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![[A Jeep on the trail]](../images/jptrail.jpg) |
 Lamartine Pass is a easy 4X4 trail located in Arapaho
National Forest just east of Georgetown. The trail is mostly a tame dirt road with lots
and lots of switchbacks. Be forewarned however, the signs indicating that high clearance is
required should not be ignored. There are many places where it gets VERY rocky. This is especially
true later in the summer. It has a few stream crossings (from puddles to dunk tanks depending on
the time of year) but the main difficulty comes from
lots of unmarked roads. Getting (not-quite)lost is fairly easy. The plus side of this is that
there are a lot of opportunities for exploration. Our map only indicates one of the routes you can
take but there are numerous others that will get you to some neat places!
Lamartine Pass can be
easily driven as a day trip from Denver with the trail itself taking approximately 3-4 hours to drive.
There are some picturesque places including the
old Lamartine Mine (PRIVATE PROPERTY) and the old location of the town of Lamartine. It
seems the all the difficult spots of old have been reworked to make the drive very easy.
The first time I attempted this trail in early May was foiled by snow. Even though the
trail looks dry enough down below, we soon encountered "patches" of snow four to
five feet deep. We decided that spending the entire day winching would just not be fun so
we headed off to Caribou Flats instead.
 The
second time we tried Lamartine we had much better success. We climbed slowly out of the
valley on the MANY switchbacks and were treated to extremely beautiful vistas of the
surrounding land. There are no words to describe the majesty of the Rocky Mountains in all
their glory.
We eventually reached the top of the hill and we presented with many options of where to
go and what to do. We decided to head right and follow some trails to what appeared to be
a local peak. The driving was fun with lots of trees, puddles, and tight turns but it
wasn't overly difficult. We were not disappointed as we came to a parking area at the top
of the world. Atop Saxon Mountain we were treated to a 270 degree view of the surrounding
landscape. We had started in the early evening and so we were about to start an early
dinner but a little spattering rain persuaded us to try elsewhere.
We headed back to the original intersection and decided to continue on and try and find
Lamartine and its mine. After one fairly deep water crossing (Stream? Puddle? Who cares!)
and some rocky sections (remember our warning!) we came to a decision... There were more roads than were marked on
the map... Which one to take? We decided on one, followed it along and - whoops - ended up
back where we started. After a little map and compass work we decided upon the right (correct) road.
With night fast approaching we found a nice camping area and had dinner. Later that night
a brief hike to the top of the nearest hill treated us to a beautiful surprise; the
twinkling lights of Denver were visible through a cleft in the mountains!
The next day we took off early to find the mine (there were so many holes and tailings
piles around but we wanted to find the "Ghost Town" buildings. Eventually we
came upon the tattered remains of the mine. Nice but since the signs clearly discouraged
us from looking around we went on. The old location of the town of Lamartine was somewhat
difficult to find. All that is left is a picturesque meadow. We headed on to explore more
trails when some vehicle trouble (computers can be a pain) ended the trip. We headed south
and ended up on the road to Mt. Evans. We had reached Idaho Springs and Denver in no time.
Take I-70 to Georgetown. Take the road that leads you from the highway directly across the river.
The road will remain paved. The road will come to a "T". Go left.
The road will remain paved for a bit and then turn to dirt. Follow this road slowly through the
neighborhood and past all the houses. There is a sign indicating the road as a "High
Clearance Only" road. This is the trail. You will know you are on the right track as
you begin to switchback up over the Georgetown valley.
As can be seen on the map ZOOM IN, there are multiple outlets
from these trails that will eventually take you to Idaho Springs.
Lamartine Pass Trail Map - ZOOM IN
Elevation Profile for Lamartine Pass
This trail is covered in volume 4 of the Pass
Patrol books.
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