Crystal, Colorado

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Please help improve this article or section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.
This article has been tagged since January 2007.

The mill at Crystal

Crystal, Colorado is a ghost town in a valley on the upper Crystal River in Gunnison County, Colorado, on a four-wheel-drive gravel road between Marble and Crested Butte. Many buildings still stand in Crystal, but its few residents live there only in the summer.

Crystal is surrounded by excellent mountain biking and 4x4 terrain, and can be reached via tours from the town of Marble.

1 The mill
2 Road access to Crystal
3 History
4 External link

[edit] The mill

Crystal is best known for one of the most photographed sites in Colorado, the Crystal Mill, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

[edit] Road access to Crystal

A warning to those who use MapQuest or other online maps to plan their routes: Gunnison County Road 317 between Crystal and Crested Butte (via Schofield Pass) is not displayed as "4WD Only" or "Closed in Winter," although in fact these warnings do apply to it. CR 317 is essentially impassable except for ATVs, short-wheelbase high-clearance 4WD vehicles, offroad motorcycles, or mountain bikes. The section between Crystal and Schofield Park is particularly dangerous, due to an annual snowslide called "The Snowbridge" and the cliffside section of road past "Devil's Punchbowl". It is recommended that drivers park their vehicles at the head of the canyon section, and walk the road first, before committing themselves, as there are few if any places to pull over and/or turn around. Towing fees to retrieve stuck or crashed vehicles are extremely expensive, if the vehicle can be rescued at all.

Gunnison County Road 3 between Crystal and Marble also should be considered a 4WD road, although the hazards are not as severe as on CR 317.

[edit] History

Crystal (sometimes called Crystal City) was founded in 1880, but mined as early as the 1860s. At its peak, Crystal had 400+ residents, two newspapers (the Crystal River Current and The Silver Lance), a pool hall, a men's club, a barber shop and two hotels.