Sterling — Fort Collins — Cameron Pass — Walden — Muddy Pass (Junction with US 40) ; 241.4 miles, State 14. Oil processed road between Ault and Ted's Place; remainder gravel-surfaced; Cameron Pass closed Sept. 15-May 15. Limited accommodations.

This route, traversing miles of prairie land, crosses North Park, a great saucer-shaped valley noted for its hunting and fishing, to terminate on the crest of the Continental Divide. The road between Sterling and Ault is little used, but the section west of the junction with US 85 is heavily traveled during summer.

In STERLING, 0 miles (3,947 alt., 7,195 pop.) (see Tour 1a), State 14 branches west (R) from US 6 (see Tour 1a).

The highway crosses a narrow belt of country irrigated by waters of the South Platte River, and enters an area of brown hills, covered with sagebrush, relieved by low sand bluffs and occasional outcrop-pings of rock. Farmers struggled to cultivate this arid inhospitable land, but unpainted and sun-warped buildings, now deserted, indicate that many have given up the struggle.

Settlement brought about destruction of this region's natural resources. Less than a century ago the rolling hills were the empire of the Pawnee, who lived in skin tepees and hunted buffalo. Their villages, clustered along the banks of PAWNEE CREEK, 12.8 miles, were soon disturbed by the coming of the white man. Earliest of these were French-Canadian traders who bartered with the natives for peltry and buffalo hides. Professional hunters made short work of the buffalo herds; and as the Pawnee and other Indians vanished with their food supply, the country began to fill up with droves of Texas longhorn cattle.

For several decades northeastern Colorado remained a vast un-fenced range, the scene of large cattle operations, from which a few gained fortunes. The cattle barons were not long to themselves, for homesteaders crowded into the country and gradually fenced in the great ranches. What is known now was not known then—that this submarginal land was unfit for cultivation. Steel plows broke the grassy protecting mat and exposed the soil to the unceasing high spring winds. As years passed, the erosion of the topsoil increased; each wind brought its dust storm; and fields became shifting sand dunes. Irrigation was impossible; either the fields were too high above the rivers, or available water had been appropriated by earlier settlers.

STONEHAM, 25.6 miles (4,583 alt., 100 pop.), is a trading hamlet in this dry-farm area. A few weather-beaten stores line the main street.

West of Stoneham the country is sparsely settled. Great gullies break the hills—more evidence of destruction induced by attempts to plant crops.

NEW RAYMER, 35.1 miles (4,779 alt., 254 pop.), the largest village between Sterling and Ault, has experienced two successive waves of immigration. First settled in the early 1890's, the town suffered from a series of crop failures. The need of a local trading center for surrounding farms gave it another start. The second town was called New Raymer to distinguish it from the earlier settlement. Typical of frontier days are the wooden false-front buildings.

The area west of BUCKINGHAM, 42.5 miles (4,945 alt., 50 pop.), was once a part of the Seven Cross Ranch, one of the largest cattle holdings of northeastern Colorado, known for its annual round-ups, drives to market, and pay-day sprees.

At 45.2 miles is the junction with State 155.

Right on this graveled road is KEOTA, 5.5 miles (5,000 alt., 108 pop.), shipping point for grain and livestock on the Holyoke branch of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad.

Northeast of Keota, 14 miles across the prairie, rise the PAWNEE BUTTES, limestone cliffs fretted by wind and rain, which from a distance resemble an eerie ship sailing on the hazy blue expanse. Their chief interest is the remains of animal life found in their strata. Some catastrophe of the Pliocene and Miocene ages caught innumerable plains animals here. An ancient sea laid over their remains a covering of mud and sand which in the course of centuries turned to limestone. Pawnee Buttes are known to scientists throughout the world. As early as 1875 Professors Cope and Marsh of Yale University were engaged in studying the fossilized remains of a prehistoric horse and camel found here.

At 60.3 miles is the junction with a dirt road.

Right on this road to SEVEN CROSS HILL, 2 miles, rising high above the surrounding country, which served as a lookout for riders of the Seven Cross Ranch, who kept watch for stray horses and cattle, chance travelers, cattle rustlers, and occasional Indian raiders. An intricate system of mirrors, based on this focal point, relayed messages from ranch headquarters to range riders.

