Mountains of Minerals: Denver Pass to Grouse Gulch

San Juan Triangle | Sunday & Monday, August 31 – September 1, 2025

After staying home to attend a concert on Saturday evening, I was up early on Sunday morning and headed down to the San Juan Mountains so I could spend the remainder of the holiday weekend hiking and camping in the San Juan Triangle, which is one of my favorite areas to explore in the mountains. After making it over Red Mountain Pass to Silverton, I followed the Animas River to Animas Forks and then continued up the North Fork to Denver Lake. I parked nearby and then started my first hike of the day up the old mining track to Denver Pass. Although I have already hiked most of the peaks in this area and driven all the open roads, I had neglected to hike up to this pass before and was looking forward to finally checking it out!

Following the North Fork Road to Denver Lake.

As I started the hike up to Denver Pass I had a good view of Houghton Mountain behind me.

Looking beyond Houghton Mountain I could see Hanson Peak in the background.

Denver Hill & Denver Lake

Following the last section of the trail up to Denver Pass.

Once I reached Denver Pass I had a good view of Seigal Mountain, which I had already hiked from the other side.

There was a pretty nice view over to American Flats and Wildhorse Peak in the Uncompahgre Wilderness.

The three ‘Giants of the Uncompahgre’ (Uncompahgre Peak, Wetterhorn Peak & Matterhorn Peak) were all in the shade below darker clouds.

I followed the ridge above Denver Pass so I could get a better view of the old boarding house in Hurricane Basin.

There was also a nice view of the little lake just down below the pass.

Following the ridge back down to Denver Pass.

On my way back down from the pass I stopped at the little lake.

Then I followed Horseshoe Creek a little ways until I came to a nice little waterfall.

Mossy Waterfall

After returning to my vehicle I drove over to Mineral Point so I could start my second hike of the day.

From Mineral Point I tried to follow an old pack trail shown on some older maps that was pretty much not visible on the ground any more.

The route brought me past this tarn with a good view of Engineer Mountain.

Eventually, I reached the rim high above Poughkeepsie Gulch which offered an amazing view down the Uncompahgre Gorge!

There were some old mining relics scattered around the area, like these two large boilers down below.

Abrams Mountain was just on the other side of the gulch from me.

Stay Out Stay Alive

Big Boiler

Big Winch

On my way back from the old mine site I passed by the ruins of the Oyama Mine.

After leaving Mineral Point I went looking for a campsite near the trailhead for my planned hike on Monday morning into Grouse Gulch.

I ended up finding a nice campsite along the Animas River with a great view up into Grouse Gulch and read and relaxed for the rest of the evening. After about 4pm I started to hear some rumbles of thunder in the distance, but no weather ever got close to me and I stopped hearing the rumbles after about an hour.

Animas River Camp

I was feeling very tired and went to bed just after sunset and slept well all night. Then on Monday morning I was up well before sunrise and started hiking up into Grouse Gulch shortly before dawn. I needed to use my headlamp at first, but soon was finding my way up the switchbacks of the old mining road in the soft light of civil dawn. There were no clouds out this morning and the air seemed a bit smoky and hazy.

The hike was entirely in the shade until I reached the pass between Grouse Gulch and American Basin, but the rugged peaks above did see a little sunlight.

Once I reached the pass the views above American Basin opened up.

From the pass I could see Uncompahgre Peak towering above the Edith Mountain and the Lake Fork.

American Basin Ridge

Looking up to PT 13444 from the pass.

It looked like Whitecross Mountain was covered with fresh snow or graupel- probably from the storm that had created the thunder I heard the evening before.

After taking in the views for a bit I followed the trail back down into Grouse Gulch.

I stopped to check out the lake below the pass on my way back.

Grouse Gulch Lake Reflection

Grouse Gulch Lake

I continued on down through Grouse Gulch, this time in sunlight, and then headed back home after reaching my vehicle at the bottom.

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