Shake The Devil

The Causeway, In The Flat Tops Wilderness Area, Is Not For The Faint Of Heart

Story and photos by Reid Neureiter

For the GPHN

The Devil’s Causeway is a hiking trail that lives up to its name. Crossing the Causeway, in the Flat Tops Wilderness Area on the Western Slope, involves negotiating a land bridge of large broken blocks of volcanic rock that narrow to four feet in width, with 100-foot sheer drops on either side.

The Flat Tops is in Garfield County, some 50 miles south of Steamboat Springs and 16 miles west of Yampa —  a five-plus hour drive from Park Hill.

The Causeway is a narrow neck of a high alpine plateau, where eroding glaciers on either side almost met. On seeing it, those with a fear of heights might choose to just turn right around and return to the trailhead at Stillwater Reservoir, where much tamer hiking abounds.

The U.S. Congress designated the Flat Tops, also known as the “Cradle of Wilderness”  in 1975.  Colorado’s second largest Wilderness area, the Flat Tops now has a total of 235,214 acres, with much of it consisting of a high treeless alpine plateau with elevations between 11,000 and 12,000 feet above sea level. All of this wilderness is managed by the White River and Routt National Forests. In addition to steep volcanic cliffs, vast subalpine terrain, and alpine tundra, the Flat Tops are dotted with approximately 110 lakes and ponds and includes 100 miles of fishable streams.

The trail to the Devil’s Causeway starts at the Stillwater Reservoir. Hikers have the option of a six-mile out and back, returning to the trailhead after crossing the Causeway.  Or, the more ambitious can do a full 11.5 mile loop, crossing the Causeway and circling their way south and back east, following a designated Forest Service trail across the treeless tundra with amazing views of the surrounding cliffs and “flat top” mountains.

The full loop includes approximately 1,800 feet of elevation gain, with much of it earned climbing up to the Causeway, at approximately 11,750 feet in altitude. September is an excellent time to explore the Flat Tops, with the dropping temperatures mitigating the mosquitos and other bugs that are prevalent due to the lakes and ponds in the area, and before the snow starts to blow.

Stillwater Reservoir can be reached by traveling west from Yampa on Routt County Rd #7 approximately seven miles to FR 900. Then go another 10 miles on FR 900 to the end of the road. FR 900 is a good dirt road, fine for passenger cars.

For those interested in camping, the Forest Service maintains both the Cold Springs and Horseshoe campgrounds, which are first-come, first-served, and fees are applied if staying in either developed campground. More info is at fs.usda.gov/recarea/whiteriver/recarea/?recid=81112.

Day Tripping

National Parks And Notable Sites To Check Out Summer And Fall

The National Park Service oversees hundreds of designated wilderness areas, national parks, historic sites, trails, monuments and recreation areas throughout the United States. The following is a list of several in Colorado — many of them are open all year, but are particularly accessible in the summer and early fall, and make for great day or multi-day car trips from Park Hill. Maps and other information is at the national parks website, at nps.gov/index.htm.    

Amache — National Historic Site

Amache, near Granada, Colo. This was one of 10 incarceration sites established by the War Relocation Authority during World War II to unjustly incarcerate Japanese Americans.

Bent’s Old Fort — National Historic Site

Features a reconstructed 1840s adobe fur trading post on the mountain branch of the Santa Fe Trail where traders, trappers, travelers, and the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes came together in peaceful terms for trade.

Colorado — National Monument

Colorado National Monument in Fruita preserves one of the grand landscapes of the American West.

Dinosaur — National Monument

In Dinosaur, Colo. and Vernal, Utah. Dinosaurs once roamed here. Their fantastic remains are still visibly embedded in the rocks.

Florissant — National Monument

Beneath a grassy mountain valley in central Colorado lies one of the richest and most diverse fossil deposits in the world.

Great Sand Dunes — National Park and Preserve

In the San Luis Valley southwest of Denver. The tallest dunes in North America are the centerpiece in a diverse landscape of grasslands, wetlands, forests, alpine lakes, and tundra.

Mesa Verde — National Park

For over 700 years, the Ancestral Pueblo people built thriving communities on the mesas and in the cliffs of Mesa Verde, near what is now the towns of Cortez and Mancos, Colo. Today, the park protects the rich cultural heritage of 26 tribes and offers visitors a spectacular window into the past.

Rocky Mountain – National Park

70 miles northwest of Denver, Rocky Mountain National Park’s 415 square miles (265,807 acres) encompasses a spectacular range of mountain environments.

Sand Creek Massacre – National Historic Site

The Sand Creek Massacre site in Kiowa County: profound, symbolic, spiritual, controversial.

— Compiled by Cara DeGette