BRIGGSDALE, 62.1 miles (4,950 alt., 250 pop.), is the terminus of a spur line of the Union Pacific that serves the dry farming region. It has the usual grain-buying exchange, stock-shipping pens, and general merchandise stores. Dust storms and blistering sunlight have joined with other elements to create the weather-beaten appearance of the frame buildings.

West of Briggsdale the highway crosses CROW CREEK, 62.5 miles, a tiny stream named to commemorate an ancient Indian battle in which the Pawnee decisively defeated their enemies, the Crow.

PURCELL, 76.6 miles (5,024 alt., 35 pop.), terminus of another spur line of the Union Pacific, has a grain elevator, milk station, and general store. Large shipments of grain and cattle from the surrounding farming region are made here.

The landscape west of Purcell changes abruptly; hills dwindle, and tawny brown buffalo grass is relieved by touches of green as the highway approaches an irrigated area.

AULT, 87.6 . (4,940 alt., 737 pop.) (see Tour 12a), is at the junction with US 85 (see Tour 12a).

The route traverses a section irrigated from the Cache la Poudre River, where fields remain a rich green throughout most of the summer. Huge cottonwoods and willows, planted a half century ago as windbreaks, shade the highway and side lanes. Black soil produces heavy crops of sugar beets, grains, vegetables, and hay. Cattle feeding is an important activity; livestock, pastured on the foothills and mountain ranges throughout the summer, is brought into the valley during winter to be fattened for market. Dairying is profitable.

In FORT COLLLINS, 106.4 miles (5,100 alt., 11,489 pop) (see Fort Collins), are junctions with US 87 (see Tour 13) and with US 287, which unites with State 14 as far as TED'S PLACE, 115.7 miles (see Tour 13a).

The route enters the canyon of the Cache la Poudre River, a popular vacation area. For almost its entire length the river (good fishing) is lined with summer cabins and resorts. Low foothills are covered with a sparse growth of juniper and scrub cedar; the soil is dun-colored, but here and there are dark outcroppings of underlying granite. A long ridge of red Morrison sandstone thrusts up through the foothills.

GATEWAY, 119.9 miles (5478 alt., 65 pop.), a summer resort with cottage-camp accommodations, stands at the edge of the foothill country. Here the highway crosses the eastern boundary of ROOSEVELT NATIONAL FOREST, most accessible of Colorado's 14 national forests, extending west to the Medicine Bows, north to Wyoming, and south to Clear Creek (see Tour 7). Its area of 1,101,958 acres was originally part of the Medicine Bow Forest Reserve. The name was officially changed in 1932 in honor of Theodore Roosevelt, ardent champion of conservation. In the dense forest are 17 varieties of conifer and broadleaf, and numerous picnic and camp grounds. At the more attractive of these the Forest Service has provided fireplaces, sanitary facilities, and other conveniences.

West of the boundary the highway penetrates heavily wooded hill country. Between wine-colored cliffs the waters of the Poudre lash the boulders in its course. Although neither sheer-walled nor rugged at this point, the canyon is attractive for its pastel shadings.

At 124 miles is the junction with a trail.

Right on this trail to ROBBERS ROOST, 5 miles, a high tor. According to local tradition, this area was a hide-out for stage robbers when the Overland Express used the route between La Porte (see Tour 13a) and Fort Laramie, Wyoming. Approached only by this rocky trail, the Roost served as an almost impregnable fortress and the outlaws were driven out only by a threat to use artillery, according to old-timers.

The highway winds tortuously through the LITTLE NARROWS, its high steep walls varying from deep maroon, when in shadow, to brilliant scarlet in the sunlight. Where the Little Narrows open into a wide valley the road follows the grade of an abandoned railway, the projectors of which visualized a transcontinental route to the Pacific.

The highway parallels the Poudre through BIG NARROWS, a long defile winding in and out between granite walls. Like the Little Narrows, the cliffs are of red granite, and tower in great battlements and castles. Lichens and scrawny pines have secured footholds in recesses of the rock and relieve the grimness of the cliffs.

