This year we’ll head over Farwell Mountain near Clark, and Hahns Peak, making a loop back to Steamboat. There’s extensive camping options both on the Hahns Peak Village side of the Mountain and on Seedhouse Road. This trail is typically approppriate for stock vehicles with appropriate tires but may become challenging in rain/snow.

Nearby Camping:
Steamboat Springs KOA Steamboat Lake State Park
Pearl Lake State Park
Hahns Peak Lake
Seedhouse Campground

Provisions:
City Market – Steamboat
Safeway – Steamboat The Clark Store – Clark
Hahns Peak Roadhouse – Hahns Peak Village-ish

Fuel:
Kum & Go – Steamboat
Conoco – Steamboat
Hahns Peak Roadhouse – Hahns Peak

From 4x4explore: During the mining boom around Hahns Peak one of the large companies, the Purdy Mining Company, got the interest of J. W. Farwell of Chicago in 1875. He invested $60,000 to construct a twenty seven mile ditch to bring water from the Elk River to the area for hydrolic mining. Sending Robert McIntosh from Chicago to over see the work, International Camp was developed as a Company town. Farwell spent several summers in the camp supervising the project. Farwell was very religious and no one that lived at International Camp worked on Sunday. In fact, most knew to be in church if they wanted to stay on the payroll.

Farwell’s camp was in Way Gulch, often referred to as “Bug Town” by the miners because all of the big bugs from back east lived there when they visited. It was northeast of the town of Hahns Peak. Farwell’s properties were on String Ridge. After the flume fed the “giants” that washed the gravel from String Ridge the sluices were checked for the gold that would be lodged in the riffles, but no gold was found. Other areas on String ridge were washed out, and still no gold. Farwell cut his losses. After spending $150,000 on the camp and hydrolics, in 1879 he sold the whole investment to a Rawlins, Wyoming banker named James France for $60,000 and headed back to Chicago.

Rober McIntosh stayed, convinced that there was gold in the area around Poverty Bar. He obtained leases on some placer mines at Poverty Bar and a lease on the String Ridge flume, which he extended a mile and a half around the base of Hahn’s Peak. In two months he had washed out $30,000 worth of gold. McIntosh subleased the operation to the firm Cody & Hinman, which after six weeks of work at Nugget Cut on Poverty Bar recovered $60,000 worth of gold.

Mining Details  –  General Geology Notes on Farwell Mountain and Hahns Peak