ABOUT

Stage Road

In many sections between Salida, Buena Vista and Leadville, the stage road was literally the first constructed transportation route linking those larger towns and small communities in between. Its engineers chose the most logical routes that minimized the effort of construction and avoided steep grades that would slow horse-drawn stagecoaches and freight wagons. Later road-building engineers frequently chose to build the valley’s modern roadways, especially its county roads, on exactly those same routes, so long stretches of the old stage road have been overlain by dirt and sometimes asphalt surfaces.

A very few sections of the original stage road can still be seen as little-used two track roads. The S&R project will work with public and private landowners to increase their appreciation for the need to identify, sign and preserve these sections.

The most intact physical remnants of the stage road are found south of Granite. These include long stretches of dry-stone retaining walls which support the outer edge of the road where it skirts across steep unstable slopes. Although some sections are in remarkably good condition, others show slippage and displacement that if unchecked may eventually lead to failure and instability. Although the stage road south of Granite is excluded from the formally designated S&R route due to wildlife concerns, the project is committed to identifying specific problem areas in this section and, in collaboration with the public or private landowner, enlist professional historic preservation advice and assistance on the best methods to correct pending failures and restore stability. Where such remaining walls and other support structures are considered worthy, the S&R project will encourage their designation on state or national historic registers.

Another preservation priority is to identify and document the presence of wooden crib style bridge abutments associated with several of the stage road’s crossings of the Arkansas and tributary creeks. Although no reconstruction or direct preservation is anticipated, the project intends to make private or public landowners aware of these artifacts and of the importance of avoiding changes which might damage or remove these timbers.