The FORT COLLINS MOUNTAIN PARK (picnic grounds), 138.4 miles comprises several hundred acres of municipally owned land in a broad wooded valley. The Nature Trail, constructed by the Rocky Mountain Climbers Club, is so laid as to pass by at least one specimen of every variety of tree in the forest. Wild flowers and shrubs native to the mountains are planted along the trail, each variety labeled and its distinctive feature indicated.

EGGERS, 140.5 miles, is a summer post office and resort (accommodations) in Poudre Canyon. West of Eggers the road skirts INDIAN MEADOWS, a long narrow grassland bordering the river, once the heart of rich Indian fishing and hunting territory and the site of numerous battles. Arrowheads, stone axes, ornaments, and other relics are occasionally found here.

Through this area the highway winds to RUSTIC, 146.2 miles a filling station, and on to GLEN ECHO, 148 miles, a resort at the foot of PINGREE HILL, its steep sides scarred with abandoned mine shafts and prospect holes. The Cache la Poudre River here marks the northern boundary of the COLORADO STATE GAME REFUGE, an area extending more than 50 miles north and south, and approximately 15 miles east and west. In autumn, deer driven from the mountains by snow graze in the foothills and are frequently seen along the road.

OLD MAN'S FACE, 149.8 miles a rock silhouette, is one of many fantastic conformations wrought by nature.

HOME, 152.6 miles, is a three-story, red-brick hotel, built by John Zimmerman in 1882 as headquarters of his mountain ranch. The route passes several small resorts and skirts CHAMBERS LAKE (9,000 alt.), named for Robert Chambers, an early trapper who was slain by Indians. The lake, artificially enlarged, is used as an irrigation reservoir. CAMERON PEAK (12,124 alt.) shuts out the sky (R), and left rise the peaks of the Mummy Range, lying within Rocky Mountain National Park. Alpine and subalpine growths cover the higher slopes; five varieties of bog orchids are found near the lake shore.

On the last lap of its long climb over the Continental Divide the highway skirts the base of CLARK PEAK (12,965 alt.), southernmost eminence of the Medicine Bow Range. Practically the entire eastern slope of the range is included in the CAMERON PASS PRIMITIVE AREA, set aside by the Forest Service to be preserved in its natural condition. No roads or improved trails are to be constructed here, and erection of buildings is prohibited. The area offers excellent opportunities for "high country" trips with guides and pack horses. These excursions are usually undertaken by experienced campers, but a tenderfoot, with the aid of a guide and adequate equipment, can have an enjoyable outing.

CAMERON PASS, 175.7 miles (10,285 alt.), named for its discoverer, General Robert Cameron, pioneer railroad builder, is a narrow forested defile between Clark Peak and MOUNT RICHTHOFEN (12,953 alt.), through which the road winds for 9 miles. A granite and bronze marker indicates the highest point on the pass. In winter it is sometimes necessary to use dynamite to clear the snow-and-ice-packed highway.

West of the pass the highway is bordered with dense stands of lodgepole pines as it descends by fairly easy grades into NORTH PARK, a level grassland, which leads the State in production of wild hay.

At 202.5 miles, is the junction with a graveled road.

Left on this road to a STATE FISH HATCHERY (open daily), 1 miles

WALDEN, 206.5 miles (8,300 alt., 284 pop.), a ranching supply center and seat of Jackson County, is the only town of consequence in North Park. Isolated from the rest of the State during winter, the village is a closely knit community living unto itself.

Walden is at the junction with State 125 (see Tour 14).

At 220.4 miles is the junction with an unimproved road.

Right on this road is COALMONT, 3.6 miles, (8,500 alt., 300 pop.), a collection of rambling frame and corrugated iron buildings, terminus of the Laramie, North Park & Western R.R. Here in a rich coal field is the State's only strip mine. The high-grade coal lies so close to the surface that it is dug with steam shovels.

South of the junction the route crosses the rough foothills of the Rabbit Ears Mountain, named for the two colossal granite upthrusts that from a distance resemble rabbit ears.

MUDDY PASS, 241.4 miles (8,772 alt.) (see Tour 7b), on the Continental Divide, is at the junction with US 40 (see Tour 7b).