site of the original 1898 schoolhouse, which was later lost to fire. The belfry tower and bell were salvaged from the original building. The school served the children of Tarryall until 1947, and is one of only three one-room schoolhouses still standing in Park County.
The dilapidated, broken ruins of the Tarryall post office/general store, built around 1897, remains, as do several other buildings of the day. Jim and Linda English inherited the buildings and property and live in a home that started out as a cabin in 1899. Twelve families still live within the old town site full-time, and another four join them during the summer months.
As you drive past the old town, look to the top of Tarryall Mountain and see if you can make out the head of a mountain lion formed by the pines and boulders that appear to have been placed there just for that purpose.
The Twin Eagles Trailhead Campground is this area’s gateway into the mysteriously beautiful Lost Creek Wilderness, encompassing more than 120,000 acres of opportunity for solitude. Dogs are allowed on a leash, and a restroom is available here. Picnic tables along the creek make this an ideal spot to stop, stretch your legs, and enjoy a creek-side picnic.
Just past the campground is an interpretive sign informing us that what we’re looking at is a National Natural Landmark, one of 12 in the state. The picture-postcard beauty of pink granite peaks, provide the canvas for the spectacular view of this high mountain meadow and historical buildings of the old Williams/Gold Ranch. The river flows in snake-like curves through the brush and grasses that frame its banks. A little further up the road, on the site of the old Williams/Bradley Ranch, summer visitors are in for a real treat! Tarryall Mountain Farms, an organic, high-altitude produce farm run by David Appleton, is open and selling produce on Saturdays and Sundays from 1–4 p.m. beginning in late July.
Jim Fagerstrom and Deb Baxter, the proprietors of the Ute Trail River Ranch, have created an idyllic retreat along two private miles of Tarryall Creek that beckons the city dweller to come do a little fly fishing, hiking or birding, and a whole lot of relaxing. Some of the authentic historical log cabins are a part of the original Denny homestead of 1870, and others were moved here from the old Tarryall town site. All are charmingly decorated in western motif, cozy and comfortable. And if the stories are to be believed, one is even haunted! Jim tells me that many of their guests first came here as children, and now return with their own kids. I believe it. This is the sort of place that gets in your bones.
Construction of the Tarryall Reservoir and the buildings that housed the workers was begun in 1929. Today the reservoir is a popular spot for fishing, (rainbow and pike), boating and primitive camping. On approximately 180 acres, small as reservoirs go, it is big on scenic beauty. Nestled amid rolling rocky hills, the reservoir offers year round recreation and is a favorite for ice fishing. Park County Road 77 continues on from the reservoir as the Upper Tarryall Road and intersects Highway 285 at the town of Jefferson.
A tour along the Tarryall Road is beautiful any time of the year, and judging from the historical photos I’ve seen, it has changed little since those first settlers called this home. If you’d like to learn more about the people and ranches of Tarryall, pick up a copy of The Tarryall Mountains and the Puma Hills by Midge Harbour, a long time Tarryall resident.
Debi Boucher, freelance writer and photographer based in Colorado Springs.
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