Written by Kyle
A couple weeks ago Bee suggested an impromptu trip to Carson, a ghost town located outside of Lake City, Colorado. At almost 12,000 feet near the top of the Continental Divide Carson was one of the most inaccessible mining camps in Colorado. I pulled up the location on Gaia (super helpful off-line GPS maps app) and we jumped in the truck and headed over to Lake City, always a gorgeous drive. From Lake City, you drive past Lake San Cristobal and start heading along the Alpine loop. From there you take a side spur up Wager Gulch, about a 3.5 mile drive to Carson. I was aware this was an off-road situation, so at the start of the spur we aired the tires down for a more comfortable ride.
Right at the beginning of the road, we were greeted with a sign “4×4 only”. About 500 feet past the sign we found out why! This is definitely a high clearance road, and one of the rare times I’ve had to use four wheel low, many times I feel the offroad signs are overkill.
The road was not overly technical, but you do have to pick your correct line, and because it is narrow with some tight turns, you definitely need to watch out for other traffic. We only saw a handful of side-by-side, an old C7 jeep, and a couple dirt bikes on the entire trip.
As soon as we got to Carson, we could spot the town and after a small stream crossing we were able to park right in front of the remaining structures, get out, and have a picnic lunch and explore.
All in all, it’s a very cool trip and the views from Carson are worth the drive. You could probably expect to spend about 40 minutes drive time each way from the trailhead, but again make sure you have a high clearance vehicle and four-wheel-drive! You need it in dry conditions, if there was any mud or snow this would definitely be a more challenging journey. Enjoy!
Ramble Around 
Thank you for sharing. Love the photos, and I see you are driving the right vehicle for a trip of that nature. Thanks again.
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