The Elk Valley / Homestead Trail

The Elk Valley Trail is a moderate trail branching off the Carpenter Peak trail and starting about 1.7 miles from the Visitor Center. This is a historic trail, giving hikers a glimpse of Roxborough’s pioneering homestead sites and a favorite of many of the park’s Rangers and Volunteers. Total roundtrip from the visitor center is approximately 7.95 miles. Be Prepared! (Trail is Unmarked)

^EV1:^{Elk Valley, Carpenter Peak Junction. See the CP1 description. This trail is a favorite of many of the Parkstaff and volunteers. If you’re going to see Elk, this is where it will happen!}

EV2: Elk Valley Bench Overlook – EV and Gneiss boulders. Much of the land you see below you (155 degrees), was once owned by homesteaders who came to this area in the 1880’s. They homesteaded this land by paying about $18 dollars for 160 acres and making a promise to improve it. In the 1890s, the US government decided that this particular land should be part of the Plum Creek forest reserve and it was bought back from the homesteaders- often for much more money. The government changed its mind yet again in the early 1900s and this land was opened back up for homesteading. What you see below was homesteaded in the 1910s by people like Melvin Head, Lawrence Waterhouse, and William Waterhouse. The land changed hands many times after that, until the State of Colorado purchased most of it in the 1990s.

From this point to the west are great examples of Idaho Springs Gneiss. As we discussed on Carpenter Peak, gneiss is a metamorphic rock, which means it was either a sedimentary rock or igneous rock at one time and was pulled back down in the earth, heated, and pressed before it came to the surface. Idaho Springs Gneiss consists of the same minerals as the Pikes Peak granite on Carpenter Peak that has been through metamorphosis. Notice the pattern that you see in this rock. This is typical of gneiss as the minerals form linear patterns. This Gneiss is about 1.7 billion years old.

EV3: Overlook of Mel Head’s Homestead. Looking down from this point, you see a portion of the homestead of Melvin and Celia Head. Mel Head homesteaded this land in 1909. Besides the cabin which you will see later, he had a 3-stall barn, shed, and chicken coop. He had 20 acres of corn, alfalfa, oats, and a large garden. He had 160 acres total in Elk Valley. A branch of Willow Creek runs through the Head property. This creek is formed by springs, rain, and snowmelt and often contains very little water. It was the lifeline though, for so many of the homesteaders as one of the few water sources found in the area.

EV4: Elk Valley / Power Line Trail Junction. Down the hill about 80 yards on the south side of the trail, is a stand of hawthorn bushes, just before the gate. These plants have long thorns that not only protect the plant from being eaten, but are also used by the Northern Shrike, a migratory bird that is here in the winter, to store its food. Shrike love grasshoppers of which there is an abundance in Elk Valley and throughout the park. The shrike will catch grasshoppers and skewer it on the thorns of the hawthorn for eating later. If you head northwest on the trail here instead, you will eventually arrive in Waterton Canyon, which was formed by the Platte River. This part of the trail within Roxborough is called the Powerline trail as it follows an Xcel Energy High Voltage Power line.

EV5: Mountain Jeannie (Ada Thiele): Head EAST from the EV/Powerline Junction approx. 100 yards to the gate on your right. Mountain Jeannie’s home, called “Trails End”, is beyond the gate about ½ mile and is private property. Mountain Jeannie lived by herself out here from 1946 until her death in 1987. She was self-sufficient and maintained a large garden, irrigation system, chickens, and a rifle for protection. She’d had a difficult life before making her way to Trails End and wanted to live away from people. Though she did become friends with some of the other landowners, she pretty much kept to herself over those 40 years. She was known during that time to occasionally brew beer which she sometimes gave to her friends. Catching wind of the fact, the government forced her to stop; even taking her beer bottles away. In other stories during her time at Trails End, her tenacity was surely appreciated, as she killed a mountain lion and a bear unfortunate enough to be raiding the wrong chickens. Those Black bears frequently used the ponds that were part of Mountain Jeannie’s irrigation system as a swimming hole and water source. Black bears are still at home here today and as omnivores have, most of the time, an abundant food source throughout the park and surrounding area. You will frequently see bear prints and scat throughout Elk Valley and especially on the old two track drive that leads to Mountain Jeannie’s home. Bears can smell food up to 5 miles away and can run up to 30 miles per hour. When autumn comes, bears will eat as much as they can and anything they can. They do not hibernate but go into a state of inactivity called torpor. They sleep but can wake up. They live during this inactive winter period on stored body fat. Return to the front gate.

EV6: Mel Head’s Cabin: From Jeannie’s front gate, continue about another 150 yards downhill to the east. Look left.

You saw Mel Head’s barn and cabin earlier from above. Now you see his cabin from the front. Note the different types of logs used in its construction: pine, aspen, and fir. Mel married Celia Helmer in 1906. Celia was part of the Helmer family that eventually owned most of the land in Roxborough. Now continue along the trail down to the county road and head north when you get there. On the east side, as you approach the CP trail head, is the Sundance Ranch.

Complete the Elk Valley, Homestead Trail

EV7: Sundance Ranch

This was the original home of Horace Persse; son of Henry Persse. This land was originally homesteaded in 1909 and the house was built at the same time. The brick used to build the house was manufactured at the Silica Brick factory located in the settlement of Silica near the main entrance of the park. The materials used to make the brick were all mined in the Roxborough area and included silica sand, clay, and limestone.

Notice that the trees around the house are different than those you noted in the rest of the park. These were planted by the Brice family in the 1950s as there were very few trees around the house up until that time. Looking south of the house beyond the log structure, you’ll see a bermed depression with some cottonwood trees in it. Rumor has it that this depression or another depression behind the house, was actually dug out by the Brice’s, who were hoping it would fill with water for a swimming pool. They hoped to use the log structure as a guest house and the pool as part of a resort for vacationers. In the end however, they couldn’t get a permit for the business due to a lack of an adequate supply of potable water.

EV8 / CP1: A return to where you started. You Made It!