(Laramie, Wyoming) - Virginia Dale - Fort Collins; US 287. Wyoming Line to Fort Collins, 39.5 miles.

Oil-processed road. Good accommodations

US 287 skirts the base of the Front Range of the Rockies and follows the routes of the old Overland Stage and the Fort Collins-Fort Laramie Stage lines through stark arid hill country, which gives way to fertile irrigated farm lands as the highway approaches Fort Collins.

The route crosses the WYOMING LINE, 0 miles, 27 miles south of Laramie, Wyoming (see Wyoming Guide), and traverses a region of rolling foothills broken by grotesque masses of sandstone.

On the BISHOP RANCH, 3.8 miles, founded by Thomas Bishop in 1873 and still occupied by his descendants, stands (L) a log building, one of the original structures. The VIRGINIA DALE MONUMENT (L), 4.5 miles, which bears a bronze tablet pointing the way to the old Virginia Dale Station on the Overland Stage route (see below), is at the junction with a dirt road.

Left on this road to the old VIRGINIA DALE STAGE STATION (open), 0.9 miles. The original station house, 20 feet by 60 feet, was built of hand-hewn logs. Its great rock chimney is well-preserved, and the original andirons are to be seen. In the logs at the northeastern corner are numerous bullet holes. Under the house is a walled-in cellar, into which livestock were driven in times of Indian trouble. The wells that served the station are still used, but the stage barns that stood 200 feet south of the house have been dismantled.

The Virginia Dale Station, estalished in 1862 when the Overland Stage was forced by Indian depredations in Wyoming to operate through northern Colorado, was named for the wife of Joseph Slade, division manager of the line, who killed Jules Beni, his predecessor (see Tour 1A). Although the exact spot where Beni was kidnapped and slain is unknown, it was probably somewhere between Virginia Dale and Fort Laramie, Wyo. Slade remained as division manager for more than a year, but his violence - he was fond of shooting canned goods off grocery shelves - necessitated his discharge.

Construction of the railroad in 1867 put an end to the stage routes and the station was sold.

East of the station is LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, 0.2 miles, from the crest of which Indian smoke signals rose in the old days; and near by is ROBBERS' ROOST, a high hill with a bowl-shaped depression that served outlaws as a natural fortress.

VIRGINIA DALE, 5.1 miles (6,977 alt., 100 pop.), took the name of the old station and often is confused with it. South of Virginia Dale the highway traverses rolling country, crosses several creeks that are dry ravines most of the year, and penetrates more rugged country. STEAMBOAT ROCK (L), long a landmark, resembles an old-fashioned steamer with two funnels. The "funnels" were used by Indians as a lookout and a point for signal fires.

The SPRING HILLS RANCH, 17.3 miles, is at the junction with a dirt road.

Right on this road to the AMERICAN ONYX-ALABASTER COMPANY WORK SHOP (open), 1.9 miles, near one of two commercially developed North American alabaster beds; the other is on Owl Creek (see below).

The FORKS, 18.5 miles, also known as the Forks Hotel, was built in 1874 to accomodate workers in great lumbering operations, then a major industry in this section.

Right from the Forks on a gravelled road through a region of steep hills to a junction with a marked dirt road, 2 miles.

Right here 32 miles to the ALABASTAR SHOPS AND QUARRIES of the American Onyx-Alabaster Company (see above).

Left (straight ahead) the graveled road crosses the North Fork of the Cache La Poudre River on an old steel and frame bridge and continues to the almost-deserted town of LIVERMORE, 2.5 miles (5,733  alt.); the telephone exchange (L) is the only occupied building. Livermore was named jointly for the two earliest settlers in this country, Adolph Livernash and Stephen Moore. In 1863, when the first cabins were erected, Livermore embraced the entire district from Laporte west to the Continental Divide and from the southern boundary of Larimer County to the Colorado-Wyoming boundary.

At 77.5 miles is the junction with a paved highway.

Right on this road is LOUISVILLE, 2.5 miles (5,350 alt., 1,681 pop.), a coal town similar in appearance to Lafayette.

Left from Louisville to the MONARCH MINE (visitors not encouraged), 4 miles, still a large producer despite the fact that a part of its workings was destroyed in 1936 by an explosion that killed eight persons.

The highway traverses a rich agricultural district; the Front Range of the Rockies rises beyond the rolling foothills.

At 78.4 miles is the junction with a dirt road.

Right on this road is Superior, 5 miles (5,512 alt., 160 pop.), a coal camp with its uniform box-like cottages clustered around a company store and pool hall. The INDUSTRIAL MINE (visitors not encouraged) is the largest producer.

In Marshall, 8 miles (5,500 alt.), a once-prosperous coal camp, the underground workings of an old mine have been burning since the early 1900's.

ELDORADO SPRINGS (toll 10¢) (cabins, swimming pool). 12 miles, is a resort at the mouth of South Boulder Canyon. Hiking and horseback rides are made from here into the the surrounding hills.

BROOMFIELD, 81.8 miles (5,400 alt., 125 pop.), is a rural community named for the broom that was one of the first crops of the region. Traffic is exceptionally heavy between here and Denver; as much of the coal mined in the northern Colorado fields is trucked over this route, heavily-laden, slow-moving vehicles are frequently encountered.

WESTMINSTER, 89.8 miles, a huge red-brick building with a high cupola outlined (R) against the sky, formerly a college of the Presbyterian Church, is now the Belleview Junio College of the Pillar of Fire Church. The school offers theological training to members of that denomination.

