Rio Grande Creede Branch — Monte Vista to Creede

CO · Monte Vista → Creede

A silver-boom branch up the Rio Grande — idle, but not gone yet.

Heads up: Railbike tours use the tracks west of the South Fork depot, and the Monte Vista–South Fork owner still controls its line until the abandonment is approved — get permission before riding any part of it.

The Denver & Rio Grande built west from Alamosa up the Rio Grande in 1881, through Monte Vista and Del Norte to South Fork, and reached the hot-springs resort at Wagon Wheel Gap by 1883. When silver was found at Creede, David Moffat built the last stretch up the canyon in 1890–91 and sold it to the Rio Grande in 1892. Creede became one of the wildest camps in the West — Bob Ford, the man who shot Jesse James, was shot dead there in 1892.

The branch was converted from narrow to standard gauge in 1902. On December 26, 1956, the Rio Grande's last standard-gauge steam run went from Alamosa to Creede and back. Revenue trains stopped going into Creede after 1969, but ore was still loaded a few miles east at Wason until the last mine closed in the mid-1980s.

Traffic kept shrinking: trains stopped running to South Fork in the early 2000s after the sawmill there closed. The Monte Vista–South Fork part passed through several owners and now belongs to the Colorado Pacific Rio Grande, which says it hasn't served a customer since 2007. In 2025 it announced plans to abandon it, remove the track and ties, and turn the corridor into a trail. West of South Fork, a historical foundation owns the line, and Revolution Rail Co. runs guided railbike tours along the river.

⚠️ Before you go: every railroad on this map is private property. A line that looks abandoned may still be owned by a railroad, used to store rail cars, or put back into service at any time — sometimes with no warning. Before going near any track, make sure it's truly abandoned (no recent use, rails not polished, no signals or cars stored on it) and that you're allowed to be there. Never assume a track is dead.

📷 Photos & stories from riders

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