Heading Out
We rode out of the Park Creek parking area, which is about six miles south of town off U.S. Highway 160, on our first day in South Fork, heading out on the Park Creek Trail as it passes through a canyon. The trail heads to the old mining town of Summitville, about a 17-mile trek on a groomed trail and then another two or three miles on an ungroomed backcountry road. We eventually made it to Summitville but in a very roundabout way. We played in a couple of the parks-there is Corral, Coal Mine, Trail, Kelly and Fivemile, just to name a few-scattered out alongside the trail before peeling off into the trees toward the Continental Divide.
Generally speaking, there was about 10-12 inches of new snow we were floating through and definitely more the higher we climbed. When we were close to Elwood Pass (11,631 feet) we were also close to the South San Juan Wilderness Area, which, of course, is off limits to motorized recreation, so be sure you know your bearings when you're down in this area. Our lunch stop for the day was at the Elwood Guard Station, which you can rent for overnight stays. The cabin sits in a big open area where you can play before heading back to the surrounding taller mountains.
After lunch we sledded through a narrow drainage along the edge of Sheepshead Mountain, across Schinzel Flats, up along South Mountain Creek and then towards Summitville.
Summitville, which sits at 11,500 feet, actually had more than one mining life. Gold and silver mining began around 1870 but tapered off in the mid 1880s. The town somewhat came back to life in the mid 1930s when some of the mines were reopened, this time producing copper. Then, from 1986-1991, a mining company opened a pit heap leach gold mining operation before abandoning the site in 1992. The area now has the dubious distinction of being a Superfund site. You can ride around and look at some of the original buildings still standing in Summitville, but you need to watch out for equipment and respect government property. South Mountain (12,473) towers over the old mining operation as well as over Summitville.
During the day's ride we were able to experience all the variety of riding near South Fork has to offer-and we still had another day to ride.