Stop 25: Gateview & Blue Mesa Cutoff

The present highway may follow the Saguache & San Juan Toll Road, which originated at Cochetopa and Beaver Creek (via the Los Pinos Indian Agency). One of main stage stops for the Barlowe and Sanderson Stage Company was at this interpretive site, which came close on the heels of road builders with regular stagecoach service from 1876–1885.

There are two BLM campgrounds and the area’s best stretch of raftable river down this road. This road also leads to the Blue Mesa Estates housing area and offers a short cut to Hwy 50 which will drop you out near the western end of the Blue Mesa Reservoir and Black Canyon Park entrance. It is not advisable to take this short-cut in winter season and can sometimes be the longer route when open range cattle are about.

animas ore wagon Hinsdale County Museum
Animas Ore Wagon, courtesy Hinsdale County Museum

Silver Sag &San Juan Toll

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Credits and Acknowledgments

The research, writing and production of this interpretive booklet were made possible by grants from the following generous organizations: Federal Highway Administration Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA), colorado Historical Society, Western Colorado Interpretive Association (WCIA), Hinsdale County Lodging Tax Panel, Lake City Chamber of Commerce, the Creede and Mineral County Chamber of Commerce, the Silver Thread Scenic and Historic Byway Council, and the Rio Grande Watershed Emergency Action Coordination Team. Special thanks to Grant Houston of the Hinsdale County Historical Society, Lynna Jackson of Creede, Nancy Houston, and the authors, Laurene Farley and Sandy Thompson of the U.S. Forest Service, Gunnison, Colorado. Layout and design update by B4 Studio, Creede.