In DENVER, 98.8 miles (5,280 alt., 287,861) (see Denver), are junctions with US 40 (see Tour 7), US 85 (see Tour 12), US 285 (see tour 15), and US 6 (see Tour 1).   

At  LOG CABIN, 16 miles, a post office and a rural supply center, the road forks.

1. Right from Log Cabin on a road that winds through a mountainous region to the old FLYING W RANCH, 21 miles; here is (R) a fire-warden station. The PARVIN RESERVOIR AND GAME PRESERVE (open), 23 miles, lies on South Lone Pine Creek, which feeds the reservoir, a propagation lake for trout. RED FEATHER LAKES VILLAGE, 23.6 miles (8,300 alt., 10 pop.), is a summer resort (clubhouse, apartments, cabins, golf course). Of the nine natural lakes that make up the Red Feather Group, Twin Lakes and Dowdy Lake are unlicensed and open to fishermen ($1 a day on other lakes).

2. Left from Log Cabin the road traverses rich cattle-grazing country, a region of comparatively low hills, broken by jutting cliffs carved into fantastic forms by wind and rain. Crossing Elkhorn Creek, tributary of the Cache la Poudre, the road reaches the ELKHORN SILVER Fox RANCH (open daily upon application), 5.4 miles, where, in open pens on the southern hill slope, foxes are bred and raised (see Tour 7b). At 7.1 miles is the MANHATTAN RANGER STATION.

At 20.7 miles is the junction with afoot trail.

Left on this trail 3 miles to a PINON GROVE, one of the most northerly frowths of this tree in America. The age of some of the pinons has been xed at 4,000 years, approximating that of the largest California redwoods. A few trees here are four feet in diameter—about 18 inches greater than that of any other known pinons.

At 22.3 miles is the junction with a narrow dirt road.

Right on this road to the RUINS OF BONNAR SPRINGS STAGE STATION, 3.5 miles, the outline of its foundations still visible. The road passes a massive bald rock and MUSGROVE CORRAL, 4 miles, a neural bowl-shaped inclosure on the North Fork of the Cache la Poudre, used as a corral and fortress by "Three-Finger" Musgrove, a bandit of early days.

US 287 penetrates the western mouth of OWL CANYON, twisting between limestone cliffs that wall in the narrow gorge. At the eastern mouth, 22.9 miles, is the OWL CANYON STORE.

INGLESIDE, 25.2 miles (5,400 alt., 45 pop.), founded in the early part of the century, occupies land owned by the Great Western Sugar Company, which quarries limestone near by for use in beet-sugar manufacture.

HOOK AND MOORE CANYON, 28 miles, a narrow valley between two hogbacks carved out by glaciers during the Ice Age, was once the property of H. M. Hook and James Moore, who harvested and sold hay to the U. S. Army, the Overland Stage stations, and local markets. Hook later became the first mayor of Cheyenne, Wyo. The great green stone (R), known as BIG ROCK, is believed to have been carried into the canyon by the ice mass.

On the southern limit of TED'S PLACE, 30.6 miles, are a number of log cabins built by forgotten pioneers.

Ted's Place is at the junction with State 14 (see Tour 2), which unites with US 287 for 8.9 miles.

ROCKY RIDGE (L), 30.9 miles, is an old Indian battleground where arrowheads are occasionally found.

At 31.4 miles is the junction with a graveled road.

Right on this road, an alternate route to Fort Collins, into RIST CANYON, 12 miles. The EARLY TRAPPERS MONUMENT (L), 22 miles, in the grounds of a roadside country house, marks the approximate site where, in 1836, a party of French trappers were caught in a snowstorm and lightened their overloaded wagons. They cached their surplus supplies, including a great store of powder, hoping that it would not be discovered by a large party of Indians following them. Upon their return in the spring the food and supplies were found intact—the origin of the name Cache la Poudre (Fr. hiding place of powder).

Opposite (R) is the SAMUEL BINGHAM FARM, settled in 1860. Bingham's name was given to the steep hill over which the road leaves Pleasant Valley, as the district is locally known. Passing (L) CLAYMORE LAKE (good fishing), 3.4 miles, the road turns south to FORT COLLINS, 7.5 miles (see below).

South of the junction US 287 passes (L) the ANTOINE JANIS MONUMENT, 33.8 miles, a stone marker at the entrance to a narrow lane leading to the site where Antoine Janis, first white settler in Larimer County, established his home in 1854; the original cabin stands in the library grounds at Fort Collins.

LAPORTE (Fr. the gate), 34.6 miles (5,063 alt., 100 pop.), a rural supply center, came into existence as the permanent camp of a band of Canadian-French hunters and trappers. In 1860, when a town company was organized, the village took the name of Colona, which was later changed to Laporte. As headquarters of the mountain division of the Overland Stage Company, the town flourished and at one time aspired to be the capital of the Territory.

Left from Laporte to the BOETTCHER PLANT of the Colorado Portland Cement Company (open upon application), 3.3 miles, with a daily capacity of 4,000 barrels. Limestone deposits owned by the company are sufficient to operate the plant at capacity for more than 100 years.

US 287 crosses rich agricultural land to the junction with US 87 (see Tour 13), 37.7 miles, which unites with US 287 as far as FORT COLLINS, 39.5 miles (5,100 alt., 11,489 pop.) (see Fort Collins).

In Fort Collins are junctions with US 87 (see Tour 13) and State 14 (see Tour 2).

MISSING P. 384 - 385 BEGINNING OF 13A