Shelf Road

4.2/5 (25 reviews)
Cripple Creek, Colorado (Teller County)
Last Updated: 03/02/2023

Trail Information

Highlights

In 1892 a route was blasted and cut out of the canyon wall, creating a shelf road to connect Cripple Creek and the Arkansas Valley. This roadway once carried freight and stagecoaches through the valley and is now a very scenic part of the Gold Belt Tour. Shelf Road is accessible to all skill levels, provided you can stomach the actual shelf portion of the trail. The first half of the trail features some camping, old mining sites, and sheer limestone formations, including Window Rock. This hole through a granodiorite formation can often have Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep passing through. The second half of the trail is nearly all shelf road with heart-pounding drop-offs as the trail winds through the valley. Combine this trail with Phantom Canyon to complete a large part of the Gold Belt Tour. The Gold Belt Tour is a 131-mile long scenic by-way that tells the story of the 1890’s gold rush in Colorado. Don’t miss this scenic route through Colorado’s mining history.

Trail Difficulty and Assessment

Trail Navigation

Trail Reviews

4.2/5 (25)
Official Crew
29950
Open
Rated 4/5
Visited: 02/26/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

I drove Shelf Road from Cripple Creek south to Canon City on Sunday, February 26th. The road has mixed conditions--dry, mud, and snow in different segments depending upon how much direct sunlight a segment gets. Overall, the conditions are good, and the canyon views make this drive worthwhile.
Open
Rated 4/5
Visited: 02/05/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

After a snowy and cold January was looking forward to good weather this weekend and was wanting to take some scenic roads that I wasn't going to have to worry about getting stuck on as we were going solo. The only danger or concern with this road are the people that were driving like they were late to work and going around blind turns way faster than they should have. For the most part though we saw very few people and kept it in 2wd the entire time. There was a fresh rock slide around mile 12 on the shelf road but shouldn't stop anyone as there was enough room to avoid it. Very minimal ice, which was thin and melting (for now) and shouldn't deter anyone from the trail. Combining this with Skyline Drive in Canon City & Phantom Canyon Road makes for a full day of easy trails and a nice loop back to Cripple Creek when the roads and weather are nice.
900
Open
Rated 3/5
Visited: 01/22/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Trail is open and in good shape. There are some icy spots in the shade. An old 2x4 F-150 on bald tires was stuck at the bottom of one icy hill. For us with with good winter tires the hill was no issue even in 2-HI. We saw a few AWD crossovers making it through just fine. Overall, a great easy trail and one of the limited scenic roads that’s open this time of year.
17950
Open
Rated 4/5
Visited: 01/01/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

First trail run of '23 and a nice little historic mine trail to start off with. Definitely nothing challenging and a great Sunday drive, easily done by a 2WD car. Weren't sure if the trail would be impacted with snow but no issues at all, most of it is completely dry with a few areas in the shade that still have some well packed snow but nothing that caused any traction issues. Note, it was starting to snow last night as we left some other trails in the area so conditions could be slightly different after that weather event.
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 08/26/2022
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

First trail drive from Trail Off-road! Great morning driving. Perfect windows down weather. Views were amazing. Road was good, dry, easy for my F150.

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